Torture

Several points to note about this account in the Times of a room discovered by the Marines in which four hostages had been tortured (by, pardon me, "insurgents") apparently for days. First, the reporter who wrote the story was embedded, she was there, she saw. And you can tell how much difference that makes. Even the headline is clean, crisp, and straightforward. ("Iraqis Found in Torture House Tell of Brutality of Insurgents.") Other than the word "insurgents" (and I've about given up on that one) it's hard to complain about that.

Second, it isn't in the print edition, despite the dateline -- I'll have to make a point of looking to see how it gets placed in tomorrow's paper.

Third, there's no glamorization of the enemy here:

The manual recovered - a fat, well-thumbed Arabic paperback - listed itself as the 2005 First Edition of "The Principles of Jihadist Philosophy," by Abdel Rahman al-Ali. Its chapters included "How to Select the Best Hostage," and "The Legitimacy of Cutting the Infidels' Heads."

Also recovered were several fake passports, a black hood, the painkiller Percoset, handcuffs and an explosives how-to-guide. Three cars loaded with explosives were parked in a garage outside the house. The marines blew them up.

The Percoset is interesting, given reports that the suicide bombers get stoned before their last mission.

You should read the description provided by the one man who wasn't hospitalized immediately of his experience, but here's the end of the article:

His town has always been a good place, he said, but the militants have made it hell.

"These few are destroying it," he said, his face streaked with tears. "Everybody they take, they kill. It's on a daily basis pretty much."

Something important to keep in mind when it's argued that this enemy has popular support or when they are labelled "guerrillas," which assumes they have popular support. They may be able to intimidate the population into doing what they want in particular towns, but that's a far cry from saying that they've won the battle for hearts and minds. (Yes, I understand that doesn't mean we've won it either.)

(Another reason, by the way, the term "insurgent" isn't appropriate. These are not Maoist fighters, fish swimming in the sea of popular support. Mao always preached extreme sensitivity to the peasants and their feelings. Don't damage their property. Pay for anything you take or use. Be polite. And so forth. He never mentioned, to my knowledge, hey, go out and blow up their relatives and their children.)

Comments

[Bob]

So, did this article get into the print edition today, or was it considered too honest for the Manhatten clientele?