Editorial :: Puppet_Allawi Has Blood On His Hands. Who Will Investigate?
Allegations that cannot be ignored - Editorial
The pledge by the United States to the Iraqi people is to replace dictatorship with democracy, fear with freedom. Yet the man the United States has put in charge of Iraq, the Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi, is accused of the cold-blooded murder of up to six young men just days before he took power. The accusation has not been lightly made and cannot easily be swept aside.
The allegations against Dr Allawi were first aired in this newspaper in a story by our chief correspondent, Paul McGeough, an experienced, highly regarded journalist with extensive first-hand experience in Iraq. The report said that last month Dr Allawi drew a gun during a visit to a Baghdad jail and shot seven prisoners who were, apparently, suspected insurgents. Six died and one was wounded. It appears Dr Allawi intended the killings to demonstrate the sort of summary justice he thinks appropriate in the new Iraq. McGeough's report was based on face-to-face interviews with two men who claim to have witnessed the shootings. The witnesses were interviewed separately and were not aware of each other's testimony.
The witnesses refuse to be named. Indeed, they fear the revelation of even the smallest detail that might identify them. That does not mean, however, that their claims cannot be investigated. It is known where the shootings allegedly occurred and when - at Baghdad's Al-Amariyah prison about the third weekend of June. The Herald has supplied the names of three of the alleged victims to the Iraqi Interior Ministry (which will not comment). The executions are claimed to have been carried out before the amazed eyes of a dozen Iraqi policeman and four American guards from Dr Allawi's security detail, among other witnesses. There are plenty of leads to pursue.
Ideally, the pursuing would be done by an independent body such as the United Nations or the Red Cross, or perhaps an international human rights group. But such organisations cannot investigate without permission from the nominally sovereign state of Iraq. And no such permission is likely from Dr Allawi's administration. Dr Allawi's office has already denied the allegations. Iraq's Human Rights Minister, Bakhtiar Amin, while promising to investigate, has prejudged the matter; he says he doesn't believe the witness accounts.
The US installed the Iraqi Government and Dr Allawi. It did so in full knowledge of Dr Allawi's murky past in and out of Iraq - first as an ally, then as a foe, of Saddam Hussein. One former CIA officer has publicly described Dr Allawi as having "blood on his hands"; another brands him "a thug". The allegations against Dr Allawi raise the alarming prospect of an Iraq slipping back into the brutal injustices of the Saddam Hussein era. Any suggestion of such a retrograde trend must be confronted. The US has not only the responsibility but the power to see that the claims against Dr Allawi are properly investigated. Australia, as one of America's closest allies, should be the first to demand that it use it.
Link...
(It took brave men to stand up and witness this event for the world...a world which now seems bent on looking the other way. Did Bush Know? When did he know? Where is John Kerry? Who is asking the right questions? Plenty of bastards running loose here. I think it's time to find out the truth. And if Bush knows about this, his is a conspiracy of silence which is treasonous.
They all should hang by their necks until dead.)
The pledge by the United States to the Iraqi people is to replace dictatorship with democracy, fear with freedom. Yet the man the United States has put in charge of Iraq, the Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi, is accused of the cold-blooded murder of up to six young men just days before he took power. The accusation has not been lightly made and cannot easily be swept aside.
The allegations against Dr Allawi were first aired in this newspaper in a story by our chief correspondent, Paul McGeough, an experienced, highly regarded journalist with extensive first-hand experience in Iraq. The report said that last month Dr Allawi drew a gun during a visit to a Baghdad jail and shot seven prisoners who were, apparently, suspected insurgents. Six died and one was wounded. It appears Dr Allawi intended the killings to demonstrate the sort of summary justice he thinks appropriate in the new Iraq. McGeough's report was based on face-to-face interviews with two men who claim to have witnessed the shootings. The witnesses were interviewed separately and were not aware of each other's testimony.
The witnesses refuse to be named. Indeed, they fear the revelation of even the smallest detail that might identify them. That does not mean, however, that their claims cannot be investigated. It is known where the shootings allegedly occurred and when - at Baghdad's Al-Amariyah prison about the third weekend of June. The Herald has supplied the names of three of the alleged victims to the Iraqi Interior Ministry (which will not comment). The executions are claimed to have been carried out before the amazed eyes of a dozen Iraqi policeman and four American guards from Dr Allawi's security detail, among other witnesses. There are plenty of leads to pursue.
Ideally, the pursuing would be done by an independent body such as the United Nations or the Red Cross, or perhaps an international human rights group. But such organisations cannot investigate without permission from the nominally sovereign state of Iraq. And no such permission is likely from Dr Allawi's administration. Dr Allawi's office has already denied the allegations. Iraq's Human Rights Minister, Bakhtiar Amin, while promising to investigate, has prejudged the matter; he says he doesn't believe the witness accounts.
The US installed the Iraqi Government and Dr Allawi. It did so in full knowledge of Dr Allawi's murky past in and out of Iraq - first as an ally, then as a foe, of Saddam Hussein. One former CIA officer has publicly described Dr Allawi as having "blood on his hands"; another brands him "a thug". The allegations against Dr Allawi raise the alarming prospect of an Iraq slipping back into the brutal injustices of the Saddam Hussein era. Any suggestion of such a retrograde trend must be confronted. The US has not only the responsibility but the power to see that the claims against Dr Allawi are properly investigated. Australia, as one of America's closest allies, should be the first to demand that it use it.
Link...
(It took brave men to stand up and witness this event for the world...a world which now seems bent on looking the other way. Did Bush Know? When did he know? Where is John Kerry? Who is asking the right questions? Plenty of bastards running loose here. I think it's time to find out the truth. And if Bush knows about this, his is a conspiracy of silence which is treasonous.
They all should hang by their necks until dead.)
posted by A. J. Franklin @ 14:26
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