Here's a disturbing report about a group of Oregon national guardsmen who stormed the grounds of the Iraqi Interior Ministry to prevent plainclothed Iraqi "jailers" from torturing prisoners. Among the instruments of torture they found: "metal rods, rubber hoses, electrical wires and bottles of chemicals. " One inmate had been shot in the knee; others had been systematically beaten. The guardsmen provided first aid to the prisoners -- until their superiors ordered them to return the prisoners to the Iraqis and withdraw.
The day was June 29 -- the first day of official Iraqi "sovereignty." Some things never change.
Kudos, though, to the national guardsmen for having the principles and courage to intervene in the first place.
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