Troops Finding Scores of Bodies of Slain Iraqis

[Rose Siding]

MOSUL, Iraq, Nov. 26 - American troops have discovered 32 bodies here in the past two days, the latest sign that insurgents in the north are increasingly focusing their efforts on killing and terrorizing vulnerable Iraqis, especially those working with American forces.

Seventeen bodies were found Friday, after 15 were discovered Thursday, according to a military spokesman here. In the past eight days at least 65 bodies have been found, and one American commander says more than 20 have been confirmed as members of the new Iraqi security forces.

No identification has been made of the newest bodies or whether they were Iraqi soldiers or national guardsmen, said the spokesman, Lt. Col. Paul Hastings. But he called the new killings part of the insurgents' "campaign of fear, intimidation and murder, and doing whatever they can to disrupt operations here."
........
Many of the bodies found over the past week had been shot in the head, burned, mutilated, decapitated and, according to an American commander, labeled with notes that warn, "This is what happens to Iraqi National Guard soldiers." Other members of the security forces have had their identification cards pulled from their pockets and placed prominently on their bodies.

http://nytimes.com/2004/11/27/international/middleeast/27mosul.html

[Gyre]

1. Everybody warned that fucking little chimp

that w/o a plan for "winning the peace" civil war would ensue in Iraq. But he doesn't give a shit about anybody but his daddy's buddies who've been working overtime covering his ass from the beginning.

Gyre

[DeaconBlues]

2. Funny

nobody ever writes news stories about the scores of bodies found buried after the USAF's bombing raids

[bemildred]

3. Gosh, who could have predicted this would happen?

:puke:

[Judi Lynn]

4. Interesting double standards, you must admit

The New York Times article treats the appearance of dead Iraqis which appear to be meant to deter collaboration with Americans as if this is a new low in warfare.

We apparently are faced with the dilemna of condemning and disapproving this behavior by Iraqis in their own homeland, while admiring and reveling in the wit and cleverness of our own psyops warriors, like Maj. Gen. Edward Landsdale, who wrought havoc all over the world.

These antics in the Philippines serve as excellent examples of the high contempt and disregard we have officially held for people of other cultures and racial backgrounds:

A Lansdale discussion of psy-war tactics outlined in a two-volume U.S. Army psy-war manual published in 1976 (Army Pamphlet 525-71) focuses on this conflation of terrorism with humor and makes one wonder whether the long-term damage of the terror approach has been seriously considered. The examples given also reflect a deeply condescending assumption of the target populations' simple-mindedness:

When I introduced the practical-joke aspect of psywar to the Philippine Army, it stimulated some imaginative operations that were remarkably effective.... One psywar operation played upon the popular dread of an asuang, or vampire.... When a Huk patrol came along the trail, the ambushers silently snatched the last man of the patrol.... They punctured his neck with two holes, vampire-fashion, held the body up by the heels, drained it of blood, and put the corpse back on the trail. When the Huks returned to look for the missing man and found their bloodless comrade, every member of the patrol believed that the asuang had got him and that one of them would be next.... When daylight came, the whole Huk squadron moved out of the vicinity.82

As far as Colonel Lansdale was concerned, the importance of the story was to provide an example "of tactical psywar in counter-guerrilla actions . . . to indicate that psywar need not consist of putting out leaflets or using amplified sound."83 Bohannan and Valeriano concur on the efficacy of certain terror weapons, and the mutilation of bodies: "Few weapons have quite the same effect on guerrilla morale as a pair of ice picks lashed together, used to puncture a guerrilla jugular, if the guerrilla is left for his companions to pick up. Next in effectiveness is a well- presented bayonet."84

Another Lansdale example of tactical psy-war in the Philippines was perhaps even more bizarre than the vampire operation, and was devised to terrify—and to clear the area of—an entire community. As in the previous example, there is no consideration of possible long-term negative repercussions. The operation was also seen as an unqualified success, suggesting a rather unbelievable naivete on the part of either the entire rural population of the Philippines (or Colonel Lansdale himself):

The army unit captured a Huk courier descending from the mountain stronghold to the village. After questioning, the courier, who was a native of the village, woefully confessed his errors in helping the Huks. His testimony was tape-recorded and made to sound as if his voice emanated from a tomb. The courier was killed. His body was left on the Huk-village line of communications. Soldiers in civilian clothes then dropped rumors in the village to the effect that the Huks had killed the courier. The villagers recovered the body and buried the Huk. That night army patrols infiltrated the cemetery and set up audio-equipment which began broadcasting the dead Huk's confession. By dawn, the entire village of terror-stricken peasantry had evacuated! In a few days, the Huks were forced to descend the mountain in search of food. They were quickly captured and/or killed by the army unit.85
(snip)

Instruments of Statecraft: U.S. Guerilla Warfare, Counterinsurgency, and Counterterrorism, 1940-1990

Toward a New Counterinsurgency: Philippines, Laos, and Vietnam
http://www.statecraft.org/chapter4.html

Edited to add Maj. Gen. Edward Lansdale photo.

[Blaze Diem]

5. Too much death since Bush first appeard on the scene..

Seems like death and destruction has been the overall theme since George and Dick arrived.

President Death.

[burrowowl]

6. I just love the media

scores of bodies, a score is 20, the found 32, not yet scores :mad:

[daleo]

7. You would think the U.S. could do a better job of protecting their allies

Against the wrath of their fellow countrymen.