Death squads operated from inside Iraqi government, officials say
By Matthew Schofield
Knight Ridder Newspapers
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Senior Iraqi officials Sunday confirmed for the first time that death squads composed of government employees had operated illegally from inside two government ministries.
"The deaths squads that we have captured are in the defense and interior ministries," Minister of Interior Bayan Jabr said during a joint news conference with the Minister of Defense. "There are people who have infiltrated the army and the interior."
There had been rumblings about the existence of such death squads for many months - always denied by Iraqi government officials. For average Iraqis, now in an extremely unstable environment and with memories of Saddam's death squads, the chill of this news must be horrifying. It's becoming more difficult with each passing day to determine who to trust and with this new taste of democracy and so-called freedom, one has to wonder how long this frail government will actually last in the face of such damning revelations.
Count on the White House reaction to be one of reminding the Iraqi government to take responsibility while claiming that these death squads consisted of "a few bad apples" - absolving the WH from any blame once again as it continues to distance itself from everything Iraqi.
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