“The 21st century Nazis”


Following up developments in Iraq under the occupation, you all must be familiar with a term that has repeatedly appeared on news reports during the past two years: The Triangle of Death, the area south of the Iraqi capital, which constitutes the three towns of Yosfiya, Mahmoodiya and Latifiya, stated an editorial by Sabah Ali from Brussels Tribunal.

Contrary to how this area; The Triangle of Death or the Death Triangle has been portrayed in mainstream media, it has nothing to do with death- It is located in one of the greenest, most beautiful and peaceful areas of Iraq, with fruit orchards,vegetable farms where the Tigris and the Euphrates and the rural areas that engulf hundreds of small villages. The Area south of Baghdad used to be one of the most important industrial areas in the war torn country,but it is now branded Triangle of Death by the occupying government, Washington, due to the hideous amount of attacks the three countries witnessed since the war was launched in March 2003.
The region, inhabited by a mixture of Shia and Sunni tribes, as almost everywhere else in Iraq, has become a death zone for many Iraqis, including members of the security services, the invading troops, and other workers including members of humanitarian organisations.


Before the occupation the region never witnessed any sectarian tensions whatsoever. But since the invading forces arrived in the country, massive military operations were regularly took place there, as well as horrible stories of arrests, torture, and mass killing, not only by the American troops, but also by the Iraqi police and Army units.

Yosfiya, which lies almost 30 kilometers south of the Iraqi capital, houses the American military base, and prison where all Iraqi detainees are usually kept, to be moved later into bigger prisons like Abu Ghraib or Camp Bucca in Um Qasr (near Basra).

The writer described mountains of garbage thrown on both sides of the highway. Beyond that is the car graveyard, where destroyed vehicles are gathered to be sold for the cheapest price.

The way to Yosfiya, which used to take 15 minutes, takes now at least 1.30 hour.
“The driver said it was impossible to reach Qaraghool village as it is now besieged by the Iraqi and American troops for 3 months”.

"This is the point", we objected, "We want to see how the villagers are surviving there"

"Not today please, trust me you cannot go today" he said.

“Our first stop was Nasser Shneiter village, on the eastern side. This is no more than 14 houses of farmers from one family: Nasser, a Shia family from Beni Saad tribe. On the dusty side way, a deserted house was destroyed, the walls split, the windows smashed, the okras left to dry un plucked, so are the cotton trees. The driver explained that the house was raided, bombed by sound bombs, two men were arrested, one of them, Nektal Rahman Adaay was killed during the arrest. The families, 12, are now living with relatives”.

Nothing could be seen or heard except dogs’ barking.

The Iraqi police Special Forces, Al-Hussein Brigades, came at dawn, in some 20 pick ups- They were hit from a place behind the Yosfiya Water Project. Tens of them were killed and their cars were burnt in a battle that went on for 3 hours.

Same day, more forces, accompanied by the American troops and helicopters, raided the houses, killed and arrested the men, humiliated the families, killed the cows and chicken, destroyed the yards, and set the village on fire.

"They dragged one of the men Abbass Oeid, more than 70 years, and beat him to death. Two other man, were arrested,
Karim Motar, 50, and Riyadh Talab Jabr, 20. Their bodies were found three days later in Baghdad. They put police uniform on Karim’s body. Riyadh was naked. Both were savagely tortured, their bones, backs, and arms were smashed".

"They believed that the village was colluding with the resistance".

But Ali Nasser, another man from the village, denies the allegations.

"Some of them were not killed, they managed to run away, they can testify about what happened, actually they hid in our houses and fought from there, we gave them protection, some families served them tea and bread. They say that
the Sunnis are fighting them, we are Shia, so why they burnt our village?"

"I do not know, that is why I ask the government to come here and investigate. We have done nothing wrong, never hurt any body or broken any law. We were punished for a crime that we did not do. We were in the middle of the fire, this is our only fault"

"I want the government to hear my question and answer me: why were we treated like this? The police brigades broke even the electricity converters, we do not have power for 40 days, of course water pumps do not operate and the plants are all dead. Our animals were killed, our women humiliated."

"They ask the women where did you hide the men, they grabbed the children from their hair and throw them to the ground. Riyadh’s mother was crying and begging them to leave her son; they hit her with the gun’s end, they smashed his head with a brick in front of her eyes, now she is dying. When his body was found it was skinned… Abbass was so told that he could not even walk how he would be a terrorist!! He was beaten to death on the spot and his body was thrown in the drainage. When they searched the houses they did not find any indication that any of them had any thing to do with terrorism or weapons, so why? The government is working on turning every body against it. It is encouraging ordinary people to resist by treating them so savagely. They have no mercy. We have nothing left now, nothing."

Ali went to the police to complain. But the police accused the villagers of slaughtering the policemen.

-"I tried to save something, but I could not, they would not let me. They came in four helicopters and surrounded the whole area. They put the gun on my head and asked where the Mujahedeen are. They destroyed everything, even my medicines. They said you help the Mujahedeen with those medicines, and destroyed them. Troops from the police Scorpion brigade were hit in the area the day before, and they believed that we knew about the Mujahedeen ".

Washington’s response to the justified uprising against the illegal occupation in Iraq has been to unleash a wave of bloody operations, with helicopter gunships, jets, tanks and heavily armed soldiers inside the and outside the so-called Death Triangle, killing hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi men, women and children- Homes, factories and mosques have been destroyed by the merciless occupation.

Some defend Bush’s admin against accusations that it’s been acting as a fascist regime- But numerous analysts have unveiled Washington’s attempt to seize control of the Iraqi oil and implement its long-term agenda of redrawing the Middle East map in a way that serves the American and probably the Israeli interests in the region, and which America believes and had made clear in many occasions it won’t be sustained except through military “terror”, according to World Socialist Web Site.

As resistance to the invading troops intensifies and grows bolder, the occupying power responds with ever-greater violence and bloodshed- Washington has already started using methods the Nazis used to suppress the resistance movements in occupied Europe during World War II.