Posted By Veiled Muslimah on/at 6/07/2007 02:02:00 PM

Assalāmu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullāhi Wabarakath,

And the suffering of Muslims goes on. A lot of people have the tendency to overlook the torture and oppression carried out by the American Army and Allies in Iraq and other Muslim Countries. They have an idealistic view about the American government and army and take in what the Media and Bush feeds them without questioning it.

Below is an excerpt from an article which talks about how interrogators torture and terrorise Iraqis and other 'suspects':

The world of the interrogator is largely closed. But three interrogators allowed a rare peek into their lives -- an American rookie who served with the 202nd Military Intelligence Battalion and two veteran interrogators from Britain and Israel. The veterans, whose wartime experiences stretch back decades, are more practiced at finding moral balance. They use denial, humor, indignation. Even so, these older men grapple with their own fears -- and with a clash of values.


In Iraq, when Tony Lagouranis interrogated suspects, fear was his friend, his weapon. He saw it seep, dark and shameful, through the crotch of a man's pants as a dog closed in, barking. He smelled it in prisoners' sweat, a smoky odor, like a pot of lentils burning. He had touched fear, too, felt it in their fingers, their chilled skin trembling.

"I tortured people," said Lagouranis, 37, who was a military intelligence specialist in Iraq from January 2004 until January 2005. "You have to twist your mind up so much to justify doing that."

Not long ago in Iraq, he felt "absolute power," he said, over men kept in cages.

Lagouranis had forced a grandfather to kneel all night in the cold and bombarded others in metal shipping containers with the tape of the self-help parody "Feel This Book: An Essential Guide to Self-Empowerment, Spiritual Supremacy, and Sexual Satisfaction," by comedians Ben Stiller and Janeane Garofalo. ("They hated it," Lagouranis recalled. "Like, 'Please! Just stop that voice!' ")

At Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, the site of the 2003-04 abuse scandal, Lagouranis used to relax in the old execution chamber. He and a friend would sit near the trapdoor and read the Arabic scratched into the wall. They found a dirty brown rope. It was the hangman's noose. "If there is an evil spot in the world, that was one of them," Lagouranis said.

At Abu Ghraib and sometimes at the facilities in Mosul, north Babil province and other places where Lagouranis worked, the Americans were shot at and attacked with mortar fire. "Then I get a prisoner who may have done it," he said. "What are you going to do? You just want to get back at somebody, so you bring this dog in. 'Finally, I got you.' "

Lagouranis's tools included stress positions, a staged execution and hypothermia so extreme the detainees' lips turned purple.

He has written an account of his experiences in a book, "Fear Up Harsh," which has been read by the Pentagon and will be published this week. Stephen Lewis, an interrogator who was deployed with Lagouranis, confirmed the account, and Staff Sgt. Shawn Campbell, who was Lagouranis's team leader and direct supervisor, said Lagouranis's assertions were "as true as true can get. It's all verifiable." John Sifton, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch, said the group investigated many of Lagouranis's claims about abuses and independently corroborated them.


"At every point, there was part of me resisting, part of me enjoying," Lagouranis said.

"Using dogs on someone, there was a tingling throughout my body. If you saw the reaction in the prisoner, it's thrilling."

In Mosul, he took detainees outside the prison gate to a metal shipping container they called "the disco," with blaring music and lights. Before and after questioning, military police officers stripped them and checked for injuries, noting cuts and bumps "like a car inspection at a parking garage." Once a week, an Iraqi councilman and an American colonel visited. "We had to hide the tortured guys," Lagouranis said.


Then a soldier's aunt sent over several copies of Viktor E. Frankel's Holocaust memoir, "Man's Search for Meaning." Lagouranis found himself trying to pick up tips from the Nazis. He realized he had gone too far.

"I couldn't make sense of the moral system" in Iraq, he said. "I couldn't figure out what was right and wrong. There were no rules. They literally said, 'Be creative.' "

"To persuade someone to confess feels better than beating him up," Sheriff said. "It's a mental orgasm."

"Interrogation is a beautiful world," Sheriff said. When Sheriff's 2-year-old was sick and his wife couldn't be at home, he brought the toddler to work and laid him in an interrogation room, on a mattress on the floor: "I put the phone next to the baby and said, 'When you want Daddy, push this button.' "

"Two brothers, they could've died because we were inducing hypothermia," he said. As Lagouranis was leaving Abu Ghraib, he told one of the brothers: " 'I'm sorry. I'll always consider you a friend,' He gave me a look -- he probably wanted to kill my entire family. I spent a lot of time torturing him, but also talking."

You can read the whole article here: Article

May Allah subhanna wa ta'ala torture them and punish them as they punish Muslims.

May they never get a moment of sleep or peace.

May Allah subhanna wa ta'ala destroy the oppressors and give victory to the Muslims.

May Allah subhanna wa ta'ala give those who suffered a great reward and those who died at their hands the status of the shuhada.

Allahumma Ameen.

وَمَن يَقۡتُلۡ مُؤۡمِنً۬ا مُّتَعَمِّدً۬ا فَجَزَآؤُهُ ۥ جَهَنَّمُ خَـٰلِدً۬ا فِيہَا وَغَضِبَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَيۡهِ وَلَعَنَهُ ۥ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُ ۥ عَذَابًا عَظِيمً۬ا

And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell to abide therein, and the Wrath and the Curse of Allâh are upon him, and a great punishment is prepared for him.

Surah An-Nisa, Verse 92, The Holy Qur'an


فَقَالُواْ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ تَوَكَّلۡنَا رَبَّنَا لَا تَجۡعَلۡنَا فِتۡنَةً۬ لِّلۡقَوۡمِ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ

They said: "In Allâh we put our trust. Our Lord! Make us not a trial for the folk who are Zâlimûn (polytheists and wrong-doing)


Surah Yunus, Verse 85, the Holy Qur'an


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2 comments:

Mohammed UK said...

My dear sister,

Please forgive me for what I say, as I have no knowledge compared to what you know about the Qur'aan. Believe me when I say I share your (and all muslims') pain.

I may be wrong about what I say, so I continue to listen to you and my other muslim brothers and sisters who feel like you. Please can I request you to consider the following and perhaps we can all understand better...

Khalid bin Waleed fought and killed muslims before Allah guided him to Islam. Hind (or is it Hinda?) was brutal with her behaviour with Hamza, the uncle of the Prophet, but she came to Islam. Wahshi (not sure about the name), the assassin of Hamza was also guided. Finally, Umar was planning to MURDER the Prophet. But, Allah guided him and made him the LEADER of the muslims.


Through patience and prayer, many of the worst enemies of Islam became muslims. In our salaah, we are making ONE PARTICULAR PRAYER. In surah fatihah, we say "Guide Us..."

Perhaps, if we try to pray for guidance, if we remind each other about patience (Surah Al Asr), if we pray for mercy and not brutality , and we behave accordingly, then PERHAPS things will change. At least, it will prove that muslims are not "extremists" nor "evil".

I know that what I say is VERY DIFFICULT to do. There is a lot of pain and hurt to overcome. Can we try? Let me know what you think.

May Allah guide us all and free us from the difficulties in this life and the hereafter.

Veiled Muslimah said...

wa alaykumsalam,

I understand brother, what you are trying to say. But it is also common knowledge that the Messenger of Allah would also pray against and for the destruction of his enemies. I don't know, but after watching videos of how american soldiers would make the prisoners practice sodomy and seeing pictures of how they tortured and laughed at innocent prisoners, in my heart i cannot forgive them. Although if they come to Islam it would be a different matter. But does not Allah say in the Quran that he does not guide the unjust?

O you who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians as Auliyâ’ (friends, protectors, helpers), they are but Auliyâ’ of each other. And if any amongst you takes them (as Auliyâ’), then surely he is one of them. Verily, Allâh guides not those people who are the Zâlimûn (polytheists and wrong-doers and unjust). (51) Surah al maidah

wa allahu a3lam, although i do agree it is upto allah subhanna wa ta'ala to guide them and give them hidaaya.

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Musings, Articles and Ramblings of a Muslim Woman which range from a variety of different subjects.

Location: Dubai - United Arab Emirates.
The believers are only those who, when Allâh is mentioned, feel a fear in their hearts and when His Verses (this Qur'ân) are recited unto them, they (i.e. the Verses) increase their Faith; and they put their trust in their Lord (Alone).
Surat Al-Anfal - Verse 2
The Holy Qurán