The Place of Dead Roads

The following article is translated from the Arabic and there is little to back it up. So it is impossible to say if it is true. If it is and is verified, then all hell will break loose. But even if it is not, it is still troubling that such articles are in circulation. That stories of the US setting up unknowing Iraqis to be car bombers might have some support can only spell trouble.

This points to the real problem caused by events at Abu Ghaib Prison, Iraqi and Bagram Air Base and Gitmo, etc. in Afghanistan. Since there hasn't been, nor should we expect, a full inquiry into the obvious maltreatments, all rumours of improper conduct by US personal can easily be believed, both here and abroad. It is not just the act that must be morally evaluated, but also the impressions they create. No act is done in isolation; its meaning is always contextual.


Translated and reprinted at the Centre for Research on Globalisation, "Combat terrorism" by causing it:

A warning to car drivers (in Arabic)
by Imad Khadduri
May 11, 2005

“A few days ago, an American manned check point confiscated the driver license of a driver and told him to report to an American military camp near Baghdad airport for interrogation and in order to retrieve his license. The next day, the driver did visit the camp and he was allowed in the camp with his car. He was admitted to a room for an interrogation that lasted half an hour. At the end of the session, the American interrogator told him: ‘OK, there is nothing against you, but you do know that Iraq is now sovereign and is in charge of its own affairs. Hence, we have forwarded your papers and license to al-Kadhimia police station for processing. Therefore, go there with this clearance to reclaim your license. At the police station, ask for Lt. Hussain Mohammed who is waiting for you now. Go there now quickly, before he leaves his shift work”.

The driver did leave in a hurry, but was soon alarmed with a feeling that his car was driving as if carrying a heavy load, and he also became suspicious of a low flying helicopter that kept hovering overhead, as if trailing him. He stopped the car and inspected it carefully. He found nearly 100 kilograms of explosives hidden in the back seat and along the two back doors.

The only feasible explanation for this incidence is that the car was indeed booby trapped by the Americans and intended for the al-Khadimiya Shiite district of Baghdad. The helicopter was monitoring his movement and witnessing the anticipated “hideous attack by foreign elements”.

The same scenario was repeated in Mosul, in the north of Iraq. A car was confiscated along with the driver’s license. He did follow up on the matter and finally reclaimed his car but was told to go to a police station to reclaim his license. Fortunately for him, the car broke down on the way to the police station. The inspecting car mechanic discovered that the spare tire was fully laden with explosives."

Original Arabic: http://www.albasrah.net/maqalat_mukhtara/arabic/0505/moradi2_110505.htm