April 01, 2008

Al Qaeda Mass Graves Found in Iraq

At first this story piqued my interest. Them I became sickened. Then angered.

You really need to read the whole thing for the full effect.

The money quote?

When you find them [al-Qaida] kill them. Kill them all.

Strong content warning: Yes, the crimes of al Qaeda in Iraq are disgusting enough that even without images you'll be sickened. I don't think I've ever given a content warning for anything like this. Ever.

Earth Times:

On Thursday, with a U.S. military escort, more than 100 volunteers from 10 villages near Himbus descended on the orchard with shovels and white bed sheets from which to make shrouds.

After only a few minutes of digging the loud talk among the men who had broken into groups became low murmurs. The only other sounds heard were shovels digging into earth, people vomiting from the stench that spread like a greasy cloud, and quiet discussions on how best to extricate the remains.

AQI had wrapped some victims in plastic or cloth before burying them. Others did without. Some had clearly been dismembered and the remains placed in separate sacks.

"The ones in plastic are really bad. They're just bags of mush," a U.S. soldier said.

The majority of those unearthed had not been decapitated. They had been bound and shot in the back of the head. The cords that bound their wrists were still there. Many skulls still had the blindfolds over the eye sockets.

It was difficult to tell how long a body had been in the ground. Some lacked all flesh; others were still decomposing. One man in a police uniform may have died just before U.S. forces pushed into the breadbasket in early January - there was body mass and flesh still on the bones holding them together, and his facial features were distinct, locked in a grimace.

Two hours of digging disinterred the original 29 bodies and at least eight more. At least 14 more were discovered and excavated Saturday during a brief two hours of digging by 40 volunteers.

"At least" is the operative phrase. Some graves contained the remains of more than one person, but with decomposition still in progress and an inordinate amount of bones entangled in pieces of clothing moistened by decaying flesh it was sometimes hard to tell how many were in the hole and no one was game to try to disentangle the mess.