Tuesday, January 08, 2008

A micro-insurgency grows in Iraq prisons

More than 30,000 Iraqi's have been detained over the last year by American military personnel, and many are still awaiting release. The Christian Science Monitor recently released an article including a statement from General Doug Stone which expressed fears that the majority of detainees, who are primarily motivated by money not by a desire to incite violence, may be reeducated by more radical detainees who are actually in bed with the insurgency.

At the moment, there are three primary detention facilities in Iraq: The famed Abu Ghraib, Camp Bucca near Basra and Camp Cropper in Baghdad. All of these facilities have become overpopulated in recent months since US-led forces ramped up their efforts since the troop surge in January of 2007 and implemented the Baghdad Security Plan.

General Petraeus and the Pentagon hold that the release of even the most moderate detainees needs to be a slow process to secure a tight net and guard against the accidental release of violent insurgents. But many are calling for an immediate release of suspected nonviolent prisoners to ease the overburdened prison system in Iraq and warn that unjust detention will have a severe backlash effect if the US-led forces aren't careful.

"If you roll up 150 guys in a village and you don't have probable cause you've just created 150 terrorists," Marine Commandant General James Conway said after he visited Bucca in November.

Read more.

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