Iraq: Listening to the Survivors

The killing of Saddam Hussein’s lawyers and the Iraqi testimonies
Paola Pisi and Gabriele Zamparini (*)

...We agree with Fuller when he writes that "under an image of al-Sadr's father and firing some shots in the air does not constitute proof of guilt acceptable in any courtroom in the world", but we have tried to demonstrate that that image has a context and it’s only the last and the least piece in a larger picture designed by a series of concordant testimonies. Of course whoever is responsible, they couldn't have openly abducted Khamis al-Obeidi and outraged his corpse in Sadr City, in total impunity, without the complicity of the MOI [Ministry of the Interior] and the occupation forces (...) In a spirit of solidarity with the Iraqi People’s Just Struggle for freedom and independence against the US-led illegal invasion-occupation of Iraq, the "crime against the peace, for which there is responsibility under international law", we would like to appeal to our brothers and sisters in the international ANTI-war-occupation movement to listen carefully to the Iraqi People without patronizing them. We believe these questions are extremely urgent and must be addressed without further delay. In Iraq the carnage is going on and it’s time to question the role of all these militias and death squads and their relation with the occupying Power. Among other death squads and militias, a truly independent investigation must question the Badr Organisation [the armed wing of the Shia Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq] and the Mehdi Army [the militia of the Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr] within the frame of the US-led occupation and its puppet Iraqi government of which Moqtada al-Sadr with his religious party is one of the most important components...

continua / continued