Torture and desecration of US soldiers

New York Red · May 18, 2007

We can aregue until we are blue in the face about the legitimacy of the war and of the crimes committed at Abu Ghraib. But, this is absolute barbarism. This was inflicted on two soldiers captured after the rape and nurder of an Iraqi girl and her family. A despicable act in itself.

US military spokesmen noted that the bodies were "remains" that were so badly disfigured and mutilated that they were not able to determine the cause of death. The bodies were sent back to the US for DNA identification and this morning the families of both soldiers were notified that the remains had been positively ID's as those of Menchaca and Tucker. There will also be an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.

An article in the Houston Chronicle quoted a relative of Menchaca's as saying that an Army spokesman had told him on Tuesday morning that both men had in fact been decapitated. The MSM is now quoting Army officials confirming that one, or possibly both men were decapitated.

Apparently, the initial results of the autopsy are being leaked. According to a group called Sons of Washington, the decapitation of Menchaca and Tucker was the coup de grace, and was done while they were still conscious.

However, a New York Times article on Friday, June 23, quoted Menchaca's relatives as saying that the military had told them that both soldiers were probably killed in the gunbattle at the scene. The bodies were then desecrated afterwards to make it appear that they had been tortured to death. This would contradict a witnesses' statement who said he had seen guerrillas away from the scene and placing them in cars.

The relative also said that only one soldier had been decapitated, not both.

On Wednesday afternoon, a post on the Free Republic website quoted Fox News military analyst Colonel David Hunt as saying that the 2 men had had their toes and fingers chopped off and their livers and intestines were removed and spilled onto the ground. According to the blog Blue Star Chronicles, the men also had their tongues cut out.

A Fox News columnist, E.D. Hill, said that the soldiers had their hearts cut out, their eyes gouged out, their noses and ears cut off and their penises and testicles cut off and stuffed in their mouths. Malott's Blog said the soldiers were burned with cigarettes and had their arms pulled out of their sockets.

There are also reports that they were dragged behind vehicles.

The blog The Further Adventures of Indigo Red reports that they were covered in garbage and surrounded by several roadside bombs.

These guys sound like Hannibal Lectors, not guerrillas.

There are claims that the government is covering up the details of the torture done to Menchaca and Tucker to protect their families. That seems reasonable enough, but the details are bound to get out anyway.

Nice people, those Iraqi Al Qaeda guys.

This blog issues its deepest condolences to the friends and family of the 2 murdered soldiers.

Other soldiers were injured and killed in the search for Tucker and Menchaca. Spc. Joshua Gutierrez was driving a Bradley armored vehicle north of Iskandariyah (see my map linked in the first paragraph) as part of the mission to search for the troops when the vehicle hit a roadside bomb.

The cockpit area of the Bradley was engulfed in flames and Gutierrez was unable to open the hatch at the back to let the troops out. Nor could he get himself out, because both of his legs were broken.

But another soldier jumped out and pulled Gutierrez out of the vehicle. Gutierrez suffered serious injuries in the attack and had part of one of his legs amputated.

During the search, US troops swarmed into the area around Jurf as Sakhr, an area that has not seen many US troops in recent days. A resident said there was a Humvee in front of every house.

US forces are launching an investigation to determine why the soldiers' Humvee was alone outside their base. In Iraq, most US military vehicles, even Abrams tanks, tend to travel in pairs. Apparently, the other vehicles in the soldiers' patrol left Menchaca and Taylor alone while the other vehicles were inspecting traffic. This is possibly a violation of the Army procedure above that all US military vehicles travel at least in pairs.

cymrococh · May 18, 2007

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