Today in Iraq: Torture site may be linked to security forces

USA Today reports today the discovery of a "blood soaked torture chamber" with possible links to Iraqi security forces after U.S troops found Interior Ministry badges and saw Iraqi police guarding a torture site. After spending billions of dollars training Iraqi forces to secure Iraq, President Bush's failed foreign policies have left it in the middle of a civil war. Democrats believe we need a new direction in Iraq, one that places responsibility on the Iraqi government and security forces to protect all Iraqi people.

Torture site may be linked to security forces;
Soldiers find badges, see a policeman at compound
BY: Rick Jervis
USA TODAY
October 3, 2006

"U.S. and Iraqi troops conducting a raid in Baghdad found a blood-soaked torture chamber that may have been operated by a Shiite Muslim militia with ties to the government.

"'Soldiers found Interior Ministry badges in the compound, and U.S. forces saw an Iraqi policeman on the roof of the compound before Sunday's raid,' said Lt. Col. Avanulas Smiley, 40, a battalion commander who led U.S. troops in the raid.

"...The biggest challenge for U.S. and Iraqi forces now is tackling religious violence that has pitted Sunnis against Shiites, particularly in the capital. "Violence carried out by Sunni and Shiite factions appeared to be carving Baghdad, and the country as a whole, into sectarian zones, protected by various armed groups," said a report last week by An-thony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies..."

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