Militants Post Images Of Mass Killing In Iraq

The Islamic militants who overran cities and towns in Iraq last week posted graphic photos that appeared to show their gunmen massacring scores of captured Iraqi soldiers, while the prime minister vowed Sunday to "liberate every inch" of captured territory. ● The pictures on a militant website appear to show masked fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, loading the captives onto flatbed trucks before forcing them to lie face-down in a shallow ditch with their arms tied behind their backs. The final images show the bodies of the captives soaked in blood after being shot at several locations. Chief military spokesman Lt. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi confirmed the photos' authenticity and said he was aware of cases of mass murder of captured Iraqi soldiers in areas held by ISIL. He told The Associated Press that an examination of the images by military experts showed that about 170 soldiers were shot to death by the militants after their capture. Captions on the photos showing the soldiers after they were shot say "hundreds have been liquidated," but the total could not immediately be verified. [Photo: Associated Press/ HuffPo]

RT.com: ISIS 'execute' 1,700 Iraqi soldiers, post gruesome pictures
Daily Bhaskar: Horrific: More than 1,700 Iraqi government soldiers executed in cold blood, claims ISIS

James Cogan ■ Civil war escalates in Iraq amid reports of sectarian massacres || ISIS-linked sources claimed over the weekend to have executed 1,700 Shiite soldiers, police and government officials captured in the Tikrit area. The claims were accompanied by images of terrified prisoners standing in front of shallow trenches and facing what appeared to be a firing squad of ISIS fighters. Other images show mounds of bodies tossed into trenches. [...] The Obama administration’s response to the catastrophic consequences of the US invasions and intrigues in the Middle East is to prepare to unleash more death and destruction. The aircraft carrier George HW Bush and support ships have deployed into the Persian Gulf to provide “additional flexibility should military options be required.”

Patrick Martin ■ Obama responds to Iraq debacle with military escalation || The New York Times, which played a key role in promoting the Iraq war lies, has taken the lead in this campaign, publishing two columns Sunday, one by Nicholas Kristof and the other by Thomas Friedman, absolving the United States for the worsening catastrophe in Iraq. Kristof writes: “The debacle in Iraq isn’t President Obama’s fault. It’s not the Republicans’ fault. Both bear some responsibility, but, overwhelmingly, it’s the fault of the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri Kamal al-Maliki.” Friedman pronounces: “Maliki had a choice—to rule in a sectarian way or in an inclusive way—and he chose sectarianism. We owe him nothing.” What a grotesque exercise in buck-passing! Who installed Maliki? His regime was the culmination of the supposed transformation of Iraq into a “democracy.” His election was hailed as a great success, first by George W. Bush, who launched the war, and then by Obama, who completed it on the schedule laid down by his predecessor. The US military and media suppressed reports of Maliki’s repressive methods. Throughout, the United States deliberately encouraged sectarian divisions.

xymphora ■ "New York Times says 'Lack Of Major Wars May Be Hurting Economic Growth'" The United States continues to go through the largest and most disastrous economic experiment in history and has definitively determined that wars - in this case, Wars For The Jews - completely wreck and ransack an economy. In fact, I would argue that the American inability to look after things like its infrastructure, education, and health care, despite being the richest country that has ever existed, is determined entirely by a real lack of wealth, wealth which has been poured down the Jew-hole. All the blocking of reforms blamed on right-winger obstructionism (generally explained in terms of 'values') is really just a reflection of what nobody wants to admit, the money is gone and Americans really can no longer afford 'nice things'. It is logically impossible to be 'progressive' and not also an 'anti-Semite'. [...] "The seven people who need to STFU about Iraq right now"

Robert Creamer ■ Only Two Words for Neo-Con Critics of Obama Iraq Policy: Brazen Chutzpah

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