Allawi: Abuse as bad as Saddam era

Practical lessons in the maxim that perception is reality:

Ex-PM: Abuse as bad as Saddam era

LONDON, England -- Human rights abuses in Iraq are as bad as they were under Saddam Hussein if not worse, former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi has said.

"People are doing the same as (in) Saddam's time and worse," Allawi said in an interview published in Britain on Sunday.

"It is an appropriate comparison," Allawi told The Observer newspaper. "People are remembering the days of Saddam. These were the precise reasons that we fought Saddam and now we are seeing the same things."

And continuing:

"A lot of Iraqis are being tortured or killed in the course of interrogations," Allawi said. "We are even witnessing Sharia courts based on Islamic law that are trying people and executing them.

"The Ministry of the Interior is at the heart of the matter," Allawi said. "I am not blaming the minister himself, but the rank and file are behind the secret dungeons and some of the executions that are taking place."

In highlighting this article, I am not slamming our troops, or neccessarily denigrating our efforts there. I am examining the fact that a former prime minister of Iraq is saying that the human rights situation in Iraq is as bad as it was under Saddam. That should give us all here in the American cheap seats a long pause.

Our influence in Iraq is stretched past its capacity to change the course of events there. An extended stay comes with the likelyhood of an expanding list of atrocities - more white phosphorous, more gunned down civilians, more exposed dungeons. Yes we will kill some of the fraction of the insurgency that represents Al Qaeda. But right or wrong, every single abuse that happens in Iraq is branded with a bright American Flag. Even if we win the battles, we will continue to lose the war for the people's trust. Though a precipitous withdrawl could be destructive, it may be the least nauseating choice in a vomitous buffet set out by the current administration.