Iraq Teens Trained As Suicide Bombers

6 Boys, Aged 14-18, Say Saudi Militant Forced Them To Prepare For Suicide Operations

(CBS/AP)  The Iraqi military on Monday displayed a group of weeping teenagers who said they had been forced into training for suicide bombings by a Saudi militant in the last urban stronghold of al Qaeda in Iraq.

Four of the six boys were lined up for the media at police headquarters in the northern city of Mosul, where they said they had been training for a month to start suicide operations in early June.

The United Nations and the Iraqi and U.S. militaries say they fear that al Qaeda in Iraq is increasingly trying to use youths in attacks to avoid the heightened security measures that have dislodged the group from Baghdad and surrounding areas.

The youths, three wearing track suits and one with a torn white T-shirt, began crying as they were led into the police station.

"The Saudi insurgent threatened to rape our mothers and sisters, destroy our houses and kill our fathers if we did not cooperate with him," one of the youths, who were not identified, told reporters in Mosul, where security forces are cracking down on al Qaeda in Iraq and other Sunni insurgents.

Iraqi soldiers acting on tips found the youths, who ranged in age from 14 to 18, in the basement of an abandoned house on Monday after the Saudi militant who was training them was killed in military operations last week, deputy Interior Minister Kamal Ali Hussein said.

In April, the U.N. said rising numbers of Iraqi youths have been recruited into militias and insurgent groups, including some serving as suicide bombers. It called them "silent victims of the continued violence." There have also been several recent suicide bombings by women.

The U.S. military released several videos in February seized from suspected al Qaeda in Iraq hideouts that showed militants training children who appeared as young as 10 to kidnap and kill. The U.S. military said at the time that al Qaeda in Iraq was teaching teenage boys how to build car bombs and go on suicide missions.

Children have also been used as decoys in Iraq.

Mosul is believed to be al Qaeda in Iraq's last urban base of operations. U.S. and Iraqi forces launched a crackdown this month in the city of nearly 2 million people 225 miles northwest of Baghdad.

The boys were found during a raid in the insurgent stronghold of Sumar, one of the poorest and most dangerous neighborhoods in southeastern Mosul. Police declined to say what charges they could face pending a final investigation.

Kamal said they came from different social backgrounds, one the son of a female physician, another the son of a college professor and four who are member of poor vendors' families.

"They were trained how to carry out suicide attacks with explosive belts and a date was fixed for each one of them," Kamal said.

The U.S. military in northern Iraq said American forces were not involved and had no information about the arrests.

The Iraqi government is trying to assert control over the country with the Mosul offensive and two operations against Shiite extremists, in Baghdad's Sadr City district and the southern city of Basra.


American Casualty On Memorial Day

A U.S. soldier was killed and two others were wounded Monday in a roadside bombing in Salahuddin province north of Baghdad. The military announced that another soldier in Baghdad died due to non-combat related causes on Saturday. It did not elaborate.

The deaths raise to at least 4,082 the number of American service members who have died in Iraq since the war started in March 2003.


Political Rows May Delay Elections

Iraqi politicians squabbled Monday over a provincial elections law and warned that differences over the bill are likely to delay for at least a month the crucial vote planned for this fall that could rearrange Iraq's political map.

The elections, which choose councils for Iraq's 18 provinces, are seen as a key step in repairing the country's sectarian rifts, particularly by opening the door for greater Sunni Arab political representation.

Many Sunnis boycotted the last election for provincial officials in January 2005, enabling Shiites and Kurds to win a disproportionate share of power at their expense - even in areas with substantial Sunni populations.

The vote, which is supposed to be held by Oct. 1, could also shift the balance of power among Shiite factions. Followers of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr are hoping to make large gains in southern provinces, where many of the councils are dominated by rival Shiite parties in the ruling government coalition.

A delay in passing the law would mark a setback for U.S. efforts to get Iraqi politicians to overcome differences and hold the election.

[dixxson-2009]

We like to recant, repent, and write books
proclaiming, BUSH LIED"" and don''t say this isn''t about money, like the Grand KKK profiting from it''s memoirs.
The fact that Bush Lies is no
Great Revelation.

[tootall10142]

We should find out where these kids parents are andtakethem into protective custody then the terriost wont have them to hold hostage over the children.have the children show us where the yaretraining or kill them all!

[hungry1968]

"Iraq Teens Trained As Suicide Bombers"




So is Hillary''s press corps.....

[bluestardad]

THESE KIDS WOULD BE PLAYING SOCCER IF BUSH, CHENEY AND HIS ISRAELI AND SAUDI FRIENDS HAD NOT LIED AMERICA INTO THIS WAR!

AMERICA DEMAND WAR CRIMES TRIALS NOW!

[brianbwb-2009]

"I know exactly what your saying but this is a whole other debate than the one we''''re having and the one your trying to push it too" Posted by DSR57

Ok, as simple as I can put it.

Bush lied.

We (our military) went in solely on the basis of Bush''s lies.

We (our military) destroyed their functioning society.

We (our military) caused anarchy, and all that sprang up in it.

Therefore, we (our military, especially the Commander in Chief) is squarely to blame for all of the consequences of our invasion.

Including little kids being forced to become bombers.

Clear enough?

[dsr57]

2. No other country, including ours, has the right to go to Iraq and play out their own agenda. My point is that the outside countries weren''''t in Iraq playing out anything before the US invaded, and then were not able to protect, in fact in the case of Turkey, actually aided their invasion, to finish off the Kurds that Saddan was lynched for gassing (with US gas, by the way).


posted by brian

----------------------------------------------------

I know exactly what your saying but this is a whole other debate than the one we''re having and the one your trying to push it too

[brianbwb-2009]

"Right now I could careless about what the Saudi''''s did. You and I are talking about our military and what they get balmed for in Iraq. NOT what Saudi did or how bush lied I was talking about our military getting called "Monsters" even when a SAUDI MILITANT snuck into Iraq and is scaring kids into becoming suicide bombers." Posted by DSR57

So when we invade them, based on lies, and destroy their ability to keep such people out, then we are blameless? That is like saying Jeffrey Dahmer was blameless because John Wayne Gacy also killed people.

Like you said, what the Saudis do is irrelevant. it is what our military is doing that matters, and they do merit the blame for the mess that is Iraq.

[brianbwb-2009]

"1.) Bush didn''''t decapitate him, he went to tril with an Iraqi judge.
2.) Your skating around your own point. You said earlier that "They" ( I''''m sure you meant Iraqi''''s had a right to defend their country) The other countries are Irrelevant in the argument you and I are having. You said IRAQI''''S have the right. Not everyone has the right to go to Iraq and play out their own agenda" Posted by DSR57

1. you obviously didn''t follow the trials, Saddam had more than one hundred charges leveled against him, upon finding him guilty of the first one, the US military handed him to Moqtada Al Sadr, knowing that Al Sadr would avenge the death of his father. The other charges, if they had gone to trial would have implicated the CIA in most of them, this is why the US dictated the order in which the charges would be tried.

2. No other country, including ours, has the right to go to Iraq and play out their own agenda. My point is that the outside countries weren''t in Iraq playing out anything before the US invaded, and then were not able to protect, in fact in the case of Turkey, actually aided their invasion, to finish off the Kurds that Saddan was lynched for gassing (with US gas, by the way).

[rafterman1]

===I find that arrogant and appalling that the very same people that allow you to live in a country with freedom has to endure your libel"===
Posted by DSR57

"Allows" us? No one "allows" us freedom. The Declaration of Independence said it best that freedom is the natural state of man. The Constitution gurantees us freedom. It is high arrogance to think any one group "allows" us freedom. Freedom is ours, it belongs to everyone. And the very people you propose that are good enough to "allow" us freedom are the same ones who propose the most anti-freedom things - Patriot Act, suspension Habeas Corpus, torture, secret prisons and wiretapping of Americans.

I need to go to work now. I''ll go and ask Bush if he will "allow" me to go.

[dsr57]

So whose military made it impossible for Iraq to keep the "insurgents" as you call them, out?

posted by brian
---------------------------------------------------

What else would you call them?

You can''t exactly call them freedom fighters when the country they sneek into don''t want them there

[dsr57]

"To the best of my knowledge, we didn''''t invade Saudia Arabia. This insurgent is in Iraq from another country trying to kill their children ! ! This is NOT his war." Posted by DSR57

And it is not ours, but the "insurgent" would not be there if Bush had not allowed him in. Saudi Arabia, you say? The country of 17 of the 19 alleged hijackers, that we haven''''t invaded because they are Bush''''s "friends", and he didn''''t see fit to deal with the country the alleged hijackers actually came from, that Saudi Arabia?


Posted by brianbwb
----------------------------------------------------

Brian,

You are trying your best to get away from our original argument.

Right now I could careless about what the Saudi''s did. You and I are talking about our military and what they get balmed for in Iraq. NOT what Saudi did or how bush lied I was talking about our military getting called "Monsters" even when a SAUDI MILITANT snuck into Iraq and is scaring kids into becoming suicide bombers.

[dsr57]

"I''''''''m not sure but I don''''''''t think that constitutes as our military''''''''s fault?" Posted by DSR57

Again, had Bush not suddenly decapitated Saddam, the other countries would not be there now. they had no foothold in Iraq under Saddam, Bush opened the door.


Posted by brianbwb

---------------------------------------------------

1.) Bush didn''t decapitate him, he went to tril with an Iraqi judge.

2.) Your skating around your own point. You said earlier that "They" ( I''m sure you meant Iraqi''s had a right to defend their country) The other countries are Irrelevant in the argument you and I are having. You said IRAQI''S have the right. Not everyone has the right to go to Iraq and play out their own agenda

[brianbwb-2009]

Posted by DSR57

So whose military made it impossible for Iraq to keep the "insurgents" as you call them, out? They certainly weren''t there before the US military invaded, according to the pentagon''s own reports.

Maybe it was the Vanuatu army that bombed all important command and control structures in Iraq, and maybe it was Lichtenstein who handed Saddam over to Moqtada Al Sadr to be lynched before his trials could be held in full. Maybe it was Morocco that kidnapped and tortured Iraqis in secret concentration camps.

Maybe, but I doubt it.

[brianbwb-2009]

"To the best of my knowledge, we didn''t invade Saudia Arabia. This insurgent is in Iraq from another country trying to kill their children ! ! This is NOT his war." Posted by DSR57

And it is not ours, but the "insurgent" would not be there if Bush had not allowed him in. Saudi Arabia, you say? The country of 17 of the 19 alleged hijackers, that we haven''t invaded because they are Bush''s "friends", and he didn''t see fit to deal with the country the alleged hijackers actually came from, that Saudi Arabia?

[brianbwb-2009]

"I''''ve posted a relevant message at 4.59AM, 5/27, in the "New Al Quaeda Cell A Growing Threat" report." Posted by juwbo

Nah, I checked, it wasn''t relevant.

[brianbwb-2009]

"I''''m not sure but I don''''t think that constitutes as our military''''s fault?" Posted by DSR57

Again, had Bush not suddenly decapitated Saddam, the other countries would not be there now. they had no foothold in Iraq under Saddam, Bush opened the door.

[dsr57]

I don''''t agree that they had nothing to do with these children, the US military, under orders from Bush, directly caused the anarchy that gave rise to these children, and so it is my position that the US military had everything to do with these children."

Call me a traitor if you wish, I have been called worse, but can you show how I am not correct?

Chrrrp... chrrrp (sound of crickets)

Didn''''t think so.


Posted by brianbwb.
---------------------------------------------------


Sorry, there are a few moments out of the day that I actually have to work.

I can tell you exactly why the military is not Responsible. IS WASN"T AN IRAQI that Threatened these kids. Make sure you re-read that "NOT AN IRAQI" part

To the best of my knowledge, we didn''t invade Saudia Arabia. This insurgent is in Iraq from another country trying to kill their children ! ! This is NOT his war.

I''m not sure but I don''t think that constitutes as our military''s fault?

[juwboy]

I''ve posted a relevant message at 4.59AM, 5/27, in the "New Al Quaeda Cell A Growing Threat" report.

[brianbwb-2009]

"I don''t agree that they had nothing to do with these children, the US military, under orders from Bush, directly caused the anarchy that gave rise to these children, and so it is my position that the US military had everything to do with these children."

Call me a traitor if you wish, I have been called worse, but can you show how I am not correct?

Chrrrp... chrrrp (sound of crickets)

Didn''t think so.

[brianbwb-2009]

"Glad to see our troops cannot please you no matter what they do and in this case nothing" Posted by DSR57

I am of no consequence to be pleased, but if I had My wish, I would wish them all home, back with their families, and to see Bush, Cheney, and the rest of the people who staged this deadly farce on trial for war crimes and treason.