Al-Qaeda Drawings of Torture.

1. Kct
   May 28th, 2007 at 10:24 am

   Probably they are copies taken away of Guantanamo.

2. John
   May 28th, 2007 at 10:36 am

   I had thought Islamists abhorred art that depicted the human image and yet these drawings appear to have been done by an artist -not a very good artist, but one who has practiced drawing people. And the drawings themselves are strikingly dramatic. It looks more like a comic book than a manual. And why would you need a manual to learn how to be inhumane? If you're in that frame of mind, your imagination is all you need to commit torture. I question the veracity of this manual. Or, if it is real, I question how true to hardline Islam its creators were. Sometimes people are just thugs.

3. Pharaoh Chromium
   May 28th, 2007 at 11:04 am

   Something rings phony about this - look at the 2nd set of pix "Dragging victims behind cars". It looks like an Oldsmobile or something - a type of car you will never find in Iraq. A Toyota pick-up would have been more realistic.

   I'd like to see these with labels in ARABIC, but they probably don't exist. It's probably CIA bullshit, or some Mossad false flag operation.

4. Carl Huber
   May 28th, 2007 at 11:37 am

   Of course they're just thugs - a lot of the people over there are just opportunistic mercenaries and warlords who get embarassed by the religious fanatics.

5. Anita
   May 28th, 2007 at 12:57 pm

   I'm with John. These were almost certainly NOT created by al-Qaeda. These are about as real as Iraq trying to buy yellowcake from Niger. Note the torturers are in modern-like homes, wearing non-mideastern clothes, using modern appliances for their torture devices. IMO, it's not a coincidence that this came out the same weekend that Cheney was blasting and casting doubt on the Geneva Conventions.

6. timmeh!
   May 28th, 2007 at 2:45 pm

   Man,
   shit like this makes the eradication of the human race by bird flu or some such seem not quite so bad.

   Poor poor bastards.

7. skh.pcola
   May 28th, 2007 at 2:47 pm

   Anita, good on you for recognizing that Islamotards don't wear "normal" clothes, that all of them live in mud huts, and have never seen a toaster. You are a freakin' GENIUS! Also, your forensic art knowledge is stupendous, since you can tell how an artist is ideologically situated just by looking at a drawing on the internets. I am in awe of your talents.

8. Geekazoid
   May 28th, 2007 at 4:51 pm

   Anyone that's seen the numerous pictures that come from Iraq on a daily basis should know that plenty of Iraqi men wear "western" style clothing, slacks, t shirts, sweat pants/sweat shirts, shorts, sporting wear, etc. etc. etc. Iraqis also drive vehicles that resemble those older style American vehicles like oldsmobiles, etc.

9. Nora
   May 28th, 2007 at 6:43 pm

   I don't know whats more disturbing... The cruel torture displayed, or how casual and "friendly" some of the terrorists look.
   This in particular. "Clothes Iron to skin"
   http://www.thesmokinggun.com/graphics/art3/0524072torture5.jpg

   You can almost visualize the dialogue.
   Mr.Roger: "So how was your day?" *steam* "Anything interesting happen? The barber shop was quite busy, we all had a good laugh over a mixup of comb shipments." "Can you believe it? we were shipped brushes instead of combs. How whacky is that?." *steam*

   Victim: "Ahh...ahhh...ahhhh.."

   Mr.Rogers "heh heh... yeah." *Steam*

10. owen
    May 28th, 2007 at 7:41 pm

    Bogus. Like anybody (even a terrorist) is dumb enough to need diagrams to figure out how to do any of this crap. "Gee, I have no idea how to use an electric drill, can someone draw me picture??"

11. ted
    May 28th, 2007 at 8:45 pm

    This is probably not a how-to manual, but more a celebration of what they've done, or perhaps a fantasy about what they'd like to do. It almost looks like a comic strip. Perhaps it's for the entertainment of children - to put the fear of God into them.

    As mentioned above, Muslims are very big on the whole depiction of humans in art thing. Perhaps this is a way of enforcing one's power even further - by depicting the act, you enable yourself to commit the act. You make it less personal, and something that you can appear to have a casual conversation about, while torturing someone. We talk about the depiction of violence desensitizing people - perhaps this is meant to scare and get people used to the idea of torture. Perhaps it's a way to intimidate ordinary folks - this is what will happen to you!

    Perhaps somebody left their camera at home.

    And I doubt anything at Guantanomo Bay comes even close to this.

12. Bryan
    May 28th, 2007 at 9:21 pm

    Looks like Joe Pesci wrote that shit

13. Chris
    May 28th, 2007 at 11:59 pm

    to go with John, the manual could go from the Saddham era. I thought of it when I saw the chain hanging [with electricity], which was a favorite among the previous regime.

    man is an animal. only progress gives him a glimpse of "humanity"

14. Alex
    May 29th, 2007 at 12:09 am

    Err, don't forget that in addition to the drawings they also found *torture implements*. Oh yeah, and when they raided the darned place they found a victim hanging from the ceiling by chains!

15. Nicholas Dollak
    May 29th, 2007 at 10:37 am

    I see nothing here that either proves or disproves the authenticity of these pictures. Most of the arguments I've read for their being phoney have some holes in them. For example:

    Traditionally, Islam has forbidden the depiction of the human form. However, this is a reaction against idolatry, and more tolerant Muslim cultures have no problem with photographs or drawings of living things, because nobody's going to bow down and worship a drawing. Statuary seems to be in a different category, though... Anyway, you may recall that under Saddam's rule, his portrait was everywhere, his palaces were adorned with cheesy Frazetta knock-off murals of blonde ingenues being rescued by muscle-men from crocodiles & such, and bootleg videos of American films were easy to get in the markets. As bad as Saddam was, religious fundamentalism & intolerance wasn't his thing. Remember, one of the first buildings targeted by insurgents after his capture was a Catholic church in Baghdad. That would not have been there if Saddam had a problem with "other" religions. His was a very secular dictatorship.

    The clothing & buildings are actually typical of modern Baghdad. Most of the residents live in flats, like you'd find in most urban centers around the world nowadays. Robes & turbans are usually only worn for religious holidays & observances, if at all.

    Hot, dry climates can be rough on a car, but at least they don't rust out too easily. Just as in the American Southwest, you can find older-model cars still running in some Middle-Eastern countries. Their guts are probably completely replaced, but the bodies stay intact until one has a bad accident. The Oldsmobile doesn't surprise me. Or maybe it was the easiest kind of car for the artist (I'm using the term loosely) to draw.

    Ted (#11) probably hit the nail on the head as for the purpose of these drawings: part instructive, mostly fantasy. Yes, these tortures very likely were carried out. Maybe it helped to have a "list of options." Maybe it was also to frighten their captives. Keep in mind that strong, brave men do not torture people --- only weak cowards do, to overcompensate when they get the upper hand on someone. (I know, this is of no comfort to the victim! I'm just elucidating here.) A brave person would see no honor in fighting an opponent who is crying and wetting his pants. But a bully would find it funny and would have an easier time carrying his crime even further, into torture & death.

    A final word before I sign off: Despite what the insurgents might say about God and faith, they are full of horse puckey if this is what they are doing. The Qur'an plainly states that God instructed us to not kill. Any attempt to circumvent this Commandment with excuses or exceptions counts as blasphemy as far as Islam is concerned. Anyone who makes excuses in order to commit murder is obviously ashamed of the facts: they are frustrated and are too stupid to think of a more constructive solution. And anyone who takes pleasure in torturing & killing has definitely gone off the deep end.

16. scot
    May 29th, 2007 at 3:56 pm

    At least they aren't piling naked people on top of each other. Now that's real torture. Just ask any liberal.

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