Come with me Mrs Hussein
I remember one of those pointless blogosphere debates a few months' back when I asked a proponent of using torture whether in theory he would -- on utilitarian or other grounds -- support the use of torture on the innocent wife of suspected terrorist, in order to coerce the suspected terrorist. Of course not was the reply.It's not quite torture (one hopes) but targeting wives and daughters* is no longer a theoretical concern**...
BAGHDAD -- Over the past six weeks a small but intense war has been conducted in the mud-hut villages and lush palm groves along the Tigris River valley, fought with far different methods than those used in the campaign that toppled president Saddam Hussein.
As Iraqi fighters launched guerrilla strikes, the U.S. Army adopted a more nimble approach against unseen adversaries and found new ways to gather intelligence about them, according to dozens of soldiers and officers interviewed over the last week.
Col. David Hogg, commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division, said tougher methods are being used to gather the intelligence. On Wednesday night, he said, his troops picked up the wife and daughter of an Iraqi
lieutenant general. They left a note: "If you want your family released, turn yourself in." Such tactics are justified, he said, because, "It's an intelligence operation with detainees, and these people have info." They would have been released in due course, he added later.
The tactic worked. On Friday, Hogg said, the lieutenant general appeared at the front gate of the U.S. base and surrendered.
* It's possible the wife and daughter were not innocent though there is nothing to suggest otherwise.
** Assuming the US troops did not torture the wife and daughter; certainly one assumes they intended to give the lieutentant that idea.
posted by Matthew @ 7/29/2003 09:20:00 AM
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