When the Marines entered the small rural town of Karbila, Iraq they repatriated four hostages within a torture center, previously held captive by Muslim insurgents. Present within the establishment were electrical wires, a noose, handcuffs, and a 574-page manual on Jihad. According to a story filed by journalist Sabrina Tavernise, writing for the New York Times and published in the International Herald Tribune, four shackled and severely beaten Iraqis told the Marines that they’d been beaten and tortured for over four weeks.

Uncovering such places is not uncommon for American troops seeking to pacify hostile fire zones. What is unusual is that this time, the Marines actually found captive Iraqis alive. One hostage, 19-year old Ahmed Isa Fathil, told Tavernise that the insurgents killed someone everyday. Claiming that he had been held captive for 22 days, Fathil said the insurgents never questioned him, but told him everyday that they were going to kill him.

The Jihad manual, entitled The Principles of Jihadist Philosophy was a well-worn paperback written in Arabic; it included instructional materials such as “How to select the best hostage,” and “The Legitimacy of Cutting the Infidel’s Heads.” [Is anyone willing to place a bet that the Jihad manual is a production of Saudi Arabia?] Explosives handling instructions were also uncovered, along with three automobiles already rigged to become car-bombs.

When the Marines discovered the four badly beaten hostages, they called for medical evacuation helicopters to transport them to a proper care facility. In spite of severe wounds to his face and arms, leftover reminders of his captivity, the young Fathil asked not to be evacuated; he instead asked for assistance in relocating his family away from Karbila to a safer location.

In spite of the political rhetoric being spewed out by such people as Senator Durbin (Illinois) and Senator Leahy (Vermont), it is readily apparent to me which side of this conflict represents the good guys, and which side represents the bad. For the record, our soldiers and Marines are the good guys. Risking death, they move in to areas controlled by deadly insurgents to kill these people, which is the only sure method of providing local Iraqis with any chance of a peaceful future.

Normal people, absent a political agenda, should be able to recognize a “gulag” when they see one. It isn’t the building, necessarily, but how it is used that makes the difference. The detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is NOT a gulag — but small houses used as torture facilities in such places as Fallujah, Mosul, and Karbila most certainly are. One fact that stands out, however; these torture facilities are not operated by the Armed Forces of the United States. They are being run by that “peaceful religion” — you know, the one represented by the soldiers of Allah.

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