U.S. CONTINUES TO WORK WITH IRAQI SPECIAL FORCES UNIT DESPITE EVIDENCE OF TORTURE

Despite definitive evidence that its officers have committed severe rights abuses for at least two years, the United States military continues to work with a blacklisted unit of the Iraqi special forces in operations against the Islamic State in Iraq.
ABC News obtained hours of footage last week depicting officers of the unit, the Emergency Response Division (ERD), presiding over torture and executions in Mosul late last year. The footage was captured by Ali Arkady, an Iraqi photojournalist.
‘The photos are sickening,’ Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) told ABC News in a statement. ‘They clearly depict war crimes.’
The ERD had already been blacklisted by Congress under the Leahy Act in March 2015, a law named after the aforementioned senator which is supposed to prevent the U. S. from aiding foreign groups if there is credible information that a group has ‘committed a gross violation of human rights.’ But some American commanders continue to praise the successes of the ERD, touting a ‘fruitful partnership’ with the unit.

This post was published at The Daily Sheeple on JUNE 1, 2017.