I still think this is a false report.

Yes, is there any other confirmation of this story? I've looked and have not found any. You'd think this would be a headliner...

A quarter century of unabated tyranny. The pits of filth that has accumulated in that country is both thick and deep. Years and years from now we will probably still be hearing of things that will be more than enough to make a person pause.

I dunno. Straits Times has a good rep - I've seen it cited in WSJ and the old CSM, as well as in many monthlies through the decades. NTL, one would expect some sort of confirmation/duplication/whatever on a story this hot.

Please fix link the protocol part has an extra letter;

lhttp://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/topstories/story/0,4386,183437,00.html

This was posted yesterday, and there still is no other headlines about this

Haven't seen anything on the network news.

this is a bullshit article it was posted the other day as well....i bit on it the other day i wont today....

i tink dis one is not true
foxnews would be all over it

but i did like the part where they said they stayed alive by EATING THE SCABS OFF THERE SORES....i wonder what kind of infections they had?. probably scurvy?. but then there teeth would have fallen out so they could'nt have chewed up any scabs. any one else out there help me think up some infections?. anyhow probably not much nourishment in scabs...rats would have been a nice treat....well tonight is sure a slow news night....

I'm sticking by Matt Olsen's comments.

yummy, scabs! think I'll go make a scab sandwich
maybe they had chick pox scabs
do they taste like chicken?

Maybe if they dried them out good, they would be crunchy like miniature potato chips

james looks like the people deserted the command post like and just as fast as the republican gaurd....i didnt think they would get that pissed because they changed the format....well looks like this web blog is gonna go belly up...

Link's now fixed, BTW.

I disagree that this site is drastically deteriorating--it's still a good source of info and overall amount of posting is reasonable, albeit diminished.

Nevertheless, the Strait Times story is bogus. Strait Times still keeps it on file, but it's been off their Main News page and even off their Iraq page. It appears that their reporter Derwin P. bit on a wild rumor (Why so many tanks in one place? Excavation of prisoners!) that several onlookers claimed to have seen first-hand. Note that in the story it is only the word of onlookers--there is no official confirmation of anything. No doctors, no prisoners, and nothing seen by the reporter himself, and notably, the U.S. Army itself would not confirm this, and was even blocking the view of the reporter and supposed onlooking "witnesses"--who were apparently looking for their long-lost relatives with their tortured, oppressed, hearts and not their eyes.

Below is link to article on iraqi's digging to try to locate a prison.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/middleeast/view/37598/1/.html

This article has claims to prisoner recoverys where the prisoners had been held since GW1

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,6284403%255E25778,00.html

I tried a search, thats all i could come up with yesterday. Hope it helps. And YES I believe that the US media would be all over it if it was valid.

Mati

Below is link to article on iraqi's digging to try to locate a prison.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/middleeast/view/37598/1/.html

This article has claims to prisoner recoverys where the prisoners had been held since GW1

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,6284403%255E25778,00.html

I tried a search, thats all i could come up with yesterday. Hope it helps. And YES I believe that the US media would be all over it if it was valid.

Mati

This story had over 80 comments yesterday, and I couldn't find it last night when I looked for it. Maybe they temporarily yanked it and reposted it today. I did a search and read Derwin Pereira's other articles. In one in the (China) Straights Times, his boss was defending an article he wrote regarding dictator Suharto. She was saying that his article was not based on rumors from government insiders, his article was based on rumors common in the street.
Conclusion: this man knows how to increase readership. The person who says he is a respectable journalist is probably him, using a false name.
PS Wouldn't it be great if his story turned out true.

There is another report similar to this from the Australian. See the report at time 7:29 AM EST. That report mentions an Iraqi and a news conference at the Palestine Hotel.

Using google, I found a number of middle east news services and TV stations covering a story of 18 people freed in Baghdad. Some call it a bomb shelter, others call it a cell. Some say they were Kuwaitis from Gulf War I, others say political prisoners. I'm guessing this is what Derwin heard but the second hand info was distorted and he posted before checking.