Tyler Hicks of The New York TImes on A 'Liberated' Orphanage Searches for Its Children:
Al Rahma, an orphanage in northern Baghdad, was run by the state under Saddam Hussein, but is now run by clerics from the Shiite Muslim town of Najaf. They took control of the institution four days after American forces liberated Baghdad in April.
The orphanage had been home to 107 girls and boys whose parents were killed or imprisoned, or were unable to care for them. As the Americans advanced on Baghdad, they mistook the orphanage for a jail or prison and released all the children who were there.
When the original story of this 'prison' first broke, I thought it odd that no human rights groups had previously reported on a children's prison in Iraq. Its not like they'd have covered it up while reporting on other horrible human rights violations by Saddam and Co. Still, like Jesse Walker, I took the story at face value. Warbloggers, you were also fooled. That said, some of ya'll did go to extreme lengths to sell the story as evidence of your cause being just. Further, many of you used this 'prison' as justification to claim those on the anti-war side of the argument were in favor of Saddam putting children in prison. Of course, you knew that part was a frigging lie, yet it didn't stop the hyper-emotional accusations. Still, I won't expect any corrections or retractions. That would require some moral fiber, which seems to be in short supply these days.
Link courtesy of Jesse Walker.