“En eles” - in traditional Arabic it means chewed up

According to a NYTimes article this morning describing Iraqi's terror at the sight of Iraqi uniforms, that phrase "en eles" is the way that Iraqis describe people who disappear due to the secret police or militias. They've been chewed up.

As the bodies of the missing are almost always found tortured and mutilated, it's quite a descriptive phrase. It also gives the violence form as some great beast that is preying on the people of Iraq.

En eles. They've been chewed up.

(Sorry for so much Iraq this morning, but that's what's got my attention this morning. Also, Rumsfeld is testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee this morning. On CSpan right now. internet video.)