In other words: A discussion of The Bush Administration
Creating Enemies
How you make the next generation of terrorists
OUTRAGE AT AMERICAN TORTURE OF IRAQI PRISONERS
VIDEO footage of US soldiers torturing Iraqi prisoners of war horrified America yesterday.
I hope so. I do hope America is horrified. It should be.
Other captives were forced to pose in humiliating positions, some of them simulating sex acts, as soldiers gave the thumbs up.
Army Reserve Staff Sergeant Chip, who is accused of striking detainees and ordering them to beat each other, was seen sitting on a prisoner.
He allegedly boasted in an email to his family: "We had a very high rate with our styles of getting them to talk. They ended up breaking within hours."
Yesterday Frederick said he would deny abuse, claiming he was not shown Geneva Convention rules on how to treat captives.
He said: "We had no support, no training whatsoever.
"I kept asking my chain of command for things like rules and regulations. It just wasn't happening." The soldiers, from the 800th Military Police Brigade, were arrested after the video images were sent to a friend who handed them to authorities.
The friend told investigators: "There are some things going on at Abu Ghraib that I can't live with."
Brig Gen Kimmitt said: "These pictures may reflect the actions of individuals. But, by God, it doesn't reflect my army.
Okay - given that war does bad things to good people, given that Frederick might have had bad training, given that Frederick wasn't getting information about rules and regulations; did he still think having prisoners beat each other up was okay?
US general suspended over abuse
(thank god)
A US general has been suspended in Iraq over the alleged abuse of prisoners by US troops in jails she ran
CBS says the pictures it obtained show a wide range of abuses, including:The prison where the abuses are alleged to have taken place was a notorious torture centre during the Saddam Hussein era.
- Prisoners with wires attached to their genitals
- A dog attacking a prisoner
- Prisoners being forced to simulate having sex with each other
- A detainee with an abusive word written on his body.
Bob Baer, a former CIA operative with extensive Iraq experience, told CBS: "If there [was] ever a reason to get rid of Saddam Hussein, it's Abu Ghraib [prison]."
"When in Rome do like a Roman" does not carry much wait in a military court.
And for more interesting facts of the story, I again have to link to a British paper:
US military in torture scandal
Use of private contractors in Iraqi jail interrogations highlighted by inquiry into abuse of prisoners
The US army confirmed that the general in charge of Abu Ghraib jail is facing disciplinary measures and that six low-ranking soldiers have been charged with abusing and sexually humiliating detainees.
Lawyers for the soldiers argue they are being made scapegoats for a rogue military prison system in which mercenaries give orders without legal accountability.
A military report into the Abu Ghraib case - parts of which were made available to the Guardian - makes it clear that private contractors were supervising interrogations in the prison, which was notorious for torture and executions under Saddam Hussein.
One civilian contractor was accused of raping a young male prisoner but has not been charged because military law has no jurisdiction over him.
Welcome to Rumsfeld's army of the future: "Contractors" [mercenaries] that can act with impunity, and even our military must stand back and look on in horror. He has weakened us, this administration has weakened us: morally, financially, militarily.
And we have just supplied al Quaeda with their new recruitment video:
Arab Stations Show Iraqi Prisoner Images
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Arab television stations led their newscasts Friday with photographs of Iraqi prisoners being humiliated by U.S. military police, with one main channel saying the pictures were evidence of the "immoral practices" of American forces.
The images, which document alleged abuses that have led to charges against six American soldiers, were first broadcast Wednesday night in the United States on CBS'"60 Minutes II."
The images shown on Dubai-based Al-Arabiya and the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera channels blurred the nudity of the prisoners.
The images were potentially inflammatory in an Arab world already angry at the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Arabs consider public nudity as dishonorable.
- rob 10:23 AM - [PermaLink] -
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