Posted on 04/30/2004 7:24:20 AM PDT by mondoman
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 News' 60 Minutes II.
Last month, the U.S. Army announced 17 soldiers in Iraq, including a brigadier general, had been removed from duty after charges of mistreating Iraqi prisoners after the photographs surfaced.
American soldiers serving as military police at Abu Ghraib took the pictures. The investigation started when one soldier got them from a friend, and gave them to his commanders. The Army investigated, and issued a scathing report.
In March, the Army announced that six members of the 800th Military Police Brigade faced court-martial for allegedly abusing about 20 prisoners at Abu Ghraib. In addition to those criminal charges, the military has recommended disciplinary action against seven U.S. officers who helped run the prison.
According to the Army, one Iraqi prisoner was told to stand on a box with his head covered, wires attached to his hands. He was told that if he fell off the box, he would be electrocuted.
Some pictures show Americans, men and women in military uniforms, posing with naked Iraqi prisoners. There are shots of the prisoners stacked in a pyramid, one with a slur written on his skin in English. In some, the male prisoners are positioned to simulate sex with each other.
Another shows a detainee with wires attached to his genitals. Another shows a dog attacking an Iraqi prisoner. There is also a picture of an Iraqi man who appears to be dead — and badly beaten. In most of the pictures, the Americans are laughing, posing, pointing, or giving the camera a thumbs-up.
The images shown on Dubai-based Al-Arabiya and the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera were potentially inflammatory in an Arab world already angry at the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
Al-Jazeera introduced the pictures by saying they showed the "immoral practices" of Iraq's occupation forces. The anchor reported that some of those responsible would face trial and could be discharged from the Army.
The U.S. has stressed that the pictures violate military policy.
"Frankly, I think all of us are disappointed by the actions of the few," Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, deputy director of coalition operations in Iraq, told 60 Minutes II.
"This is wrong. This is reprehensible. But this is not representative of the 150,000 soldiers that are over here," adds Kimmitt.
U.S. allies echoed that sentiment. Prime Minister Tony Blair's office on Friday condemned the alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners of war by U.S. soldiers, but stressed the allegations did not reflect the conduct of the vast majority of coalition troops.
"The U.S. army spokesman has said this morning that he is appalled, that those responsible have let their fellow soldiers down, and those are views that we would associate the U.K. government with," Blair's official spokesman said.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said Friday he was appalled by photographs showing American troops abusing Iraqi prisoners and congratulated the United States for charging the soldiers responsible.
Blair's human rights envoy to Iraq, Ann Clwyd, also condemned the alleged abuse.
"I think they are absolutely terrible," she told British Broadcasting Corp. radio, referring to the photographs. "I am shocked."
The human rights watchdog group Amnesty International believes the problem is much more widespread, saying it has many reports of Iraqis being abused at the hands of U.S. soldiers. A spokesman says the group has requested an independent investigation.
One soldier facing a court-martial for his role in the alleged abuse wrote in a journal that commanders ignored his requests to set out rules for treating POWs and scolded him for questioning the inmates' harsh treatment.
Army Reserves Staff Sgt. Ivan "Chip" Frederick began the journal after military investigators questioned him. Iraqi prisoners were sometimes confined naked for three consecutive days without toilets in damp, unventilated cells with floors 3 feet by 3 feet, Frederick wrote.
"When I brought this up with the acting BN (battalion) commander, he stated, 'I don't care if he has to sleep standing up.' That's when he told my company commander that he was the BN commander and for me to do as he says," Frederick wrote.
Lt. Cmdr. Nicholas Balice, spokesman for the Central Command said he couldn't comment on Frederick's writings, but that the allegations against him were appropriately investigated.
Frederick told 60 Minutes II by phone that he will plead not guilty, claiming the way the Army was running the prison led to the abuse of prisoners.
"We had no support, no training whatsoever. And I kept asking my chain of command for certain things … like rules and regulations," says Frederick. "And it just wasn't happening."
The Baltimore Sun's Friday editions identified two other soldiers facing court-martial. The newspaper cited unidentified Army officials in naming Sgt. Javal S. Davis, 26. His wife, who also spoke to the newspaper, defended her husband.
"We really don't know how those prisoners are behaving," said Zeenithia Davis, who is in the Navy in Mississippi. "There's a line between heinous war crimes and maintaining discipline."
A Sun reporter on Thursday showed a photo of one of the nude prisoner scenes to Terrie England, who recognized her daughter, reservist Lynndie R. England, 21, standing in the foreground with her boyfriend.
The alleged abuses of prisoners were "stupid, kid things — pranks," Terrie England said. "And what the (Iraqis) do to our men and women are just? The rules of the Geneva Convention, does that apply to everybody or just us?"
©MMIV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
I read in a similar news article (couldn't find it mentioned in this article) that the soldier quoted here is a corrections officer in his civilian job. Now I understand that his leadership deserves blame for not providing the proper instruction to the soldiers. However, it seems like this individual at least should know that this type of behavior regarding the prisoners would be far from appropriate.
But then again, I would say it was a no-brainer that this type of behavior would be forbidden.
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