Iraqi Prisoner Details Abuse by Americans

Washington Times ^ | 5/02/04 | AP

[kattracks]

NAJAF, Iraq (AP) -- Dhia al-Shweiri spent several stints in Baghdad's notorious Abu Ghraib prison, twice under Saddam Hussein's rule and once under American. He prefers Saddam's torture to the humiliation of being stripped naked by his American guards, he said Sunday in an interview with The Associated Press.

[steplock]

funny how the ap gets first person accounts of ANY enemy of the U.S.A. but can't get any facts correct.

Facts? What a facts?

[adam_az]

Al-Shweiri said that while jailed by Saddam's regime, he was electrocuted, beaten and hung from the ceiling with his hands tied behind his back.

"But that's better than the humiliation of being stripped naked," he said. "Shoot me here," he added, pointing between his eyes, "but don't do this to us."

Duh, this is starting to sound like a big nothing. Humiliating terrorists to get info out of them isn't torture.

[jocon307]

Why did we let this little shi-ite out of prison?

[annyokie]

Oh, for crying out loud. They were strip searched like every other prisoner.

What a bunch of Islamoweinies they are.

[In_25_words_or_less]

He prefers Saddam's torture to the humiliation of being stripped naked by his American guards

Plastic shredder feet first is better?

[EggsAckley]

I'd say the REAL torture was being a GI in the presence of a bunch of stinky, nekkid Ar-abs.

[annyokie]

No lie! LOL

How've you been? I haven't talked to you for a while.

[bin2baghdad]

Uh - it's possible that THIS person's story is one of simply being searched. Wouldn't a strip search be sorta mandatory?

The weakness of this man's story doesn't lessen the severity of the charges leveled in the New Yorker story or the pictures released by CBS. These pictures do not appear to be strip searches, but prison guards getting their jollies at the expense of those in their custody. If reality mathces appearances, it's wrong, wrong, wrong. Professional soldiers do not behave this way.

[dennisw]

More Islamic psychobabble.... But maybe there's a silver lining here. Can we get our techies hard at work on a weapon that will vaporize clothing?

[Gorzaloon]

Duh, this is starting to sound like a big nothing. Humiliating terrorists to get info out of them isn't torture.

"Waaaah! They looked at my BUM, when I really wanted to be beaten!!"

These people are peculiar.

[MEG33]

I am not pleased at all with the picture taking,abuse,or the glee shown,but stating his dreadful torture under Saddam was far less serious than nudity is absurd.The arabs love hyperbole.

[saquin]

Sounds to me like a standard prison strip-search, of the kind that happens in every prison in the U.S.

[Fedora]

[SNIP]

Now the 30-year-old, who used to work in a fabric shop, is a die-hard fighter in the al-Mahdi Army, the fanatic militia of a Shiite Muslim cleric who has vowed to take on the Americans.

[SNIP]

Al-Shweiri's account could not be independently verified.

[SNIP]

[dennisw]

The arabs love hyperbole....... and gossip. Loony tune gossip and rumor mongering. Much more gossip than in small town America.

[AmericaUnited]

Al-Shweiri said that while jailed by Saddam's regime, he was electrocuted, beaten and hung from the ceiling with his hands tied behind his back.

"But that's better than the humiliation of being stripped naked," he said.

"Al-Shweiri, who was arrested by the Americans in October, said he was asked to take off his clothes only once and for about 15 minutes. "

This guy is a pathetic liar!!! I'll bet $10,000 that if given a real choice between having to stand naked for 15 minutes or getting electrocuted, beaten and hung from the ceiling with his hands tied behind his back, etc., he'd take the 15 minutes EVERY TIME.

[TexKat]

Iraqi Dhia al-Shweiri, 30, gestures as he talks in Najaf, Iraq, Sunday, May 2, 2004, after spending several stints in Baghdad's notorious Abu Ghraib prison, twice under Saddam Hussein's rule and once under American. (AP Photo/Shaz Faramarzi)

[kattracks]

The weakness of this man's story doesn't lessen the severity of the charges leveled in the New Yorker story or the pictures released by CBS.

No, it doesn't, but it does make one wonder how factual the reports of a "pattern of torture" are. Especially coming from Amnesty International, and former detainees such as the one quoted in this story.

Notice the title calls what was probably a routine strip search "abuse".

[an amused spectator]

The author of the AP piece is our old friend, Scheherezade Faramarzi, she of a thousand phony Arabian tales.

[Bommer]

<>"They wanted us to feel as though we were women, the way women feel and this is the worst insult, to feel like a woman," al-Shweiri said.

Should dress him in a Burka and show him what its really like!