Hamill: Abuse affected treatment

CNN ^ | may 8, 2004 | CNN

[FairOpinion]

MACON, Mississippi (CNN) -- Former hostage Thomas Hamill says photos of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqis held in a Baghdad prison affected the way he was treated in the last days before he escaped.

Hamill, 44, was driving a truck for Halliburton Corp. subsidiary KBR when his convoy was ambushed on April 9.

Four other American contractors were found dead and two are still missing from the convoy. One U.S. soldier was later found dead and one soldier is still missing.

Hamill said he chose a low-key reception Saturday to prevent angering those who still hold his co-workers hostage.

The prisoner abuse scandal -- with photos of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqis held in the Abu Ghraib prison -- emerged in his last week of captivity and it caused his conditions to worsen, he said.

"That had an affect on me, captive the last few days," Hamill said. "I hate that happened. They asked me about it."

"My treatment had changed and I was afraid it was going to get a lot worse," he said. "They moved me numerous times during the ordeal."

Despite his experience, Hamill said he thinks the U.S. should complete its mission in Iraq.

"We need to form a democratic government over there," he said. "We need to get that country on its feet. And we need to take care of those people that are trying to stop it."

[bvw]

Forcing people to strip naked is abuse, unless there are provisions for modesty, Just because your gym teacher did that, or that many gym teachers did so doesn't make it right.

[bvw]

Obviously -- based on the responses in FR, Limbaugh, et. -- treatment of prisoners is a ripe subject for discussion and general edification. Limabaugh's "frat house hi-jinks" comment indicates just how unacceptably low stanards have sunk.

[wtc911]

The rape stuff is merely ALLEGATIONS -- I have heard of no actual proof of that.....

And Rumsfeld was just kidding when he said that there was much worse to follow.

[NittanyLion]

I'm just totally blown away at how many posters on this board are excusing this behavior or even encouraging it as a means to achieve some "greater good". The excuses are reminiscent of the Clinton/Lewinski Affair, and they've really reinforced my belief that denial is not the sole province of Democrats.

[NittanyLion]

And Rumsfeld was just kidding when he said that there was much worse to follow.

He was kidding? What makes you say that?

[LoudRepublicangirl]

No, it wasn't right but I got over it. There are a lot of things that are not right-using women and children to hide behind while you are shooting at coalition soldiers, hiding munitions in places of religion and shooting from those places of religion, shooting your captives with the rolling camera of Al-Jazeera taping the execution. None of these things are right. "Abusing prisoners" isn't right. But we do not have a bunch of boyscouts held captive at Abu Ghraib do we?

[bvw]

Stop the excuses. That's all that last post was.

[bvw]

It's likely, and precautionary, that he was pre-stressing the reaction.

[dennisw]

That being said the real villains are those using this to weaken the United States using methods so cynical as to put the Vietnam anti-war crowd to shame.
 

Dittos to all that!

[AlbionGirl]

Well said, and I'm glad there are people like you in the Military who are unwilling to spin this. God bless you, and your family, and thanks for all you do.

I have a question for you though. What do you think of establishing a media blackout during war? Good idea or not?

[LoudRepublicangirl]

I don't have to make excuses. I have not done anything wrong and neither has the majority of our military.

[bvw]

Excuses are wrong, and I do not excuse you. Moreso when you try to drag in the honor of hundreds of thousands with your error.

[LoudRepublicangirl]

Who the hell are you to judge me? I'm not dragging anyone in on this. I am purposely exluding the majority of our military from the blame. P.S. my baby brother is one of those you acuse me of "dragging". So get off your high horse.

[Long Cut]

Know what's really sad? Hollywood has, since 9-11, refused to even consider ANY movie ideas dealing with the war. Since, to them, it is "Bush's War" and they despise him, and because they recoil at showing Americans at their best, most heroic and noble, no script with the war as a centerpiece has been considered. Oh, that, and they're afraid of teeing off the Muslims.

Now that this scandal has erupted, any doubts that they've now found an idea that they WILL make a movie about?

[FairOpinion]

TERRORISTS ARE NOT, repeat NOT CONSIDERED POW-s.

Suppose we have a terrorist prisoner, who knows where they hid a nuke, which will be set off in 24 hrs. What would you choose:

? a) We must not hurt a hair on the head of this terrorist prisoners, better to see millions of US innocents die, destroy the US economy for years to come.

b) to h&$# with the terrorist, bring out thubscrews and any other creative techniuqes -- just make sure he doesn't die, before he tells us, where the nuke is.

Apparently you are so concerned about the life of the terrorist, that you would choose a).

The point I am making, is that we don't interrogate the prisoners for fun, we are interrogating them, to get information to save innocent lives -- including our innocent lives.

This is not some idealistic world we live in, one would think 9-11 would have woken people up, but apparently not.

Wake up and smell reality.

[Long Cut]

Thanks for the support.

As for the blackout idea, I'm simply not sure if in this day and age it's even possible. WWII was likely the last war in which news from the battlefield could be controlled to the level you wish.

Hell, even Fat Mikey Moore has bragged that some of his "operatives" have slipped into Iraq, pretending to be journalists, and have interviewed Soldiers. He's planning on using the footage in his new "docudrama" about the war.

Care to guess how it'll be edited?

[FairOpinion]

Let me spell it for you slowly.

These were hardened T-E-R-R-O-R-I-S-T-S, caught when they were ambushing and killing our US soldiers.

[Long Cut]

Fo, you are incorrect on some key points here.

1. ANY person detained in a combat zone by US troops is considered a POW, until such time as they are found by higher authority to be otherwise. Until then, they are, by order of the UCMJ, to be treated as such, with all Geneva-related protections. Individual Soldiers DO NOT decide the status of Prisoners. Even those designated as "enemy combatants" or Terrs are treated according to Geneva.

2. You are mixing apples and oranges. None of the mistreated prisoners was thought to have time-critical intel necessitating deep interrogation. If they were, it would have taken place with drugs, and far from prying eyes or cameras. It certainly would not have included Reservist MP's or sexual abuse, nor would it have included dogs or sodomy with a broomstick.

The prisoners, whom it was the MP's responsibility and duty to treat fairly and with restraint, were instead abused and tortured soley for the gratification of those same MPs.

That is what I find most sickening...that perverts and sick bastards like that wore America's uniform, and thus disgraced us all.

[Long Cut]

Ping. You need to read this thread.

[Long Cut]

"I'm just totally blown away at how many posters on this board are excusing this behavior or even encouraging it as a means to achieve some "greater good"."

Believe me, you're not the only one. These threads have been a real eye-opener.