Senator: 'Many, Many' Iraq Abuse Probes Under Way

Reuters ^ | May 9, 2004

[yonif]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - There are "many, many" criminal investigations going on of deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq, well beyond Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison, a leading Republican senator said on Sunday "This is deeper and wider than I think most in this administration understand," U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska told CBS's "Face the Nation."

U.S. officials have insisted the abuses at Abu Ghraib were carried out by a handful of soldiers and not part of a systematic program of brutality.

Hagel said he could not discuss matters presented to him as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee but they extended beyond the ongoing controversy over Iraqi prisoners of war at the prison. The panel was briefed on Friday by top intelligence and Army officials.

"There are many, many investigations ongoing now as a result of deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq, deaths that came at the hands of United States officials," Hagel said.

He said some of the probes have been referred to the U.S. Justice Department. "It's probably in the range of 30, maybe more than that, of investigations, not all are homicide," he said.

The scandal exploded last week with the release of photographs showing grinning uniformed personnel posing in front of naked detainees.

So far, seven military police have been charged with abusing prisoners in the prison where Saddam Hussein tormented thousands of Iraqis, and a court martial was set for one in Baghdad next week. The Army said on Friday it was investigating possible abuse by U.S. soldiers of 42 Iraqi civilians in addition to 35 investigations of abuse of prisoners.

The Army said previously it was looking into the deaths of 25 prisoners held in Iraq or Afghanistan, determining there were two homicides by Americans against Iraqi prisoners, one case of justifiable homicide and 12 cases in which the cause of death was natural or undetermined.

Ten other deaths and 10 cases of nonlethal assault remain under investigation, the Army has said.

[Joe Hadenuf]

There are "many, many" criminal investigations going on of deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq, well beyond Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison, a leading Republican senator said on Sunday "This is deeper and wider than I think most in this administration understand," U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska told CBS's "Face the Nation."

Not good. If this is not isolated to Abu Ghraib, it will be major political disaster, and if these other alleged videos and images are released or surface, and they are as bad as what has been reported by several sources, it will be politically devastating.

[ExtremeUnction]

They are going to overplay their hand here.

There are 18,000+ active court martial proceedings underway at any given time in the US services. Our 1,000,000+ US troops commit offenses, from wife beating to theft to murder, and always have. The press needs to look at everything in perspective. Our military personnel are mostly made up of fine young men and women. But many factors, let alone the circumstances of serving in a hotile combat environment, make some folks, including US G.I.'s go bad. In Vietnam we had fraggings (murder of superiors), drug dealing, rampant theft, etc on an ongoing basis. The military teaches you that it's ok to kill. So a lot of troops say to themselves, "During my tour, anything goes." Unfortunately, they often live, at least at times, with that code, for the rest of their lives.

[CasearianDaoist]

No, I meant have you heard something personal or in the media (other than the "Keep Rummy" poll.) I would like to know what people are hearing. I did not mean anything particularly involved, I am just having a hard tome getting a feel for this for some reason. To me it is trivial I just cannot tell if it worked or not. That's all.

[EGPWS]

The press needs to look at everything in perspective.

And I have no doubt that they do.

They just don't report it in that same fashion! ; )

[antaresequity]

Imagine this scenario:

Terrorist derail a passenger train over some remote bridge and the entire train falls into a gorge. Hundreds dead.

Authorities capture a terrorist with a laptop in connection with the event, and on his laptop are coded transcripts that indicate a biological or nuclear attack is in the planning, and immanent. Authorities are unable to decode the transcripts without the 'cooperation' of the detained terrorist(s).

The vast majority of Americans would not only approve of, but would encourage the authorites to extract relevant information 'by whatever means necessary'.

Thats why Rumsfeld is polling at 70%

[EGPWS]

Thats why Rumsfeld is polling at 70%

I disagree.

This is a more accurate statement:

"That is only one of the reasons why Rumsfeld is polling at 70%"! ; )

[Mr. Mojo]

I have no inside info; I've just noticed a general change in attitude since a couple days after this story first broke -- on talk radio, on FR, among friends, and among some in the print and tv media.

[snopercod]

Let's look at the good side here. It'll keep them too busy to raise our taxes and abridge our freedom. At least for a while...

[CasearianDaoist]

Boy, you're an optimist.

[just me]

More US abuse photos surface

Meddle East Times

(snip)

The Washington Post said the new images of prisoner abuse were among some 1,000 digital photographs US troops took during their time in Iraq, which included many tourist-like images of soldiers riding camels and standing before mosques.

(Snip)

There are also images of soldiers simulating sexually explicit acts with one another and shots of a cow being skinned and gutted and soldiers posing with its severed head. There are also dozens of pictures of a cat’s severed head, the daily said.

(snip)

Finally, the daily said, there were pictures of wounded men and corpses, one of which shows a soldier smiling and giving a “thumbs-up sign,” leaning over a gray, decomposing corpse.

[snopercod]

Boy, you're an optimist.

Actually, I'm a Rotarian...

[McGavin999]

Gee, I wonder how many deaths have been recorded in Nebraska jails? HEY Dufus, most of those were from natural causes and the rest are being investigated.

[joesnuffy]

Muslim rapists, misogynistic gang sodomizes of our young female wounded...
Fedayeen assassins...secret police...Islamic gestapo...mass graves...torture chambers that would almost embarrass the SS...these are who we humiliate...so what!

Just saw the dog pics...Muslims hate dogs...as they hate their own women...what better way to totally break them down...into psychological puddles of mush...then interrogate them and once they have given up the who what where when and why...given up their islamo-fascist brethren
given up the Saudis and Syrians, Lebanese, and Jordanians, Egyptians, and Palestinians...named names and identified escape and supply routes...

Then give them some clothes and something to eat....until they do...humiliate them ..beat them..use cattle prods on their slimy nazi asses....I don't care....do what ever it takes to keep our people safe...and the Iraqis who want order brought back to their world...

You cant possibly humiliate the Fedayeen and their Islamic Gestapo comrades...enough....

imo

[TexasTransplant]

Libs have touched bottom, think they have felt a little traction. I propose we drop the anchor and complete the drowning their sorry narrow a$$es.

[Stentor]

Boy, you're an optimist.

Maybe if you spend some time not giving a rats ass about the sideshow, your courage will spread. Otherwise, keep it to yourself. I don't care to see, hear, or otherwise know anything else about this crap.

[rrrod]

Hagel is a RINO.....nuff said

[Stentor]

You cant possibly humiliate the Fedayeen and their Islamic Gestapo comrades...enough....

Yup.

[CasearianDaoist]

I was making a joke. Chill out and watch your manners. And my courage is just fine, thank you very much. Do not take out your frustraions on me. YOu do not even know me. You are out of line.

[McGavin999]

I think the pentagon ought to put the pictures up on their website. It ought to be illegal to down load them. Before viewing them the viewer should have to check that he agrees not to download the pictures and understands that it would be a criminal offense that would be prosecuted. That way if the pictures get out, the DOJ and FBI can go out and take down anyone distributing these pictures. However, nobody could say that they were not allowed to see them.

[Stentor]

You are out of line.

Very possible. Crabby about this whole creepy carnival sideshow.