Posted on 05/10/2004 5:42:52 PM PDT by The Raven
WASHINGTON (AFP) - President George W. Bush (news - web sites) was shown a "representative sample" Monday of the hundreds of photographs of abuses of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers that have not yet been seen by the US public, a senior defense official said.
More than a dozen large, color prints of photographs of abuse taken at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq (news - web sites) were shown to Bush in Rumsfeld's office after an hour-long briefing at the Pentagon (news - web sites) on the situation in Iraq, the officials said.
"The president's reaction was one of deep disgust and disbelief that anyone who wears our uniform would engage in such shameful and appalling acts," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
"It does not represent our United States military and it does not represent the United States of America," he said.
A senior defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Rumsfeld showed Bush "a kind of representative sample" of images selected from hundreds of photographs of Iraqi prisoners being abused.
"He showed him kind of a range of the activities that are available," the official said.
Among the pictures shown to the president were stills taken from videos but not the videos themselves, McClellan said.
Larry DiRita, the Pentagon's chief spokesman, told reporters that in addition to the photographs, the Defense Department has in its possession a couple of dozen short videos of varying quality that also show abuses being committed.
He said there were "many, many hundreds" of images on three compact discs, but noted that each disc contained many duplicate images so the total number was difficult to determine.
DiRita, who has seen the images, said they were "broadly consistent with what we've already seen."
"They were disturbing. There are some involving humiliation of a nature we've already seen," he said.
"There is clearly inappropriate behavior, including some inappropriate behavior of a sexual nature," he said.
The question of whether to make a public release of the images was discussed at the Pentagon briefing, McClellan said, adding that the Pentagon was weighing the impact on privacy concerns and on ongoing criminal investigations.
"They also believe it is very important to keep Congress informed about these matters. Congress has an important oversight role to play," he said.
DiRita said discussions with members of Congress was on whether to release the images to the public, and if so how.
"But the emphasis right now is whether," he said. However, he said, "we haven't ruled it in or out."
DiRita said a major stumbling block is the concern that release of the images could hinder prosecution of the soldiers involved in the abuse. Seven soldiers have been charged so far.
"By trying to artificially affect that process, they could end up not being held accountable," he said. "That's the big tension everyone is working under."
Rumsfeld warned members of Congress in testimony Friday that there were possibly hundreds of photos, as well as videos of abuse that if released, could worsen a scandal that already has been highly damaging to US credibility.
Rumsfeld, who is facing demands he resign from Democratic lawmakers and criticism from Republicans as well, got a boost from Bush who on emerging from the Pentagon briefing told him he was doing a "superb job."
"You are a strong secretary of defense and our nation owes you a debt of gratitude," Bush said in a televised statement, flanked on one right side by Vice President Richard Cheney and by Rumsfeld on the left.
DiRita said Rumsfeld was still at the point he was Friday when he told the Senate Armed Services Committee (news - web sites) that he would resign "in a minute" if he thought he could no longer be effective.
"He will always evaluate his effectiveness, and should he continue," DiRita said. "His understanding is how important it is to be effective, and that would be the basis on which he would decide anything."
DiRita said most of Bush's Pentagon session was taken up by an operational briefing on the situation in Iraq given by General John Abizaid, who spoke to the group via a video link.
I didn't need to see the pics of Jeffrey Dahmer's victims to think that what he did was hideous. And I don't need to see even more of these photos in order to form an opinion on the subject.
It's odd that the media, who want to show more and more of these photos, have been reluctant to reveal the total picture of the vicious brutality of Saddam or the horrible scenes of the civilian contractors whose bodies were so severely desecrated or the victims of the terrorist attacks on our own nation. The bias of the agenda becomes more blatant every day.
And if evidence gets compromised in the process, that's ok with them also, as long as they can use the issue to smear this administration.
Oh, they mean like the prosecution of the cops depicted on the Rodney King video?
So, why are they still humiliating these men they profess to feel so bad for? Because they want to hurt Bush, of course and they're just using the pictures as a means to an end.
I personally would not like to seem them released but if they will be released by Bushhaters anyway, then its best to get it over with.
Of course releasing all the photos may compromise prosecutions and then the left will complain that the military got off, even though it may have been the result of their actions.
There is no mention that these photos are all from the same handful of bad people. How many different prisoners are in the shots?
Is it 200 photos of the same people (with some duplicate images) or 200 photos of 200 different people?
Also the number will never be "known" because of the manufacture of new "pictures" when they grab frames from video.
I've been reading with interest the articles of the past day or so with Tony Blair condemning any Brit abuses and promising justice. I had heard the same initial reports about the possibility of the Brit pix being faked, but recent actions by Blair seem to not bear that out.
Prairie
People choose the issues they want to get outraged about. The media controls the floodgates to letting the masses know about this outrage.
Some accounts have said that The Daily Mirror has all but admitted the ruse.
I HAVE seen a statement from the Daily Mirror saying that even if these photos are fakes, not all of the photos are fakes and more importantly there is documented abuse.
That sounds like they are trying to blunt any criticism if they are found to have printed a hoaxed photo.
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