Blood on his face? Where?? You mean on his mouth/lip? What happened, he knock a tooth out or something?
Posted on 12/04/2004 7:48:01 PM PST by Former Military Chick
A senior US military officer said that new pictures showing apparent abuse of Iraqi prisoners did not accurately reflect the good work done by the thousands of American soldiers in Iraq.
But General Mark Kimmitt acknowledged in an interview with al-Jazeera television that some people would use the photos to tarnish the image of America's military.
Kimmitt, a senior US Central Command officer, spoke on the pan-Arab television network a day after the US military launched a criminal investigation into photographs that appear to show US Navy SEALs in Iraq sitting on hooded and handcuffed detainees, and photos of what appear to be bloodied prisoners, one with a gun to his head.
The photos, found by an Associated Press reporter, were among hundreds in an album posted on a commercial photo-sharing web site by a woman who said her husband brought them from Iraq after his tour of duty.
Some of the photos have date stamps suggesting they were taken in May 2003, which could make them the earliest evidence of possible abuse of prisoners in Iraq. The far more brutal practices photographed in Abu Ghraib prison occurred months later.
Kimmitt, who was the military spokesman in Iraq at the time of the Abu Ghraib scandal and is now based in Qatar, told al-Jazeera that he believed the photos showed the acts of an isolated few.
After months of ongoing investigation, Kimmitt said the number of US military troops involved in acts of abuse had been found to be very limited.
Asked by al-Jazeera if such pictures were a problem for the military, Kimmitt said they were certainly a "tool" and some would try to use them to show the US military in a negative light.
The photos drew strong reactions in Arab media.
"Here is the US Navy stirring the storm that the Abu Ghraib (scandal) has evoked before," an Al-Jazeera commentator said, in a report with images from the Abu Ghraib prison as well as the newly revealed photos.
One photo was published on the front page of the daily Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram.
It showed three hooded prisoners pressed against one another on a floor with what appear to be white sheets wrapped around their torsos. The photo caption read: "Signs of a new scandal."
In a damage-control campaign after an outraged reaction from the Arab world on the Abu Ghraib pictures, American President George W Bush appeared on Arab television in May to tell audiences in the region that the torture was the act of a few.
Navy Commander Jeff Bender, a spokesman for the Naval Special Warfare Command in Coronado, California, said in a written response to questions that the matter would be "thoroughly investigated".
The photos were turned over to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which instructed the SEAL command to determine whether they showed any serious crimes, Bender said.
It was unclear who took the pictures.
Kimmitt, in the al-Jazeera interview, also was asked if elections were possible in the midst of a violent campaign by Iraqi insurgents. He said an additional 12,000 US soldiers sent to Iraq would be enough to help secure the elections, with help from Iraqi security forces.
Earlier, General John Abizaid, head of US Central Command, said Iraqi forces were growing in number, but were not experienced enough to ensure security during the January 30 Iraqi national elections without the additional American help.
Yeehaw.
Burn them.
Blood on his face? Where?? You mean on his mouth/lip? What happened, he knock a tooth out or something?
Navy commandos in new prisoner abuse probe
A reporter found the photos, which since have since been removed from public view, while researching the prosecution of a group of SEALs who allegedly beat prisoners and photographed one of them in degrading positions. Those photos, taken with a SEAL’s personal camera, have not been publicly released.
The images were posted to the internet site Smugmug.com. The woman who posted them told AP they were on the camera her husband brought back from Iraq. She said her husband, who does not appear in photos with prisoners, had returned to Iraq.
hmmm seems like he still has his head...al-Jazeera is shocked?? after all the blood and guts crap they have put out?? give me a break.
A Sig with a high beam and a Sony videocam, nice equipment. It looks like an interrogation session. What's the problem?
Enough is Enough. The SEALS are trained individual and the public owes a big thank you for defending freedom from this scumbags Islamic terrorist.
I think we have to appeal to every Congressman, Senator, and the President itself to protect this brave Sailors who are willing to sacrifice so you and I can be free.
This is pure BS. My support is 200 percent with any NAVY SEALS.
"Mess with the best and die with the rest".
I think too much free press endangers national security.
Well, if all of them are guilty, why not start a bombing campaign directed at each news station?
SEALs are not above reproach. Lets not deify them just yet. Do a search on them here at FR and you'll find that some have been arrested for petty theft, murder, etc. Remember that they are only human too. Some of them smoke too much. Some of them drink too much beer. Etc..
And then there's that one picture of the guy they made wear a dress!!!! Oh the humanity!!!! I would rather be put in a wood chipper than to be made to wear a dress and THEN get my picture taken!
MSM should run split screen, side by side coverage of prisoner abuse.
we lost 51 marines in fallujah, and had countless others who lost arms and legs.
an insurgent prisoner is bleeding a little from the mouth, and the media is concerned.
I've seen the photos and there is NOTHING in them indicative of abuse.
hey, i'm right there with you, but you may remember, before the end of the major combat ops. that a few of our helo guys were captured and then either released OR rescued. if i remember correctly, it was an army apache pilot and copilot (if those are the correct terms), and one is from georgia. that being said, there have been no prisoners taken by the jihadists that have been released that i can recall.
Who the hell cares!? I actually commend these Navy SEALs for giving the Islamofacists a taste of their own medicine. (Not beheading and mutilation, we are not sub-humans like they are). So I say OOH-RAH!!
lol
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