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.
Good catch!
BTTT
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