Posted on 05/21/2004 1:49:49 AM PDT by manwiththeplan
Graphic accounts by Iraqi prisoners of abuse at the hands of US soldiers have been published in a US newspaper, with fresh images depicting ill-treatment.
The Washington Post says it has seen hundreds of videos and photos which show previously unseen abusive techniques.
In sworn statements, detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad said they were beaten and sexually humiliated.
They were also force-fed pork and alcohol, against their Muslim beliefs.
The new photos include one of a prisoner being menaced by a soldier with a dog.
In other abuses depicted in the latest pictures:
A naked prisoner who appears to be covered in excrement is paraded down a corridor
A hooded detainee is pictured in a state of collapse
A US soldier appears to be raining blows down on detainees sprawled on the floor The Washington Post report also describes a video clip which shows an inmate shackled to a door.
He repeatedly slams his head into the metal, leaving streaks of blood, before he ultimately collapses at the feet of the cameraman.
The latest revelations came as the US began releasing 472 detainees from Abu Ghraib prison.
The BBC's Justin Webb in Washington says the paper appears to have gained access to photos and video clips recently shown to members of Congress by the Pentagon but not made public.
Our correspondent says the pictures do nothing to assist in the search for those ultimately responsible for the abuse - but they will do plenty to darken the already depressed mood in Washington about the conduct of the war and its future outcome.
Humiliated
In the accompanying accounts, several Iraqi prisoners are quoted giving graphic details of abuse by US soldiers.
One detainee, named in the report as Ameen Saeed al-Sheik, said he was asked by a soldier whether he believed in anything.
"I said to him, 'I believe in Allah.' So he said, 'But I believe in torture and I will torture you.'"
He said one soldier struck his broken leg and ordered him to curse Islam.
"Because they started to hit my broken leg, I curse my religion," the paper quoted him as saying. "They ordered me to thank Jesus I'm alive."
Other detainees said they were stripped on arrival at the prison, forced to wear women's underwear and repeatedly humiliated in front of each other and American soldiers.
Courts martial
The Washington Post said eight of the detainees identified one soldier, Specialist Charles Graner, who is facing charges of maltreatment, indecent acts and obstruction of justice.
One detainee accused him of repeatedly throwing prisoners' meals into the toilets and saying, "Eat it."
Spc Graner has previously said he was following instructions given to him by military intelligence officials.
The Washington Post said it had tried to contact Spc Graner's lawyer, but he had not returned the paper's calls.
Spc Graner is one of seven US soldiers who have been ordered to stand trial on charges of abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib jail.
One, Jeremy Sivits, has already pleaded guilty at a court martial to four counts including maltreatment of detainees. He was jailed for a year, demoted and discharged from service.
Following the abuse scandal in Iraq, new questions have been raised over the treatment of inmates held by the US at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
US defence officials say that in late 2002, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved a request by interrogators to use some techniques that went beyond normal military doctrine.
However, they add that the changes were later scaled back after objections from military lawyers.
Realize that some of those scandalous, horific things that would NEVER have happened under Kerry are things we do in SEER (Survival Evasion Escape & Resistence) training in Ft Bragg! Sleep deprivation, making fun of your wee wee, threatening you and so on. Wooooo- another election scandle ala Kerry via CNN.
God, one can only hope that such methods don't get such a weasel elected and that the public begins to realize what CNN is.
Red6
I can honestly say, I really dont care. Torture every last one of them to death. They are pure evil and need to be cleansed.
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I could use some research help. I am once again involved in a debate with some Euro-weenies who are parading around the pictures (show below) of our prison guards yukking it up around a dead Iraqi prisoner encased in ice. Can you provide any information on this particular event, and how this Iraqi died?
According to them, this is proof positive that America is the new Third Reich and we are a power-mad police state out to conquer the world.
Crack addiction is a terrible thing...
What happened to all the soft hearted whiners who were saying that we were evil................until they found out Rumsfeld had approved some of the "treatments"?
LOL, perhaps the guards should be promoted. Didi't the WTC terrorists get drunk every night at strip bars in the months preceeding their attacks?
I saw Steve Coll from the WP on the Today show justifying the release of these pictures. He said a confidential source gave them the pictures. Matt then said they were "leaked"....Coll said, "that's your word for it."
The question would have to be why? We know why. These pictures are of the same people who are being tried, so no new news there. They don't give any new information to see if higher ups were involved. Coll admitted that.
So, why are they being shown? To hurt Bush and the soldier's effort in Iraq. They think that this is hurting his poll numbers, so they will continue to drip drip drip these photos. Katie and potatohead said after the Coll interview that Bush should do what McCain wants.....to release all the photos now. They think it would help us around the world to get it all out now and to answer the unanswered questions about higherup being involved.
They are just trying to "help" the President. These people do not care about our military and their efforts. I hope and pray that this too, will backfire on the press/dnc. They are so disconnected with the American people and don't realize that we are sick of hearing about this and the tearing down of our soldiers.
The actions of the cretins responsible for this are totally inexcusable. I would have them spend the rest of their lives breaking rocks in Leavenworth - every last one of them.
The damage they have done to our national prestige and image is significant and they have provided the Democrats and liberals and anti-war idiots with more ammunition to fire at Bush in this hair-raising election campaign.
Some of these prisoners are terrorists, others may be innocent people swept up by mistake. That's what trials are all about.
As far as getting important information from them, a recent interview with a military intelligence specialist on O'Reilly or some other FOX initerviewer said that TIMING is essential. If you can't break the guy down and get needed information within a short time of capture - forget it - the information he can provide may no longer be accurate anyway.
These cretins were doing what they were doing to amuse themselves, not to secure any useful information for the government, and in the process screwed up things royally for Bush, the U.S., the terrorism war and our efforts to stabilize things in Iraq.
I hate those s.o.b.s almost as much as I hate the terrorists.
Yes, proving that Democrats and the traditional partisan media are anti-American.
Rest easy. CNN ratings are low. Maybe we will get an added bonus when Bush is re elected and CNN will go under. Well.........I can dream can't I.
More Iraqi prison abuse reported???
Aside from the fact they left out the qualifyer "alleged", I got four responses.
WHO CARES..
I'm so sick of people on these boards acting as if they are supporting the troops by backing up these porn peddlers. These low lifes were doing nothing more than creating their own private porn for their personal use or for later distribution. It's no way that MI would allow pictures of such treatment to be taken without completely securing the photos for whatever purpose they had for them. The only question I have about this topic now is why aren't the pictures coming out with Lynndie having sex on them or of the girls sexually fondling the prisoners? The release of such pictures would definitely put an end to much of this nonsense regarding this story.
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