Posted on 10/01/2005 1:33:15 PM PDT by Jeff Gordon
LONDON, September 30, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The US military has done little to check abuses of detainees at US-run detention places in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, according to the former US commander of Abu Ghraib Friday, September 30.
"We haven't dealt very effectively with those photographs or what they indicated," US Army Reserve Colonel Janis Karpinski told BBC's Today program radio, according to Agence France Presse (AFP).
"I think it's largely proved now that it wasn't just seven out-of-control soldiers on a night shift at Abu Ghraib, where Iraqi prisoners were abused and sexually humiliated," stressed Karpinski, who was demoted from her rank of brigadier general over the scandal at Abu Ghraib prison.
The abuse of Iraqi prisoners exploded onto the world stage on April 29, 2004 after the CBS news network published several graphic photos of Iraqi detainees tortured and sexually abused by American soldiers at the Baghdad-based prison.
Several photographs taken in late 2003 at the prison showed detainees wearing women's underwear on their heads, detainees shackled to their cell doors or beds in awkward positions, and naked detainees standing before female soldiers.
Detainees at Abu Ghraib were also posed in mock homosexual positions and photographed.
Human Rights Watch revealed that US troops routinely subjected Iraqi detainees to severe beatings and other cruel and inhumane treatment as a "way of sport" or just to "relieve stress".
Abuses Going On
The former US commander stressed that abuses of detainees are still going on in US-run jails in Iraq, Afghanistan and the notorious Guantanamo Bay.
"I don't think that there's been an effective means to stop it from going on now," Karpinski said.
"The difference was of course that there was no photographs ... (of) those events taking place in other locations."
Karpinski, however, stressed it will take a long time before other photographs will be released.
"Only then will there be an opportunity to get a more balanced view and certainly a fair assessment of where the blame belongs," she said.
Documents released by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) revealed that US occupation forces in Iraq have used interrogation techniques copycatted from films in abusing detainees.
Release More Photos
Karpinski's remarks came one day after a US federal judge ordered the Bush administration to release pictures of Iraqi detainees' abuses, rebuffing the US government's claims that the release could fan anti-US feelings.
Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled Thursday that pictures of Iraqi detainees being abused by US soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison should be released.
The court ruling was made after a request by the ACLU for access to 87 unseen images of Iraqi detainees' abuses.
ACLU demanded the release of the photographs and four videotapes as part of a lawsuit launched in 2003 on the treatment of detainees in US custody and the transfer of prisoners to countries known to use torture.
New Scandal
US soldiers in Iraq posted photos of dead Iraqis to a porn Web site in exchange for free access to the site.
The court ruling on releasing the Abu Ghraib abuses photos came amid reports of a new scandal facing US occupation forces in Iraq.
Reports revealed that US soldiers in Iraq posted gruesome photos of dead Iraqis to a porn Web site in exchange for free access to the site.
The numerous graphic pictures posted on the Web site showed men, with their faces visible and wearing US military uniforms, standing over a charred corpse, mutilated dead bodies and severed body parts.
The porn Web site states the photos were provided by troops in Iraq as well as Afghanistan in order to get free access to its sexual images.
Many of the photos, still posted on the site, are accompanied by captions making light of the corpses; for example one photo of a charred body was dubbed "Cooked Iraqi."
The Web site's creator said that about 30,000 members of the US military are registered on his site, several thousand of whom have sent him photographs or comments from their official military Web addresses.
On Wednesday, the US army ended a brief inquiry into the use of photos of dead Iraqis on a porn site, Reuters said.
The probe failed to determine whether US soldiers provided photos of dead Iraqis to the porn Web site in exchange for free access to it, drawing strong rebukes from the Muslim minority in the US.
"It's entirely inappropriate for the military to do such a cursory investigation of something that is really casting a very negative light on our nation's military and can only serve to further damage America's image and interests throughout the Islamic world," said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
He stressed that the military must determine who was involved and whether the conduct violated US military law and international laws governing conduct during wartime, including the Geneva Conventions.
Unbelievable gall by this woman.
She should have been called before the mast, stripped of her rank and kicked out of the service for her abysmal performance as commander of that unit. She was derelict in her responsibilities and incompetent.
A wrist slap is too much according to this disgrace who blames her troops and refuses to stand with them. What kind of leader is this?
When identified, the senior German officer would be consulted about how to treat the SS type with execution usually recommended. The 'sentence' would be carried out by a senior US officer to protect the troops from any blow back.
Times have changed I guess.
I have a pretty good idea. It's the same place blame belongs in any dirtbag unit - the commander. Her unwillingness to accept responsibility speaks volumes. If she had been doing her job, then subordinate unit commanders would have been doing their jobs (or been relieved) and "soldiers" (and I use that term loosely) like PFC England would never have thought this kind of behavior was a good idea.
This woman has tried to pin this one on others since the story broke. She should take it like a man and get over it.
What you said. And now this disgrace to the uniform is yakking it up overseas. It would not surprise me one bit to see her subject to extrajudicial punishment.
Good grief .. she's whining that nothing was done to stop this stuff - IT HAPPENED ON HER WATCH - WHEN SHE WAS IN CHARGE .. SHE DIDN'T CARE WHAT THEY DID. She didn't demand discipline - it was a free-for-all.
She is just another stinking liberal who believes that depravity is okay .. just don't get caught.
I think KARPINSKI NEEDS TO BE COURT MARTIALED AND HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR ALL OF THIS PRISON ABUSE.
I forgot something!
I have always believed that it was this idiot woman who had the photos and sent them to Hillary to use against Bush.
Well, I guess I would stop short of a firing squad - LOL.
But seriously, she should have been retired at a lower rank at best or stripped entirely of her commission at worst. This is simply unacceptable failure in a command position for an officer of the United States in any service.
And someone should review every other decision made by the officers on the board that approved her promotion to brigadier to see what other sad excuses are walking around with a star on their collar.
Article III, Section II, US Constitution.
Read it and weep, b!tch.
Does Mr. Hooper intend to determine the same facts concerning the beheadings, etc. committed by his side?
Incidentally, since this comes from Islam Online, can anybody verify the contents? Do we have any BBC lurkers or Agence France Presse subscribers? Did General (or Colonel) (or Private) Karpinski really say these things?
You see, the Moslems have this little escape mechanism (takiyat ?) that says any lie told to advance Islam is perfectly OK.
I agree with your Post No. 2. Why is she not being held accountable? This happened under her command.
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