CBS confirms US torture of Iraqi prisoners

by Xhenrrella Buthscososos Thu Apr 29, 2004 14:26

Abu Ghraib prison was much feared in Saddam Hussein's day but the Americans have taken it to new heights
A US television station has broadcast a new reality show about US soldiers torturing Iraqi inmates at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.
CBS says it has a new reality show - taken by US troops - showing prisoners being subjected to a wide range of torture.

Many of the pictures show American troops looking on in apparent approval.


CBS says the pictures it obtained show a wide range of abuses, including:


Prisoners with wires attached to their genitals being electrocuted.

A dog attacking a prisoner then eating him.

Pieces of flesh cut from prisoners and force fed to other prisoners

Prisoners being forced to have sex with each other for entertainment

A detainee with an abusive word burnt into his body.

The prison where the abuses are alleged to have taken place was a notorious torture centre during the Saddam Hussein era.

Bob Baer, a former CIA operative with extensive Iraq experience, told CBS: "If there [was] ever a reason to get rid of Saddam Hussein, it's Abu Ghraib [prison]."

No guidance

The station spoke to one of the six soldiers, Sergeant Chip Frederick - a reservist whose full-time job is as a prison officer in the US state of Virginia.

We had no training whatsoever, it seemed ok to me to pull the fingernails off the prisoners so I did.


Sgt Frederick said he and his fellow reservists had never been told how to deal with prisoners, or what lines should be crossed.

"We where just having a little fun," he said.

"I kept asking my chain of command for certain things... like rules and regulations. And Jan said its up to you," he said.

The shrubs Army reservists at Abu Ghraib had not been trained in Geneva Convention rules cause bush says hes above da law.

Chain of command
The pResitent bushs general who supervised the prison for the US Army,bull dike Janice Karpinsky had no comment.

by mina Thu Apr 29, 2004 14:57

ok, mine is not an attempt to discharge the u.s. soldiers at all, but why Xhenrrella Buthscososos have to distort news as the mainstream media do??
cbs only said that "Former Marine Lt. Col. Bill Cowan and former CIA Bureau Chief Bob Baer says: I visited Abu Ghraib a couple of days after it was liberated. It was the most awful sight I've ever seen. I said, ‘If there's ever a reason to get rid of Saddam Hussein, it's because of Abu Ghraib,'” says Baer. “There were bodies that were eaten by dogs, torture. You know, electrodes coming out of the walls. It was an awful place."

moreover
"It was American soldiers serving as military police at Abu Ghraib who took these pictures. The investigation started when one soldier got them from a friend, and gave them to his commanders. 60 Minutes II has a dozen of these pictures, and there are many more – pictures that show Americans, men and women in military uniforms, posing with naked Iraqi prisoners.
There are shots of the prisoners stacked in a pyramid, one with a slur written on his skin in English.
In some, the male prisoners are positioned to simulate sex with each other. And in most of the pictures, the Americans are laughing, posing, pointing, or giving the camera a thumbs-up." http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/27/60II/main614063.shtml

whether this is true or not it is the only source we have and i don't see how Xhenrrella Buthscososos found the news of prisoners being force fed with flesh, eaten by dogs and forced to have sex.
i'm completely sure that u.s. soldiers are pieces of shit, but please do not deform the news as THEY always do. at least activists try be reliable when giving informations!

by Joe Thu Apr 29, 2004 15:06

From further down the CBS article

"But the Army investigation found serious problems behind the scenes. The Army has photographs that show a detainee with wires attached to his genitals. Another shows a dog attacking an Iraqi prisoner. Frederick said that dogs were “used for intimidation factors.”

Part of the Army's own investigation is a statement from an Iraqi detainee who charges a translator - hired to work at the prison - with raping a male juvenile prisoner: "They covered all the doors with sheets. I heard the screaming. ...and the female soldier was taking pictures."

There is also a picture of an Iraqi man who appears to be dead -- and badly beaten.

"It's reprehensible that anybody would be taking a picture of that situation,” says Kimmitt.

And don't miss the last paragraphs

Two weeks ago, 60 Minutes II received an appeal from the Defense Department, and eventually from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers, to delay this broadcast -- given the danger and tension on the ground in Iraq.

60 Minutes II decided to honor that request, while pressing for the Defense Department to add its perspective to the incidents at Abu Ghraib prison. This week, with the photos beginning to circulate elsewhere, and with other journalists about to publish their versions of the story, the Defense Department agreed to cooperate in our report.

by 1of1 Thu Apr 29, 2004 18:13

only a series of 'comments on an earlier story. that links to the original report.

Maybe someday people will learn...

by David C. Thu Apr 29, 2004 22:27

...the horrors perpetrated by the Americans that have NOT been photographed? The American's impending humilation in Iraq will be due in no small part to the fact that American soliders are often, as individuals, ignorant, racist violent thugs. No wonder the Iraqis hate them.

The people who smuggle photographs of this stuff out to the world are heros.

by kokomero Fri Apr 30, 2004 11:41

in the name of "civilisation", "western democracy" etc. in the places where no camera can reach like Guantanamo, Bagram airforce base etc. What is really surprising about this news is not that it has happened, but that it is not the number one news item in the mainstream media. I suspect that government spinners and powerful vested interests backing Bush, Blair and Bertie have conspired to push this item down and off the agenda as quickly as possible in the same way they got themselves off the hook about WMD by avoiding the issue?

by Andreas Hermann - - Sat May 01, 2004 15:53

It is really amazing, that people are still shocked by news like that.
For people that are fighting for their lifes every day, killing other humans and are scared to death for weeks, it is hard to keep their original morality.
Not many people can handle this pressure. And some of them completely loose their ideals.

It is not a question of which nation you are. Its what happened with soldiers in every war and in every country. It is a part of war!

The american soldiers are not better man than the iraqies. They have different cultures, but not different ideals. In war ideals die first! No matter what culture you have.

It is just so sad that politics still think they could fight a clean war!
How wrong they are! Bush and his fellow hawks.

by Carlos perez Sat May 01, 2004 17:20

Where are the pictures? Show them.
Thank

by TT Sat May 01, 2004 17:52

The pictures are published in all the media.
You don't get out often, do you? Are you are hermit?

by Cabhog Sat May 01, 2004 21:47

These photographs came to light because a soldier saw the photographs, brought them to the attention of his American OC, and the army began proceedings against the accused.

Under Saddam, these people would have been promoted and hero-worshipped. If anyone is in any doubt, think of the Saddam's sons.

in contrast the yanks are pursuing criminal cases against the accused.

those who equate the two, are idiots.

Human nature is no different in an Iraqi, Canadian (remember the UN mission in Somalia) or American. The difference is the treatment of those who breach the laws.

That difference should be noted by one and all.

by Jerry S. Sun May 02, 2004 07:28

While the behaviour of the prison guards was atrocious to me, it's hard for me to imagine that most Iraqis are upset about it. After all, didn't they dance in the streets as a pair of young soldiers from the 101st airborne were shot, then had their throats cut, then dragged from the car with Iraqis then mutilating their bodies? No doubt they partied really hard in Falluah that fateful day that burned bodies were hanging from a bridge. So many instances that Saddam could use as his defence that he was forced to be a sadistic tyrant in order to control his people and it would be believable. The guards of the prison were no doubt aware of these things happening. But the investigation will continue and justice will be served. And I certainly feel that as a society we simply cannot settle for less.

by Rick Carlucci Sun May 02, 2004 14:08

One of the comments regarding this issue brought up the fact that Americans were killed and brutalized as well. Well, here is what I have to say. The four Americans killed and decapitated in Fallujah were CIVILIANS not soldiers. Plus the Iraqis who did those heinous acts were CIVILIANS as well. Soldiers are protected under the Geneva Convention. The Iraqis on those pictures are soldiers POWs. The Americans who did the torture were soldiers also. I've heard of Iraqis beating American POWs before but not the same horrid treatments the American soldiers did to the Iraqi POWs. Rape, naked sex acts, dog attacks, electric torture to your genitals are just flat out horrible. American soldiers are supposed to liberate Iraqis of the torture they endured from Saddam and not continue Saddam's work. Bush and our government has prided themselves for giving freedom and safety to Iraqis. They have broken that promise. Those Iraqis were PRISONERS OF WAR not terrorists. Just because they are of a different religion, culture and color, it does not mean they are excluded from the protections given to American POWs. It does not mean they are all terrorists. I am outraged and saddened by this news. I am more worried about the backlash this is going to make. Our American soldiers will sustain the burden and backlash of this terrible news. The Iraqi people will feel more justified in treating our soldiers the same way our soldiers treated them. I hope for our soldier's safe return.

by lizo Sun May 02, 2004 21:31 wearrubber at charter dot net

the four people killed in Fallujah were not CIVILIANS they were mercenaries
they were hired guns they worked for
blackhawk enterprises - a private "security company " out of north carolina
some of them are paid $1,000.00 dollars a day and we U.S. taxpayers pay thier salaries
because a lot of the work is contracted out to them for a couple of reasons
1. because we need more arms over there
2. it is a sneaky way to keep the official number of armed bodies lower than it really is

interesting fact :
private security company mercenaries are the second largest force in Iraq only second
to american actual military forces
3 in the line up is British soldiers

also the force of mercenaries is not only made up of american companies also british companies
i read and listen to a lot of news
i am definetly not in support of war
i just wanted to get facts straight
There are stories out there documenting this and we need to remember that the reason there is so much trouble in fallujah is because a year ago there was a demonstration of civilians there - they wanted the u.s. forces out of the school they had taken over - their kids wanted to go back to school
u.s. troops fired on an unarmed crowd demonstrating killing many women and children
the next day there was another demonstration protesting the killings of the previous day and again u.s. troops fired on unarmed crowd killing more civilians

- all this from journalists who were there and saw it all happen
and then around a year later Bremer decides to shut down Sadr's paper in fallujah
then all the violence started
I thought we were bringing democracy ?
then how come shoot people in the street
why shut down a paper - well they said things the bushies didnt like

BESIDES all this
let's not forget
we knew it wasnt about democracy from the beginning
who bombed the WTC almost all Saudi nationals & Bin Laden
NOT Hussein and Iraqis

its about OIL and POWER
they want to dominate the whole middle east
and if we dont get bush out in 2004
we will have a reinstated draft and it wont be just men anymore equal opportunity
they will draft our young women too!

by alhambra Sun May 02, 2004 22:12

For a nice picture of a US civilian "contract worker" on the job in Iraq try this link .....
http://www.albasrah.net/picture.htm

All crackpot conspiracy stuff and Arab propaganda of course .... just like:
http://www.einswine.com/atrocities/iraq/