This entire affair is truly sickening and galling. This BBC story, US general suspended over abuse, details the story.
Here are the basic charges:
CBS says the pictures it obtained show a wide range of abuses, including:* Prisoners with wires attached to their genitals
* A dog attacking a prisoner
* Prisoners being forced to simulate having sex with each other
* A detainee with an abusive word written on his body.
My first reaction is that at least the US reaction is 1) disgust and 2) action.
And this is a pathetic excuse:
The station spoke to one of the six soldiers charged, Sergeant Chip Frederick – a reservist whose full-time job is as a prison officer in the US state of Virginia.Sgt Frederick said he and his fellow reservists had never been told how to deal with prisoners, or what lines should not be crossed.
“We had no training whatsoever,” he said.
First off, the guy is a prison officer, so it isn’t like he hasn’t had training. Second, and more importantly, it doesn’t require training to know that it is out of bounds to use prisoners as toys, let alone connect wires to the genatalia. Please.
Further, these sadistic morons have managed to hand the jihadists some wonderful information for their propaganda machine. As Reuters reports:
The photos appeared to show U.S. soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad run by the military posing and laughing as naked, male prisoners were stacked in a pyramid or made to simulate sex acts with one another.The pictures were also shown on Arab television, outraging Arabs already embittered by the U.S. invasion and occupation of an Arab country, and seemed sure to further alienate Iraqis whose resentment of Washington has fired two simultaneous uprisings.
The Reuters story also notes:
A former head of the U.S. Guantanamo Bay jail in Cuba has been sent to Iraq to ensure proper prison conditions, after photos apparently showed U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners, the military said on Friday.
Hopefully this will be cleaned up in a hurry and all who are responsible will be properly punished.
May 1st, 2024 at 12:40 am
I predict one thing you won’t see, (US or Arabic press) are any statments along the lines of:
“While this behavior is abhorant, and despicable it will be dealt with swiftly, and in a fashion that is fair and legal. Unlike similiar actions by the Jihadist and terrorists this is an isolated incident, As opposed to a from the top down state policy.”
May 5th, 2024 at 5:19 pm
what these soldiers fail to realize is that they’re fueling the anti-american hate all over again.
this behavior will give such support to anti-american/british movements that it is only a matter of time before the next set of terrorist actions will be directed towards one these nations.
stupid people backed by an ignorant president.
May 9th, 2024 at 10:22 am
While this treatment of Iraqi prisoners is not acceptable behavior or becoming of an american or british soldier. I don’t see how we can blame the head of state for that which he was not aware of. Furthermore, should we forget what these ungrateful pieces of ca-ca put our own soldiers through during their captivity. How about their treatment of their own people??!! My feeling is that these guards should be disciplined but not to the degree most seem to believe would be appropriate. Stupid as they were…what about eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth. While this treatment may have been humiliating there were for the most part never harmed physically! Leave our soldiers be!!!!!
May 9th, 2024 at 2:10 pm
http://hm.indymedia.org/usermedia/image/13/large/bin_laden_birdman_2.jpeg
May 10th, 2024 at 11:27 pm
I really get upset with the people who keep downplaying how serious this prisoner abuse is. It will cause many more americans to die, and not just soldiers. The people who did this have completely distroyed any chance of saving this blunder of an adventure in Iraqi. People keep saying “where was the outrage over the bodies hanging from the bridge.” We are americans and we are supposed to have the high moral ground on human right issues. I expect more of our soldiers, than a group of thugs and terrorists.
May 12th, 2024 at 7:54 am
Many of us in East Asia would be praying for Americans to “wake up!” and not vote in a moron as the president again… Republicans do give us the image of a war-monger these days. And this is coming from a neutral observer.
May 12th, 2024 at 8:09 am
Perhaps that’s a little too harsh. I guess what you meant is that if Bush didn’t start the war against Iraq, none of this would have happened. That is pretty much 2 seperate issues and the blame shouldn’t be put on the war. Unfortunately, i do agree on the popularity of Bush. I don’t know about Americans, but those images would forever be linked to this bullish and high-handed president. Apart from 50% of Americans, the rest of the world hates Bush.
May 13th, 2024 at 5:42 am
how is it possible for these persons to act so cruely to the iraqi prisoners and they know that they are to be setting an example? This is truly outrageous and it must me fixed before there will be change in iraq, the iraqis are acustom to these types of brutality and their mentalities will never be changed if we aremicans also carry out these kinds of pretensive cruelty.
in addition it plagues my mind as to why was there a war started in iraq by the bush administration and the real reason for it. all the senseless killings that took place in iraq of our american soldiers, could we really say that they lost their life for a purpose or because of bush’s stupidity?
AJG
April 30th, 2024 at 2:38 pm
Punishing the Bad Guys
…even when they are on our side. I’m very pro-military, but not at all pro-this: American military police officers manning what was once Saddam Hussein’s most notorious prison are under investigation for torturing Iraqi detainees with threats of elec…
April 30th, 2024 at 2:48 pm
ScumWatch: Army Edition
Gary Farber and John Cole rightly characterize as “appalling” reports that Army soldiers tortured and abused Iraqi prisoners, possibly with the connivance of higher-ups. A special fisking is in order for the lawyer for one of the accused so…
April 30th, 2024 at 4:25 pm
‘Hat of the Day: Chip Frederick
By now you’ve probably heard or read about the criminal behavior of at least six members of the 800th Military Police Brigade. All are allegedly guilty of misconduct which, if proven, would qualify them for a long, long period in prison, preferably…