U.S., Britain, Seek to Contain Iraq Abuse Scandal

[john]

What good does his resignation do the basterd will still get a nice fat check every month for the rest of his life!! And its a hell of a lot more than I get for bustin my ass all day pouring concrete.I say fire him and take away his retirement!This is unexcusable and the rest of America will pay for it one way or another!And they all called for Clintons impeachment for a little hummer ,and well gee he lied about it BIG DEAL...

[Timber Loftis]

I'd like to remind everyone of this silly little notion called "innocent until proven guilty." It applies to administration officials as equally as it applies to prisoners at Gitmo.

[Dalamar Stormcrow]

WOW! I always thought there was a seperate law for that! That implies to Rummie AND a prisoner at AL Gharib? Jesus, where did the courts miss that one?

[Skunk]

Originally posted by Timber Loftis: I'd like to remind everyone of this silly little notion called "innocent until proven guilty." It applies to administration officials as equally as it applies to prisoners at Gitmo.

Except that the man in question has already approved of the notion of guilty until proven innocent - and now finds himself caught in his own web.

[Timber Loftis]

And you say others are guilty of getting caught up in stereotype and sensationalism. You just exude spin, spin, spin.

[Donut]

Originally posted by Timber Loftis: Anyway, I sure hope they release more pictures -- the world needs more grotesque sensationalism in the media. Helps sell products, too.

Iraqi's tortured in Iraqi prisons - sound like things are returning to normal there. I really don't want to see any more, how can people be justifying this?.

Congress shocked by new "hellish" abuse images 05:09, May 13 2004

By Vicki Allen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Members of the U.S. Congress have seen new images of violence and sexual humiliation from a U.S.-run Iraqi prison in a closed viewing one lawmaker likened to a descent into "the wings of hell."

Lawmakers said on Wednesday images showed inmates apparently being coerced to commit sodomy, wounds possibly from dog bites, a number of dead bodies, and examples of "sadistic torture" and "sexual humiliation."

Some top Republicans urged that the still pictures and video not be released publicly, saying they could endanger U.S. forces overseas.

"What we saw is appalling. It is consistent with the photos that you've seen in the press to date. They go beyond that in many ways in terms of the various activities that are depicted," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican.

"There were some awful scenes. It felt like you were descending into one of the wings of hell and sadly it was our own creation," said Sen. Richard Durbin, an Illinois Democrat. "And when you think of the sadism, the violence, the sexual humiliation, after a while you just turn away, you just can't take it any more.

"I still cannot believe that this happened without the knowledge of those at higher levels," Durbin added.

Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned last week the pictures could worsen a scandal that ignited international outrage and shook U.S. global prestige as the United States seeks to stabilise Iraq.

Senators and members of the House of Representatives had a chance over several hours to look at some 1,600 images in separate secure rooms in a presentation conducted by the Pentagon, which kept custody of the material.

FORCED SODOMY

Many lawmakers said the images were similar to photographs shown around the world of naked prisoners stacked in a pyramid or positioned to simulate sex acts at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, but they said some were even more shocking.

Lawmakers said they did not see examples of outright rape, murder or abuses of children.

Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, an Illinois Republican, said "many of the same people were involved over and over" in the photographs. "I didn't see different characters than the ones who have been in the newspapers," he said.

Durbin described a picture of a man with half his head "blown off," lying on the ground in blood and gore, but said there was no explanation of where that was taken.

An Islamic Web site on Tuesday showed an American civilian, Nick Berg of suburban Philadelphia, being beheaded by an al Qaeda leader in Iraq in revenge for the "Satanic degradation" of Iraqi prisoners.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican, whose committee had a closed-door hearing with Stephen Cambone, defence undersecretary for intelligence, said there were "44 CIA people in and out of" Abu Ghraib prison, "a lot during the evening, over a period of time."

Congress is trying to establish whether the mistreatment was encouraged by intelligence personnel to "soften up" prisoners for interrogations.

Roberts also said two other U.S. prisons in Iraq were mentioned in the latest material, "but the abuses were not as severe."

'GUT WRENCHING'

Rep. Jane Harman, a California Democrat, said the new pictures showed "cruel and sadistic torture."

She described as "gut wrenching" images of a nearly naked man "handcuffed to a wall, beating his head against the wall, recoiling back and forward, probably trying to knock himself unconscious and avoid having to live through the experience."

Lawmakers said the images were shown fairly rapidly and with minimal explanation. Sen. James Jeffords, a Vermont independent, said the pictures were "horrible. But they go by so fast. Terrible scenes. ... It was click, click, click.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, a Virginia Republican, urged that the images not be released before trials related to the abuses of detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison.

"I feel very strongly that these photographs should not be made public. I feel that it could possibly endanger the men and the women of the armed forces as they are serving and at great risk," Warner said.

[Davros]

If it's the same people over and over again with worse and worse acts of torture then this local infection of a dozen or so morons needs to be brutally burnt out of the military and this wound cauterized in everyone's mind. The nessage needs to be sent strongly that this sort of action is totally unacceptable, and the perpetrators should rot in prison for life. The damage they have done to the prisoners in their care, and to the integrity and international standing of their country is not consistent with their taking the pledge of allegiance and swearing to serve their country. If that is how they dishonour their country and their fellow human beings it is time for retribution to be visited.