Home > US war crimes : how troops tortured Iraqi prisoners

US war crimes : how troops tortured Iraqi prisoners

by Open-Publishing - Friday 30 April 2004
102 comments

Edito


Click
to watch the CBS TV pictures

By Richard
Phillips

On April 29, CBS television’s "60 Minutes II" program screened graphic images
of Iraqi prisoners being tortured and sexually humiliated by US troops at the
Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad. The photographs, which show American soldiers-
men and women-smiling, laughing or giving thumbs-up signs alongside naked Iraqi
prisoners, expose the sadistic and brutal methods employed by American forces
and provide more evidence of the catalog of war crimes being committed by US-led
forces in
Iraq.

One of the pictures shows an Iraqi prisoner standing on a box with a hood over
his head. Electric wires are attached to his hands. He was told that if he fell
off the box he would be electrocuted. Another photograph is of naked male detainees
stacked in a pyramid shape, one of the men has a slur written on his skin in
English. In some pictures, prisoners are positioned to simulate sex with each
other while US troops point and laugh.

The photos have surfaced in connection with the suspension in March of 17 members
of the 800th Military Police Brigade for mistreatment and abuse of prisoners
at Abu Ghraib prison in November and December of last year. The jail was infamous
for torture and executions under the Saddam Hussein regime.

Six of those suspended were charged with dereliction of duty, cruelty and maltreatment,
assault and indecent acts-the military’s term for sexual abuse-and could be court-martialed
and jailed.

Military investigators have also recommended that disciplinary action be brought
against seven US officers in charge of the prison, including Brigadier General
Janis Karpinski, the 800th Brigade’s commander.

While the US Army revealed these violations last month, it has attempted to prevent
any detailed information leaking to the media. Army officials, however, were
forced to appear on the high-rating television program after other news outlets
were given copies of the photographs.

The Army told "60 Minutes II" that it had numerous photos, including a picture
of a detainee with electric wires attached to his genitals, a dog attacking an
Iraqi prisoner and a dead Iraqi prisoner who had been badly beaten at the prison.
One civilian interrogator had smashed several tables in order to "fear up" prisoners.

The television show also revealed that the Army is investigating allegations
by an Iraqi detainee that a prison translator at Abu Ghraib raped a male juvenile
detainee. Part of the prisoner’s testimony states: "They covered all the doors
with sheets. I heard the screaming ... and the female soldier was taking pictures."

These acts of sadism and cruelty constitute a blatant violation of the "UN Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment" and
are war crimes as defined by Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions on the treatment
of war prisoners.

Article 3 prohibits:

a. violence to life and person, in particular murder of all
kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;

b. taking hostages;

c. outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating
and degrading treatment.

Army Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, deputy chief of military operations in Iraq,
told "60 Minutes II" that the torture was "reprehensible" and claimed that those
facing charges were "not representative" of American soldiers in Iraq. "Don’t
judge your army by the actions of a few," he said. Americans "need to understand
that is not the Army."

These mendacious comments were refuted by CBS’s chilling interview with Army
Reserve Staff Sergeant Chip Frederick, one of those facing court martial.

Frederick, a Virginia prison guard, is charged with assaulting detainees, ordering
prisoners to strike each other and an "indecent act" for observing one of the
sexual abuse incidents. He insisted, however, that his actions were not those
of a rogue soldier, but were sanctioned and encouraged by military intelligence
and the CIA.

Along with other reservist jail guards, he was directed to physically and mentally "prepare" Iraqi
detainees for interrogation. He said that dogs were also used as "intimidation
factors" against prisoners.

One of Frederick’s email messages said: "Military intelligence has encouraged
and told us ’Great job.’ They usually don’t allow others to watch them interrogate.
But since they like the way I run the prison, they have made an exception. We
help getting them [detainees] to talk with the way we handle them.... We’ve had
a very high rate with our style of getting them to break. They usually end up
breaking within hours."

As these comments make clear, torture in US-run Iraqi prisons is an integral
part of the illegal occupation. A systematic process of brutalization is being
directed from the upper ranks.

At the same time, the fact that US soldiers are employing methods similar to
those used by the Nazis in World War II is indicative of a deep-seated state
of demoralization and degradation that the occupation has bred within the US
military. Finding themselves in a hostile environment with the vast majority
of Iraqis opposing the occupation, many American soldiers have come to see the
country’s entire population as the enemy. Fed lies about the colonial intervention
in Iraq being part of a global "war on terrorism," some have also assumed a license
to torture and humiliate their helpless captives.

Contrary to Kimmitt’s claims-slavishly echoed by the corporate media-this is
the logic and modus operandi of imperialist conquest and colonial occupation.
The pictures of torture, brutality and sexual sadism are representative of the
entire criminal operation being conducted in Iraq.

Washington anticipated and prepared in advance for the war crimes now being committed
against the Iraqi people. No criminal charges can be brought against a US soldier
in Iraq because the puppet Iraqi Governing Council has given the American military
a blanket amnesty from prosecution. Secondly, with the backing of Germany and
a number of other countries, no US soldier or citizen can be prosecuted for war
crimes in the International Criminal Court.

The "60 Minutes II" broadcast has provided only a partial glimpse of the crimes
being carried out by US forces in Iraq and elsewhere. The conditions in Iraqi
jails, where over 18,000 prisoners are being held, are replicated in a network
of US-run concentration camps around the world. These include Guantanamo Bay,
Diego Garcia, Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. According to current estimates,
the US is incarcerating over 25,000 detainees in these hellholes, in violation
of the Geneva Conventions.

30.04.2004
Collective Bellaciao

Forum posts

  • I am an American, and I work at the number one television station in Florida. I do not listen to one thing our media has to say about this travesty of a war. This country is rooted in racial hatred, and the mindless idiots who occupy this country will never change. I am proud to associate with people who feel this war is illegal, but for the most part Americans are bamboozled by the current administration and the corporate media.

    • Even the U.S. govrnment admitted the photos are real. Don’t think this is something new though.
      This has happened in every war dating back to wwl. My dad saw it in wwll, my brother saw it in Korea, my cousin saw it in Vietnam and, I saw it in Japan even when there was no war. We are truely the ’Ugly Americans’ around the world.

    • TO ORIGINAL POSTER: How refreshing to view your comments. You are so correct. I agree with you on all aspects. Blessings to you and yours.

    • Sickening. Absolutely disgusting.

      This is the reason why the world hates the U.S. It’s not just these incidents, but also the outrageous double standards employed by the Bush administration (anybody remember Bush protesting and saying the Iraqi government would pay for broadcasting footage of American prisoners?). The outrageous arrogance of your government in invading a country without international backing, effectively without provocation (after having been waging low-level conflict with them ever since 1991) and for economic motives.

      Having said this, I’m British and our government are almost as guilty as the Bush regime (they didn’t instigate the idea, but they sure as hell went along with it). Tony Blair truly is George Bush’s poodle.

    • I want to thank those last posts from what are certainly intelligent, informed patriots condemning
      the atrocities. Thank God we have brothers and sisters with a firm grasp of what is right and
      what is wrong. I can tolerate ignorance as that is simply not knowing. What I will not tolerate
      is stupidity which was demonstrated by the previous amoeba. Their necks were so red I lit
      a cigarette off of them. I’m going to bed before I really get angry. Let me know if you have
      the guts to enlist and place your combat boots on Middle Eastern soil. I’m certain that I can
      locate others who will assist you in traveling to the armed forces recruiting station.

    • Hopefully you’ll change from The Ugly Americans to the DEAD ONES. the world would be a better place...

    • The only good american is a dead one.

    • Why don’t you send me a picture so I can identify you before I stick a bayonet in your eye. Don’t lump all Americans into one pot when it’s a select few who are committing these atrocities. By the way, what country are you from?
      Signed,

      An American Soldier serving in Afghanistan

    • a select few? you maybe right, but you are one of them if you want to stick a bayonet in someones eye......get a life

    • I am from Sicily, so you want to put a bayonet in my eye????
      I REPEAT I AM FROM SICILY I WILL PUT A KNIFE IN YOUR THROAT..
      wake up and smell the coffee as you say in your country...
      and grow up..

    • Not quite.

      Only those AmeriKans who advocated invading Iraq.

    • hear hear, you are so right, all governments are to blame, all of europe backed up USA, except France but who knows.....we are all in trouble in the world....thanks for your sensible comment my british friend
      ciao from Australia

    • As a former Army interrogator who was due to leave today for Baghdad (to interrogate as a civilian contractor for the government), I can tell you with certainty that no competent US interrogator would condone, request, direct, allow, or ignore the conduct you see reflected in the pictures and related stories. You may be against the US involvement - that is fully understandable - but US interrogation methodology does not involve torture, most simply because it does not work. In fact, torture works against the interrogator’s mission which is to obtain accurate information in the shortest amount of time. Torture has been proven in history to elicit unreliable information and is morally repugnant.

      This being said, there are always ’bad apples’ in any organization and they must be reported, and tried as the criminals that they are. The photos appear (to me) to be a military police idea of a prank, given the expressions of the MP’s, the fact that they took the pictures in the first place, and the sheer stupidity of the behavior. They bring discredit on all of us.

    • Its people like the sicilian who make me sick. His prejudging us is exactaly what we are fighting. Just because there are pictures of some poeple doing this doesnt mean we all are. If thats the case I guess all arabs are terrorists and all Sicilians are cowards, Right?

    • You must be the ultimate UGLY American yourself if you want to stick a bayonet in someone’s eye just because they are quite rightly disturbed by the sick and disgusting photographs of American soldiers sexually molesting and mentally torturing the people who we are supposedly supposed to be "liberating". And since you are claiming to be a soldier in Aghanistan, it would appear that the sick and tortured psychology of "only a few" perhaps includes yourself. You have unwittingly exposed yourself as a sick bastard. MORON. You are a disgrace to the country.

    • as an american who has lived all over the world, not with the military, I am greatful that if I where ever inprisened by an other country/gov. I would not be humileated as these poor men have been , rather I get to be set on fire and drug behind a truck untill there is nothing left.

    • terrorists!!!
      who killed more than 10 thousand civilians in iraq? and may be more in afghanistan?
      who travelled thousands of miles from his home land to do so?
      how many civilian was killed the WTC? 2 thousands?
      being called the "american army" or "american government" doesn’t make them any different from those who was responsible for sept. 11, they are even worse cause they are supposed to be a responsible authority not some unrecognised group!!
      please I don’t wanna hear a reply saying "to free iraqis" or to "liberate iraq" cause this is the most silly joke I’ve ever heard

    • You are a sucker , fighting for nothing but your own expendable ass , and a bankers purse.
      Bayonet boy.

    • I’m not the least bit surprised at the photos I received yesterday from a fellow victim of America’s Secret Police and their arsenal of non-lethal weapons. We’ve been subjected to electric shock torture and there were no wires, it’s done remotely some time at some distance and it hurts like hell. They may have used these weapons on the Iraqis, they shock, sting, and burn and leave small circular burns.
      When victims contact the local authorities as well as government officials they do nothing and have given complete autonomy to the CIA and FBI in regards to the guinea pigging of innocent Americans and if some of us die then they are ’casualties of research’ I guess, although the ’testing’ is non-consensual we are powerless to do anything.
      The FBI and CIA illegally deputize a bunch of felons, illegals, and general riff raff, arming them with these weapons and sends them to harass, torture and rape innocent Americans. They enjoy virtual sex with their targets by using the equipment to ’fondle’ and ’penetrate’ their victims, often stroking them to orgasm as they sleep. The sex scenes I saw in the pictures aren’t surprising at all these many in theses agencies are sex obsessed and can’t contain themselves.
      Many are psycopaths with fractured, splintered, multiple personalities, they were deliberately damaged at birth and trained to torture, harass and violate.
      We have a bunch of sickos who have been let loose and given complete autonomy, that’s why the world hates our azzes more and more with each passing year.

    • We talk about institutional failure to provide decent treatment to prisoners. We talk about "real life lesson" what US democracy does in occupied Iraq.
      Just wait and you will see very light punishment to the guilty US Army soldiers because any attempt to deliver appropriate punishment will trigger "let’s go to hell together" defence the high ranks are unwilling to face.

    • Have not you noticed that US uses differentset set of (much lower) standards in Iraq ?
      It seems that according to you they are guilty of being caught.

    • thanks for your kind words, and yes he is a disgrace to his country. I am from Australia and I WAS who he was talking to....just because I was disturbed at the photos, he is a bastard and a MORON, and yes he is definitely one of the "few"
      thanks for your input.

    • The actions of a "select few" have fucked you all! You show in your message post how angery and fired up to kill you are! I am from America! I dont trust your war and dont trust soldiers! The photos show what kind of people you are...monsters...nazis...aMEricans! Some people are good solidiers, some bad...but...you are loseing public support!
      El Demento Austin Texas

    • have a life! where i can love my brother....and think for myself! This war is wrong...we are what we say we hate!

    • This is a prime example of what the world does not need...hate...widespread hate...the end is coming.

    • That’s very funny........You said the same thing all White Racists said during the many years (and counting) of brutalizing black people here in America: "It’s a select few who are committing these atrocities."
      You all need to wake up and realize the evil in this administration and this country. We blacks in America have known it for hundreds of years.

    • Only a true idiot would make such a moronic statement.

    • Can you really convince yourself that you are better than the those you condemn? Speaking of ugly, brushed your teeth lately?

    • And thats the truth. As a former soldier, one thing during training that was made perfectly clear
      was to treat prisoners with respect and dignity. An American soldier NEVER commits acts like
      this. You want to win a war, treat your prisoners well. They are soldiers, they may be civilians,
      but they are human beings! Torture and murder are the actions of sick, evil individuals. If
      anyone in my unit EVER did something like this, I would take them out and shoot them myself!
      Call it field justice mother f$@&%r!

    • I’m not ugly u are. I strive to be the best I can be. U panzees need to stop throwing all your self discipline out the window

  • These photographs are obviously phony.

    • "...but for the most part Americans are bamboozled by the current administration and the corporate media."

      ^^^^^^^^^

      case in point??

    • If it was your own loved one in the photo, would you still call it phony?

    • yeah right, those aren’t american soldiers and this was made by the israeli porn kings and the liberal democrats. Or is it Black ops from the UN or just put there to get the response from a phony american who says the pix are "phony"

    • which part of which photos is phony? The part where the prisoners are forced to give each other blowjobs? The part where the grinning soldier is pointing at the prisoner’s dick and giving a thumbs up? The part where prisoners are stacked up and guards are grinning like demented idiots?

      What part of "depravity" is unclear to you?

    • Why are the photographs ’obviously’ phony? I suppose the pictures are NOT ’obviously’ phony if no one else has made that claim. Do you not think it is possible that Americans are capable of such atrocities?

    • *Use your brains*. Very good advice for yourself. --- This person is obviously demented. To suggest these photographs are "phony", gives me the clue that the individual who posted this idiocy considers violence and murder totally acceptable. In this person’s life is: sexual dysfunction, molestation, spousal/child abuse and an overall lust for pornography and violence. GET SOME HELP. You are a terrorist to yourself, those around you and to America AND the planet in general.

    • How do you know? I have heard claims that they are tan soldiers because Arabs have more body hair. Get over that one. My husband is Arab. I can guarantee you that excessive body hair is a stero type. Are there other reasons that make you believe they are phony? Please explain

    • you should not stand in the wrong side even if you love your country,i am a photogpher and i can tell you for sure that these pictures are real. you should show pity over those sufferers in stead of those abusers.

    • yes,this is the real pro-terrorists and terrorist himself, no respect of himself and to other beings, he dserve to be in the guillotine and stoned to die!

    • ALLAH is great, he love you, more power to you...

    • were you there?

    • Do you mind explaining just how these photos are phony, to those of us who are not masters of the obvious such
      as yourself.

    • These photographs are phonoy? I have picture of you mother being raped by a dog, and I know the picture is phony too, but anyhow I will post it here.

      I think Americans live in toilet bowl, thats why they can’t see, think or speak properly.

    • well you are right....mate

    • You wish they were phony. Some of the soldiers have been identified and have already given statements in an attempt to build a defense of their own actions. Are their statements acknowledging their crimes phony too? You ought to take your own advice and use your brains to break the chains of denial that you have shackled upon yourself. The perpetrators are admitting what they have done, and you stupidly comment that they are ’obviously phony’.

  • what is shown on this program is merely a glimpse and mirror image of what was done to "alledged" taliban terrorist in the Cuban /American prison. What is the point of Having UN/UNESCO AND ALL OTHER LEGALLY APPOINTED BODIES THAT DEALS WITH THIS TYPE OF BLATANT TERRORISM AND BRUTALITY OCCUR TURN AROUND AND SAY "OUR HANDS ARE TIED AND PLEASE FOLLOW THE GENEVA CONVENTION", AND HAVE DONE ZERO TO ACTUALLY STOP THESE AGGRESSORS.

    THE LIVES OF THE INNOCENT ARE LEFT IN THE HANDS OF THE INSANE AND THE INCAPABLE WHAT ESLE CAN WE EXPECT WHEN WE AS A HUMAN RACE DONT STAND UP AND REPRESENT OURSELVES.

  • This is the dark side of the American occupation of Iraq, those disgusting pictures is one example of the Bush’s army disrespect of human rights of arabs and muslims, those pictures will fire up the anger of Iraqi people as well as many Arabs and muslims. I think Saddam Hussain days is just nothing comparing to Bush, Blair and the gang are doing now.
    Osama Almahdi, Bristol, UK

  • Sadly, the photos are not phonies.

    I do agree that the U.S. soldiers in them and those who allowed this kind of monstrousity are idiots. They forgot their military training and allowed themselves to be carried away by stupidity and hatred.

    But we also have to think about the kind of mindset that these young Americans have at this time. I have read the comments made by the Staff Sergeant "Frederick" who was involved and I can sense the typical mentality of those reservist and national guardsmen who have seen too much T.V. Here he is proudly stating that the CIA told them they were doing a good job by "softening" up prisoners before interrogation. Idiot!

    Frankly, we all know that CIA or Intelligence officers probably DO torture prisoners, but you have to think about our country and what your decision can do to history. This guy probably did get a "good job" by some officer or something, but you don’t go and "spill the beans" just to cover your own ass! You have to have a little honor and accept responsibilty for the actions that you did and not try and make excuses after someone caught you!

    The war in Iraq has supporters and opposers, and personally I oppose, but I DO support 100% our troops. They are there on duty, doing exactly what they chose to do; Serve our country. They have demonstrated more courage than many of us "americans" that criticize their actions. They are young boys and girls susceptible to hatred and mental stress that have been sent in by our Commander in Chief for whatever reasons.

    I guess we should take a closer look at the training and screening of personnel before sending them in to situations were they could easily loose it if not mentally tough.

    wuingo@hotmail.com

    • To you and all who support the war...why are you siting behind the computer and typing away....Join the army if you really believe in the cause...you are just chicken shits...oh...I am supporter of the army.....I know many soldiers who oppose this war , but under military code if you oppose the war you will be put behind bars.....wonderful.. double standards for our own soldiers....on one hand we preech freedom of speech and the right to choose on the other hand US military hands are tied behind their back to speak their minds while in service.... this sucks don’t you think?

    • Re: Staff Sergeant Frederick
      His attitude proves that Americans can be as culpable as those Germans that ran the Gestapo prisons, etc. Sad.

  • I am not surprised. These actions are no different than what most armies in the world commit. The difference here is that the US didn’t need to go after Iraq. Liberation? Whoever believed that is naive. This was a pure invasion with greed and racism in their agenda. The fact is, and everyone is aware of this, that America is a racist nation who believes they are superior to everyone. Due to Americans’ poor education, they are unaware that history always repeats itself, and one day America will not remain a superpower. People in these regions do not forget atrocities. They still have conflicts with events thousands of years ago. Bravo America. You made the world safer. Here, have a cookie.

    • Ditto. Iagree with u in every respect,and wish to add only that the arabs are not red Indians;This time the American cowboy has taken on a people who both culturally and religiously are certainly going to pay the americans back with intrest added- and not be exterminated as the red indians were.I only hope when the time comes,those arabs remember it was Bush and his crowd and not all Americans who are responsible for this insult to human values and behaviour. Pax Americana Bush style mean not only an end to moral conduct at the international level by the US government, but also the start of an international resistance by the oppressed which will herald the end of oppressive and aggressive US mentality symbolised by cowboy Bush.

    • I disagree. While atrocities were committed in all wars to date, there are few reports of public, orchestrated, sexual assaults of this type committed on men. Even former prisoners of Saddam say that he did not strip men naked and humiliate them in this way. This really is a new low. Try the reign of Caligula, if you’re stuck for a comparison, but even he wasn’t sick enough to record the events and send the info to friends. That is how this stuff got out you know. They were bragging about it and showing off their snaps. The UK soldiers claim that hundreds of such photos were swapped like football cards.

  • lets get real is not war crime because there was no torture the wires were not hot, the soldiers were smiling , is just not politically correct. The 4 contractors burned and left hanging on a bridge to the voltures was a war crime, no mercy for people of that kind.

    • First of all, we don’t have any ideas of the context in which these pictures where taken. These actions may have took place only once or those pics may only show the tip of the iceberg.

      It doesn’t look to me like they were actually "tortured" but they certainly feared for their lives to accept such humiliation.

      I understand that in some case fear or even some kind of torture can be used to get information that could save lives or may make the country a better place, but the smile in the face of the so called guardians tells a lot about their intention and competance. If you’re going to torture someone fucking torture them, I am not convinced that playing gay ass game with their dicks and have them posing in homosexual acts will have any positive inpact.

      Furthermore, as far as I know homosexual behavior is not something that is quite well seen or understood in arabic country so I think it migh enflame a hell of a lot of people who are going to see those pictures out there.

    • I am the one who just replied.

      I just want to add that the 4 "contractors" were most probably killed by armfire and not burnt and beaten alive. They were already dead when their bodies were mutilated. This is nothing compared to the mutilation caused by cal 50 or other barbaric machine gun used by the american army.

      I’ve seen a lot of pictures on the internet of dismambered irakies, some of which were not yet dead and had their intestina hanging off their body. Search a little bit and you’ll find headless insurgents with americains posing at their side with a "i feel so alive" smile in their face.

    • This the same eye closing during war 2 of the annihalation of the jews. Are we any better than the German population?

    • GOOD! I hope to wake up every day to more images of mutilated f*cking yanks - The world would be a better place if you all died - and many wouldn’t mind to much if it was horrible slow death. Die scum.

    • Yes lets get real. AMERICANS ARE SICK AND PERVERTED INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE SO INATELY RACIST THAT THEY CANNOT IMAGINE THE SUFFERING OF OTHER PEOPLES. THESE ARE JUST RAGHEADS SO IT DOES NOT COUNT. THAT THEY KILLED FOUR ARMED MERCENARIES WHO HAD ILLEGALLY INVADED THEIR COUNTRY CALLED FOR COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT OF FALLUJAH AND THE DEATHS OF ONE THOUSAND INNOCENTS. YOU ARE SUCH A TYPICAL UGLY AMERICAN!

  • how much more of this appointed president’s crap are we supposed to turn a blind eye to? you reap what is sown — he was appointed, not elected; he went to war with lies. any president who was never out of the U.S. before being appointed president — how in God’s name can he have any intelligence or sense of other cultures. he is a disgrace to American values and integrity. how much more do we need to see through this greedy, oil baron. jeeze, I am amazed at the blindness of this country. we will reap what we have sown with this idiot in the White House.

    • I just want to make this addition. When I saw those pictures, I wept with deep shame for my country. We as a people have lost control of our government, and at this point in time we are still not sure what to do about it. I want to say one thing on my own behalf and that of my fellow American citizens who don’t have their head up their ass about this FAKE WAR. I offer my deepest apologies to the Iraqi people, and to other people of the world that my government has ruined the lives of. I am so very heartfelt sorry. I wish there was something I could do about it, but I can’t. Most of my countrymen are brain dead and their skulls are stuffed full of propaganda that their government feeds to them on a daily basis. I swear to you that I have done my best to inform them, and I pledge to you that I will continue in my efforts to wake up as many as I can. I owe you all that much. For those of us who have opposed any intervention from the start, and there are many of us, I can only beg God to have mercy on our wretched souls. These past 4 years, moreso than the last 30, have made me deeply ashamed to be an American. So much so that I have more than once considered renouncing my citizenship. But I won’t, because I feel I have a duty to make a change in the wrong direction that my country has gone in. I will keep up the fight, I will continue to spread the TRUTH and wake as many as I can and call them to take up the cause, for one day I fear that we will have to take up arms in defense of the cause. I am a descendant of my founding fathers, so I feel the shame and anger more intensely than others. To all the people of Iraq, and especially those prisoners, my deepest regrets and apologies, and I hope that you can find some way to understand that the actions of this government are NOT the embraced values of it’s people. I can assure you, Iraqi people, that you are NOT my enemy. I know who the enemy is, and I will not stop fighting the enemy to my last breath. God bless....

    • Well written. I concur that the actions of the Bush administration have embarrassed me. The best way to try to change is to NOT re-elect Bush in November. It’s a start. I really am afraid of what will happen if he gets re-elected-afraid of what Bush will do-not afraid of terrorists. I’d love to see all those soldiers responsible for the torture and humiliation of the Iraqi prisoners prosecuted for war crimes.

  • This is disgusting beyond the imagination. I have been, am and always will be a soldier and
    have two sons serving in Iraq who are equally mortified that U.S. troops would pull something
    like this and stand there and grin. They must have been asleep when briefed on the Geneva
    Convention. They are out of control animals and I believe court martial and prison are in order
    and lets see if they think that’s humorous. This is what you have when the Commander-In-Chief
    and his band of thugs think and act the same way. What an example and what a dark blemish
    on this nation and what it stands for. And we want other nations to be like us? Makes me want
    to vomit. And by the way, don’t try to refute my comments by citing the civilian money hungry
    employees mutilated earlier while busy making money for the Bushites bank account.

    • I am relieved to see there are military personel who are equally disgusted by this. Where’s the anthrax killer and Bin F*N Laden? This Iraq is nothin but a Bushism left from Poppy Bush. The world needs to know the connection of Bush to the Saudi’s. Its Bush that helped cause 9-11 along with UNOCAL. Read the book "House of Bush, House of Saud" It’ll turn your stomach what Bush has done!

    • Well said brother.

      Rock Of The Marne! 3rd ID

  • Is this what so called Democracy and Freedom to the Iraqi People?
    What happened to the american spirit? Even animal would not treat human this way!!!!!!
    The whole world knows about the tortured and the abuse which the americcan had done to the human race all over the globe. What it is happening to the Iraqi people on the hand of the americcan is not something new. I guess it is just time to unveil their MASK.

  • Thank you so much for your comments. A real piece of work.

  • Yup, we’re saving them real good. Remodeling their cities too. 16,000 rotting under the desert sand. "Crusade" was the correct term.

  • COMPLETELY DISGUSTING.

    THE U.S. HAS NO BUSINESS IN IRAQ. GET OUT! NOW!

    AMERICANS ARE WORSE THAN SADDAM.

  • Being a US Citizen, I am very upset over the treatment of those prisoners. Please realize that the majority of the United States is opposed the war. Peace!

    • Peace? A bit late - the more dead americans the better!

    • I am an european, and I realize that the majority of people do not want war in your country....peace to you brother or sister...your government needs to drop dead though...

  • What happened the american sweet apple pie Image when John Wayne act as third party peace keeper and save the mexican with pried and dignity. The whole world hate United State now and they realy know what Mcdonalds stands for.

  • US out of San Francisco!

    • as an American citizen, I deplore the acts of American military towards the Iraw prisoners.
      I demand that each and every one of those involved in the torture of these detainees be put in jail for many, many years. How dare our president invade another country based on lies then allow things such as this. I as a American citizen, am so sorry that this has happened. I do hope the investigation go to the very top military officer involved in this and not scapegoat and blame only those under their command. This entire thing from the beginning of this war to the shameful
      situation in the prisons makde me sick to my stomach.

  • Karpinski is just trying to save her ass. She be court martialied for treason.

  • As a former Army interrogator who was due to leave today for Baghdad (to interrogate as a civilian contractor for the government), I can tell you with certainty that no competent US interrogator would condone, request, direct, allow, or ignore the conduct you see reflected in the pictures and related stories. You may be against the US involvement - that is fully understandable - but US interrogation methodology does not involve torture, most simply because it does not work. In fact, torture works against the interrogator’s mission which is to obtain accurate information in the shortest amount of time. Torture has been proven in history to elicit unreliable information and is morally repugnant.

    This being said, there are always ’bad apples’ in any organization and they must be reported, and tried as the criminals that they are. The photos appear (to me) to be a military police idea of a prank, given the expressions of the MP’s, the fact that they took the pictures in the first place, and the sheer stupidity of the behavior. They bring discredit on all of us.

    • Dear Sir,

      Please shut up! and go and take interogation 101 all over again...where do you live in a toilet bowl?

      I just wonder people like you and other Americans who believed in this war and supported can even open their mouths and say something. You should cut your toungs and just stay quite that will be an honour.......What American’s are doing or perhaps western cultuers are doing to other countires is going to back fire soon...liberate Iraq...give women their rights...yeah right...I know how much rights women have here. Just in America...according to govt...sources every 15 seconds one women gets abused in America, I can have women dance naked for me for 1 dollar in any strip joint....oh not forget when we watch Jerry Springer in other countires, that really shows what incest is all about...

      Cheers...I hope no offense is taken....

    • how can anyone take offence to the truth......YOU ARE WONDERFUL....I agree with everything you say....people really need to shut up
      thanks for your comments..

  • BUSH ITS TIME NOW FOR YOU TO HANG YOUR HEAD IN SHAME AND APOLOGISE TO THE WORLD THE BIGGEST BLUNDER YOU DID AS A SERVING US PRESIDENT.

    I WISH TO IMAGINE YOUR FACE EXPRESSION AND YOUR COMMENTS, REACTION, IF YOU SEE AMERICAN PRISONERS IN SIMILAR HORRIFYING SITUATIONS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.

    SHAME ON ALL THE BAD PEOPLE OF AMERICA AND SHAME ON BUSH AND SHAME ON ALL ERRING SOLDIERS.....HELL IS WAITING FOR ALL THE SINNERS.....GET READY....

  • TISK TISK - Next time dont take any pictures- but keep up the good work.

  • I would just like to say, that american soldiers are not very different from the rest of the american population, they are all GAYS
    Also they can not seems that american female soldiers have some needs to be satisfied that american MEN can not give them. I think you all understand

    • A man :) right on...now go say 10 HELL marry and ask for forgiveness...

  • all of this talk is so horrendous, afghanistan was wrong, iraq was wrong. there are no words to express the debased torture of the iraqi prisoners. just imagine if the situation had it been the other way round. if those prisoners had been american.
    i am just an ordinary person but! if ANY of those people in those photographs were members of my family i believe i could become a terrorist on the same day i viewed the photgraphs.
    another horror from iraq which keeps me awake at night, or i sometimes wake up crying is the image of a little girl about 10 being carried by her father with both her feet blown off by a cluster bomb. she is dying in his arms, the blood is pulsating out of her body as he looks at her helplessly and hopelessly. WHY use cluster bombs, BULLIES! the whole world knew that the best
    equipped most technologically advanced army in the world could annihilate, massacre and maim the populations of both afghanistan and iraq.
    and what about lt gen william boykin who promotes his god over anybody else’s god who said that george bush was put in the white gouse to lead the global fight against satan disguised as islam, and gave god the credit for protecting him and his troops in a bloody battle in somalia in 1993 that battle was he said, a fight between "the principalities of darkness" led by him and his soldiers at gods direction. WHO is the weirdo here? THINK
    i have to agree with samir amin when he said "never have the armies of the north brought, prosperity, to the peoples of asia, africa, or latin america. In the future, as in the past five centuries, they can only bring to these peoples further servitude, the exploitation of their labor, the expropriation of their riches, and the denial of their rights. it is of the UTMOST importance the progressive forces of the west understand this.
    on this note i am going to open a bottle of red, watch the news and learn how 11 more young, beautiful americans died today, probably they won’t tell the number of iraqi’s for the world knows that an american life is worth much more than the life of an iraqi. even though i am not there i, like many others watch the 6 o’clock news suffer and cry
    helen

    • Testing site

    • I have the ultimate proposal for all those american’s who start to beleive America’s is no longer the country they want o belong to..Give up your US citizenship and move to another country...

    • nobody said they dont want to be Americans, I am not an American but if I was I would be proud of my country......BUT THAT DOSENT MEAN THAT ALL WHAT YOU DO IS RIGHT!!!!!!!!! .....the damage that you have done in Afghanistan and Iraq is unbelievable. WAKE UP...do you understand that their will be hate between the muslims and the americans for another 100000000 years thanks to Bush???? How can we mend this damage??? YOU TELL ME...how???? How can we stop hatred and terrorist attacks?? How can we help you (Europe) when you are travelling not to be hit targets for the Bush quest for OIL.??????

      god help us all...
      I do not support terrorism but the muslims have never bothered us or attacked us FOR FIRST?
      lets leave them alone........

    • — I have the ultimate proposal for all those american’s who start to beleive America’s is no longer the country they want o belong to..Give up your US citizenship and move to another country...

      And I have the ultimate proposal for all those Americans who continue to believe Iraqis should submit to US military intervention. Give up your unconvincing self-righteous bullshit and move your troops out of *their* country.

    • yessssssssssssss, now thats a post, good on ya as we say down under, I like your ultimate proposals....especially the give up your unconvincing self righteous bullshit and move the troops out.....I think I love you ...
      GREAT WORK.....only wish it would happen though...............sigh

      Lina

    • You like belonging to a war mongering nation that murders women and children? Bet you feel real proud of our brave fightin men acting like juveniles and smirking in front of the camera with degraded naked prisoners for friends back home.. Wave your plastic Chinese made American flag pal. Don’t do a anything else. God knows you might have to expend a little bit of effort and that’s just too much to ask. You approve of Bush’s war actions? Why don’t you get your ass over there to Falluja and take a few bullets for your cause then, patriot? Send us some pictures of your adventures..

      No, we aren’t going to GIVE UP citizenship. We are going to stay right here and make a difference because it’s the right thing to do. No, we aren’t going to give up and make it easy for assholes like you. YOU are the problem with this nation and we won’t rest until your kind is but an ugly note in history.

      "Pre-emptive" strikes. "Homeland security" "Patriot Act" "war on terrorism". No, this isn’t the country my fathers founded you idiot. This is the police state empire that you seem to enjoy licking the boots of. Bon appitite... I’ll see you on the battlefield of truth...

    • Wow! So this site is the ’hate America’ site? ...The only good American is a dead one...", etc.? So those of you who say such things can’t hate the policies, or leaders - but the all of the citizens? The US certainly has it’s problems, but damn!... obviously we can’t all get along I guess. Those of you spouting the hate are no different from the guards who abused the prisoners - you find a way to excuse your hate - just like the guards didn’t refuse an illegal order (if that’s what happened).

      Man, this is depressing. If within the US we hate each other so much for having different views (none of us are the government), and if you who are not US citizens hate us, as a people, so much... how the hell will any of us ever achieve peace anywhere? The worst part of reading all of this, for me, is how angry some of the comments make me. You’re all entitled to your opinion - that’s what soldiers fight for.

      So, go ahead hate (and kill?) each other. I hope to hell I don’t want to kill you because you hold a different view.

  • ************************

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    • Your antisemitism is interolerable and smacks of Nazis" jewish conspiracy." Eliminate Israel and jewish from your hackneyed statement— Bush & his cronies couldnt give a flying f*** about anyone but themselves and would step over Israel too if they felt like they had to.

  • I am in the US NAVY. i think that what these guys did to the POW’s is not right but on the otherhand... if these are the POW’s who were the ones torching humvees, throwing grenades in our troops vehicles and killing civilians,burning them and hanging them off a bridge for fun then F*UCK THEM they deserve it all if not worse for what they did to us while we’re trying to give their people a good place to live.

    • I am a foreign exchange student from Argentina, and in my opinion the U.S. Soldiers were really wrong... but i read in this site before that "YOU CANNOT JUDGE ALL THE US ARMY FOR THE ACTIONS OF A FEW", and they will recieve the punishment that they desserve. They were really WRONG for doing that but probably you should see their point of view, they haven’t been in the US for like a year, living in a really bad conditions plus they know that everyday some US Soldiers is kill in IRAQ in combat or for terrorist actions, a couple of weeks ago we saw in the newspapper a picture where there was a US Soldier haging of a bridge and the Iraquis around the dead body smiling all happy about that... that kinda makes you think...
      The US Soldiers are the good guys so they shouldn’t do the same that they do with our troops? or if they broke the rules of the "Geneva Conventions on the treatment of war prisioners", why shouldnt we break them?... That prison everyday gets more prisioners for attacks against US Soldiers, some of them even killed US Soldiers.... and if they get the chance of have a US Soldier as a prisioner IM SO DAMN SURE that they will do everything to him....

    • Ease up sailor. What they did was wrong, end of story. They acted like animals instead of
      members of one of the finest militaries in the world. If we commit acts like this, then we are
      the bad guys, we become every thing we stand against. We need to fry everyone involved.
      No excuses, you did it, you pay.

      Rock Of The Marne! 3rd ID

      P.S. Drive on Sailor, Drive on.

    • OK, You probably have not read the Seymour Hersh article. Many of these prisoners were detained for ambiguous reasons at roadblocks for "information." That is "information" obtained by torture. Even if these prisoners were throwing grenades, torture is unlawful, inhumane, immoral. Sickening.
      Also remember, nazi war criminals were executed for acts commited in occupied territories. Among those crimes: torturing and executing partisans, or as the Nazis liked to call them, "terrorists."

    • oh sure... like the seymour hersh article is the holy grail....
      torture? i believe there was some torture going on as described in the investigatory report - which is amazing (and parts classified!), though not on the level (in most cases) of what is commonly considered as such, excepting the beatings and sodomization and the apparent death of a prisoner. even worse is the fact that over 26 prisoners escaped (hopefully some weren’t ’escaped’ on purpose.
      the report details a horrible, poorly-led MP command, and general whatever her name was is probably the most sorry general i have ever seen or heard of in the US Army. there is no excuse for the mp’s behavior. if asked to do something like that, they should have refused - as others did. one of the prisoners shown in the human pile even mentioned that his interrogator asked for descriptions of the people who abused him (thank God).
      now we have at least some of the individuals who are up on charges (criminal charges) trying to save their asses by (1) leaking the photos? (2) pointing the finger at everyone but themselves. so embarrassing.
      i’m glad bush is going to apologize to the arab/islamic audience on al-arabiya. BG Janice Lapinski should be imprisioned... even one of her commanders under her said it was his fault, his "mp’s should have known better". disgusting.

    • Noone said the Hersh article was the holy grail. It does raise some questions though. Why are these women, children and men in the prison? Are they being held for flimsy trumped up reasons? As for torture, that has a very wide definition. There are many ways to degrade and brutalize people without rapes and beatings—still torture. Consider the possibility that the rapes and beatings and murders or near-murders are the result of a brutal and inhumane prison system, one that routinely degrades and brutalizes prisoners. If so, then the problem is what Hersh calls systemic. Consider the possibility that these soldiers were "taking orders" to a certain extent and had also divined that this kind of systematic humiliation, torture, rape, etc. would please the higher-ups and may have received some positive responses for what they were doing.
      The Bush apology is a too little to late.

    • "if these are the POW’s who were the ones torching humvees, throwing grenades in our troops vehicles and killing civilians,burning them and hanging them off a bridge for fun then F*UCK THEM they deserve it all if not worse for what they did to us while we’re trying to give their people a good place to live."

      Oh, I see. The prisoners at Abu Ghraib deserved to be tortured in November/December 2003 (as the article above states) for the killings of the Blackwater contractors that occurred three months later on March 31, 2004.

      Let me put it to you in American idiom: That dog don’t hunt.

      Rather. if these were the POWs who were the ones torching humvees, throwing grenades in troops vehicles, etc., it is they who are the more excused, having already been treated to *this* experience of the US military "trying to give their people a good place to live."