← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Peter Phillips
Thread ID: 13634 | Posts: 7 | Started: 2004-05-09
2004-05-09 19:16 | User Profile
It seems Murphy's Law is inviolable in Iraq. Things WILL keep getting WORSE!
[QUOTE]
US military confirms existence of horrific pictures and video
By Andrew Buncombe in Washington
09 May 2004
The Bush administration was bracing itself last night for the release of new pictures and video footage from Abu Ghraib which show US soldiers having sex with an Iraqi woman prisoner, troops almost beating a prisoner to death, and the rape of young boys by Iraqi guards at the jail.
Senior officials have warned that the new images and details of the abuse and torture at the prison west of Baghdad will be even more shocking than those already released. They will undoubtedly place even more pressure on President George Bush and his beleaguered Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, as they desperately try to limit the political damage from the growing scandal.
NBC News has quoted military officials as saying that the new photographsalso show US soldiers "acting inappropriately with a dead body". This may refer to a picture, which The Washington Post described but did not publish, of Sabrina Harman, one of seven reservists charged with abuses, posing with thumbs up next to a decaying corpse.
NBC also reported that the rape of young boys by Iraqi guards, apparently in a special section of the prison, had been filmed by US soldiers.
There are even suggestions that the murder of a prisoner has been recorded. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina questioned Mr Rumsfeld on Friday about why the abuse had not been detected earlier. "The American public needs to understand we're talking about rape and murder here. We're not just talking about giving people a humiliating experience."
The new images will further rock the Bush administration, suffering its worst crisis yet after photographs showing US army reservists abusing and sexually humiliating prisoners caused international revulsion and outrage. But the knowledge that the abuse was much more widespread, and that there are more shocking images to come, is threatening even more problems for Mr Bush as he prepares to hand over sovereignty to an Iraqi government on 30 June.
Further evidence emerged, meanwhile, that the abuse of prisoners by military police reservists was ordered by military intelligence officers, CIA operatives or even by privately hired civilian interrogators. Ms Harman said they were told to break the prisoners down in preparation for questioning.
"They would bring in one or several prisoners at a time already hooded and cuffed. The job of the MP [military police] was to keep them awake, make it hell so they would talk," Ms Harman, 26, from northern Virginia, told The Washington Post. "The person who brought them in would set the standards on whether or not to 'be nice'."
A total of seven reservists from the 372nd Military Police Company based in Cumberland, Maryland, have now been charged over the abuse, including Lynndie England, 21, who was photographed with a prisoner on a leash. Seven other soldiers have been reprimanded, and several relieved of command.
Rumours of the existence of more pictures have been circulating in Washington for days and were confirmed on Friday by Mr Rumsfeld, who said they were "sadistic, cruel and inhuman".
The investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, who revealed the extent of the abuse, warned earlier last week: "It's going to get much worse. This kind of stuff was much more widespread.
"There are videotapes of stuff that you wouldn't want to mention on national television ... There were things done to young boys."
President Bush insisted that while the abuse of Iraqi prisoners was "a stain on our country's honour and reputation", it would not deflect his mission in Iraq.
"[The photographs] do not reflect our values," he said.
[/QUOTE] [url="http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=519448"]http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=519448[/url]
2004-05-09 19:31 | User Profile
Iôd say that means George Bush is goners. The fascinating question is now: How many Neocon heads are we going to see on a pike? :drool:
2004-05-09 19:42 | User Profile
The only strange thing is how the Democrats are not making a major issue of it. In a true Democracy, Kerry would be going all guns blazing nailing the entire Bush cabinet for going into Iraq. Perfect thing to do. Howard Dean would've done that and would have cashed in enormously on the disaffection with the War.
Instead, Kerry is still TRALING Bush! Incredible isnt it! Of course Kerry would also do just what the NeoCons want. A victory for him would actually mean nothing politically.
2004-05-09 19:58 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Peter Phillips]A victory for him would actually mean nothing politically. [/QUOTE]
It would mean [I]something[/I]. But I am split on this:
1) On the Plus side, Kerry winning => no Iran War. He is simply not insane enough for that.
2) On the Minus side: Kerry will cushion the Iraq backlash; when all is said and done, thatôs a bad thing.
2004-05-09 20:11 | User Profile
Im not sure of that to be honest.
Even if Bush wins, its hard to see how he would talk people into another war, this time with Iran. Its not going to happen even if he wins. Iraq will keep getting bloodier and messier in the meantime. Makes little difference whos President, the US Military simply cannot try controlling Iraq and invade Iran at the same time.
And this time, the British also wont have any stomach for it. That would leave the US completely by itself. Blair's "poodling" helped Bush domestically. It gave the war a semblance of respectability that it wouldnt otherwise have.
2004-05-10 13:55 | User Profile
The photos all seem to have a very strong homo erotic flavor to them with a bit of S/M thrown in. This bothers Eric. Further, I posit that's the reason Mr and Mrs Joe Sixpack are having trouble keeping their carry out Supersized McDonalds meals down during dinner.There is sure to be a visceral anti Bush reaction by Joe and wifey as they experience a loss of appetite while watching the news and are thus sidetracked from their life goal of eating themselves to death. This is the duty of all Americans. If my observations of the shoppers at Wal Mart are any indication.
All I can say is I certainly would not want to be in Dominatrix 1st Class England's combat boots when the show trials commence. Joan of Arc had a better shot at aquittal than Ole Lynndie does. That's progress.
The American people can accept the maiming, mutilating, and electrical shocking of Iraqis without blanching. They won't lose any sleep over fire hoses being forced down the throats of recalcitrant prisoners prior to being turned on. To their credit, they may balk at splinters being forced under finger nails, but certainly their ire would pale compared to that which would ensue were they ever faced with real cruelty, such as the cable TV going on the fritz.
It is the sexual nature of these photos that appalls. In a civilized country shouldn't naked men being led around on leashes be restricted to private parties in neighborhoods with smart addresses? Or to the back roooms of gay biker bars? I think we can all agree on that.
In closing, just let me say that the army seems to have lowered its standards in a most shameful manner. Lynndie England is the poorest excuse for a dominatrix imaginable. She's short, scrawny and flat chested. Perhaps the draft is needed so we can get some real diminatrixes back in the military just like in the good ole days.
2004-05-10 14:20 | User Profile
Netanyahu had it backwards. Today we are all Israelis. This is all core-curriculum IDF stuff.
I hope the Freepers are listening in: now and forevermore the moral authority this country claims will be hollow - the world will not soon forget this display after all those George Bush speeches about "freedom" and "tyranny" and "the democratic process" and "God's will" and "America is a friend to the Iraqi people".
And here's the best part. Everyone will have a free pass at shitting on us for this, but the usual blackout rule will apply on the One True Trusted Ally In The Region we learned this from. From murder, to corpse-defilement, to Camcorder Deployment for the buggery of little Arab boys (for what purpose, one shudders? [I]Forcing the boys' families to watch it happening [/I] turns out to be the [U]least[/U] depraved explanation), we learned it all at the feet of Tenured Instructors Who May Not Be Named.
And it serves us right. Lie down with dogs, get up with ticks.