Abuse Of Iraqi POWs By GIs Probed

[thedrifter]

Abuse Of Iraqi POWs By GIs Probed

April 29, 2004

(CBS) Last month, the U.S. Army announced 17 soldiers in Iraq, including a brigadier general, had been removed from duty after charges of mistreating Iraqi prisoners.

But the details of what happened have been kept secret, until now.

It turns out photographs surfaced showing American soldiers abusing and humiliating Iraqis being held at a prison near Baghdad. The Army investigated, and issued a scathing report.

Now, an Army general and her command staff may face the end of long military careers. And six soldiers are facing court martial in Iraq -- and possible prison time.
Correspondent Dan Rather talks to one of those soldiers. And, for the first time, 60 Minutes II will show some of the pictures that led to the Army investigation.
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According to the U.S. Army, one Iraqi prisoner was told to stand on a box with his head covered, wires attached to his hands. He was told that if he fell off the box, he would be electrocuted.

It was this picture, and dozens of others, that prompted an investigation by the U.S. Army. On Tuesday, 60 Minutes II asked Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, deputy director of coalition operations in Iraq, what went wrong.

“Frankly, I think all of us are disappointed by the actions of the few,” says Kimmitt. “Every day, we love our soldiers, but frankly, some days we're not always proud of our soldiers."

For decades under Saddam Hussein, many prisoners who were taken to the Abu Ghraib prison never came out. It was the centerpiece of Saddam’s empire of fear, and those prisoners who did make it out told nightmarish tales of torture beyond imagining – and executions without reason.

60 Minutes II talked about the prison and shared pictures of what Americans did there with two men who have extensive interrogation experience: Former Marine Lt. Col. Bill Cowan and former CIA Bureau Chief Bob Baer.

"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."

"We went into Iraq to stop things like this from happening, and indeed, here they are happening under our tutelage,” says Cowan.
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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.

60 Minutes II was only able to contact one of the soldiers facing charges. But the Army says they are all in Iraq, awaiting court martial.

"What can the Army say specifically to Iraqis and others who are going to see this and take it personally," Rather asked Kimmitt, in an interview conducted by satellite from Baghdad.

"The first thing I’d say is we’re appalled as well. These are our fellow soldiers. These are the people we work with every day, and they represent us. They wear the same uniform as us, and they let their fellow soldiers down,” says Kimmitt.

“Our soldiers could be taken prisoner as well. And we expect our soldiers to be treated well by the adversary, by the enemy. And if we can't hold ourselves up as an example of how to treat people with dignity and respect … We can't ask that other nations to that to our soldiers as well."

“So what would I tell the people of Iraq? This is wrong. This is reprehensible. But this is not representative of the 150,000 soldiers that are over here,” adds Kimmitt. “I'd say the same thing to the American people... Don't judge your army based on the actions of a few."
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One of the soldiers facing court martial is Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Chip Frederick.

Frederick is charged with maltreatment for allegedly participating in and setting up a photo, and for posing in a photograph by sitting on top of a detainee. He is charged with an indecent act for observing one scene. He is also charged with assault for allegedly striking detainees – and ordering detainees to strike each other.

60 Minutes II talked with him by phone from Baghdad, where he is awaiting court martial.

Frederick told us he will plead not guilty, claiming the way the Army was running the prison led to the abuse of prisoners.

“We had no support, no training whatsoever. And I kept asking my chain of command for certain things...like rules and regulations,” says Frederick. “And it just wasn't happening."

Six months before he faced a court martial, Frederick sent home a video diary of his trip across the country. Frederick, a reservist, said he was proud to serve in Iraq. He seemed particularly well-suited for the job at Abu Ghraib. He’s a corrections officer at a Virginia prison, whose warden described Frederick to us as “one of the best.”

Frederick says Americans came into the prison: “We had military intelligence, we had all kinds of other government agencies, FBI, CIA ... All those that I didn't even know or recognize."

Frederick's letters and email messages home also offer clues to problems at the prison. He wrote that he was helping the interrogators:

"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 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."
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According to the Army’s own investigation, that’s what was happening. The Army found that interrogators asked reservists working in the prison to prepare the Iraqi detainees, physically and mentally, for questioning.

continued...............

[thedrifter]

What, if any actions, are being taken against the interrogators?

"I hope the investigation is including not only the people who committed the crimes, but some of the people that might have encouraged these crimes as well,” says Kimmitt. “Because they certainly share some level of responsibility as well."

But so far, none of the interrogators at Abu Ghraib are facing criminal charges. In fact, a number of them are civilians, and military law doesn’t apply to them.

One of the civilian interrogators at Abu Ghraib was questioned by the Army, and he told investigators he had "broken several tables during interrogations, unintentionally," while trying to "fear up" prisoners. He denied hurting anyone.

In our phone conversation, 60 Minutes II asked Frederick whether he had seen any prisoners beaten.

“I saw things. We had to use force sometimes to get the inmates to cooperate, just like our rules of engagement said,” says Frederick. “We learned a little bit of Arabic, basic commands. And they didn't want to listen, so sometimes, you would just give them a little nudge or something like that just to get them to cooperate so we could get the mission accomplished."

Attorney Gary Myers and a judge advocate in Iraq are defending Frederick. They say he should never have been charged, because of the failure of his commanders to provide proper training and standards.

"The elixir of power, the elixir of believing that you're helping the CIA, for God's sake, when you're from a small town in Virginia, that's intoxicating,” says Myers. “And so, good guys sometimes do things believing that they are being of assistance and helping a just cause. ... And helping people they view as important."

Frederick says he didn't see a copy of the Geneva Convention rules for handling prisoners of war until after he was charged.

The Army investigation confirms that soldiers at Abu Ghraib were not trained at all in Geneva Convention rules. And most were reservists, part-time soldiers who didn't get the kind of specialized prisoner of war training given to regular Army members.

Frederick also says there were far too few soldiers there for the number of prisoners: “There was, when I left, there was over 900. And there was only five soldiers, plus two non-commissioned officers, in charge for those 900 -- over 900 inmates."

Rather asked Kimmitt about understaffing. "That doesn't condone individual acts of criminal behavior no matter how tired we are. No matter how stretched we are, that doesn't give us license and it doesn't give us the authority to break the law,” says Kimmitt.

“That may have been a contributing factor, but at the end of the day, this is probably more about leadership, supervision, setting standards, abiding by the Army values and understanding what's right, and having the guts to say what's right.”
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Brig. Gen. Janice Karpinsky ran Abu Ghraib for the Army. She was also in charge of three other Army prison facilities that housed thousands of Iraqi inmates.

The Army investigation determined that her lack of leadership and clear standards led to problems system wide. Karpinski talked with 60 Minutes’ Steve Kroft last October at Abu Ghraib, before any of this came out.

"This is international standards,” said Karpinski. “It's the best care available in a prison facility."

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.

But what about the situation itself?

“I don't know the facts surrounding what caused the bruising and the bleeding,” says Kimmitt. “If that is also one of the charges being brought against the soldiers, that too is absolutely unacceptable and completely outside of what we expect of our soldiers and our guards at the prisons."

Is there any indication that similar actions may have happened at other prisons? “I'd like to sit here and say that these are the only prisoner abuse cases that we're aware of, but we know that there have been some other ones since we've been here in Iraq,” says Kimmitt.
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When Saddam ran Abu Ghraib prison, Iraqis were too afraid to come ask for information on their family members.

When 60 Minutes II was there last month, hundreds had gathered outside the gates, worried about what is going on inside.

"We will be paid back for this. These people at some point will be let out,” says Cowan. “Their families are gonna know. Their friends are gonna know."

This is a hard story to have to tell when Americans are fighting and dying in Iraq. And for Cowan, it’s a personal issue. His son is an infantry soldier serving in Iraq for the last four months.

Rather asked Cowan what he would say to "that person who is sitting in their living room and saying, ‘I wish they wouldn't do this. It's undermining our troops and they shouldn't do it.’"

"If we don't tell this story, these kinds of things will continue. And we'll end up getting paid back 100 or 1,000 times over,” says Cowan. “Americans want to be proud of each and everything that our servicemen and women do in Iraq. We wanna be proud. We know they're working hard. None of us, now, later, before or during this conflict, should wanna let incidents like this just pass."

Kimmitt says the Army will not let what happened at Abu Ghraib just pass. What does he think is the most important thing for Americans to know about what has happened?

"I think two things. No. 1, this is a small minority of the military, and No. 2, they need to understand that is not the Army,” says Kimmitt. “The Army is a values-based organization. We live by our values. Some of our soldiers every day die by our values, and these acts that you see in these pictures may reflect the actions of individuals, but by God, it doesn't reflect my army."

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.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/...in614063.shtml


Ellie

[d c taveapont]

The DAMN Morons.....And a bad time for the pics to come out.......stupid.

[thedrifter]

US general suspended over abuse

A US general has been suspended in Iraq over the alleged abuse of prisoners by US troops in jails she ran.
Brigadier General Janice Karpinski is among seven officers being investigated following claims that soldiers under their command mistreated detainees.

The army confirmed the suspension after US television broadcast images of US soldiers allegedly abusing inmates at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.

CBS TV says it has "dozens" of pictures showing a wide range of maltreatment.

Taken by US troops, many of the pictures show American troops watching in apparent approval.

The army announced last month that 17 soldiers had been suspended over the allegations of abuse of prisoners.

Six of them - military police - are facing court martial.

CBS said an army investigation had concluded that Gen Karpinski's "lack of leadership and clear standards" led to problems in Abu Ghraib and three other prisons for which she was responsible.

The army has made no formal charges against her. She is the subject of an investigation that could result in a written reprimand, AFP news agency reported.


'Appalled'

Brig Gen Mark Kimmitt told CBS the army was "appalled" by the behaviour of its soldiers.

Gen Kimmitt, the deputy head of coalition forces in Iraq, said the suspected abusers "let their fellow soldiers down".

But, he said, the few suspects were "not representative of the 150,000 soldiers that are over here... Don't judge your army based on the actions of a few," he urged Americans.

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.
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 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.

"I kept asking my chain of command for certain things... like rules and regulations. And it just wasn't happening," he said.

He said he never saw a copy of the Geneva Conventions - which govern the treatment of prisoners - until after he was charged.

The Army investigation confirmed that reservists at Abu Ghraib had not been trained in Geneva Convention rules.

The military police officers have been charged by the US Army with crimes ranging from assault and maltreatment to indecent acts against prisoners.

The soldiers in question reportedly were assisting interrogators from US intelligence agencies.

Last month, when the six military police officers were charged, an Army spokesman said the alleged crimes involved fewer than 20 prisoners and happened around November and December.

The charges include conspiracy, dereliction of duty, cruelty, maltreatment, assault and indecent acts with another.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3669331.stm


Ellie

[bobpage]

Just one more example of the lack of discipline in the Army. I always said it, it comes from the top.

[usmc4669]

Associated Press
April 30, 2004

HAGERSTOWN, Md. - A soldier accused of abusing Iraqi war prisoners wrote that his commanders ignored his requests for rules of conduct and silenced his questions about harsh, humiliating treatment of inmates.
In a journal he started after military investigators looking into the abuse approached him in January, Army Reserves Staff Sgt. Ivan "Chip" Frederick wrote that Abu Ghraib prison, near Baghdad, was nothing like the Virginia state prison where he worked in civilian life.
The Iraqi prisoners were sometimes confined naked for three consecutive days without toilets in damp, unventilated cells with floors 3 feet by 3 feet, Frederick wrote in materials supplied to The Associated Press by a relative Thursday.
"When I brought this up with the acting BN (battalion) commander, he stated, 'I don't care if he has to sleep standing up.' That's when he told my company commander that he was the BN commander and for me to do as he says," Frederick wrote.
The writings were given to the AP by Frederick's uncle, William Lawson, who said the Army has treated his nephew unfairly. Lawson and Frederick's wife, Martha, said Frederick was being made a scapegoat for commanders who gave him no guidance on managing hundreds of Iraqis with just a handful of poorly equipped troops.
Lawson said Frederick started keeping a journal to keep track of what had happened before he was assigned a military lawyer.
Lt. Cmdr. Nicholas Balice, spokesman for the Central Command, which is in charge of U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf, said he couldn't comment on Frederick's statements, but he said allegations against Frederick were appropriately investigated.


Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Chip Frederick, one of the soldiers now facing court martial, described to Rather what he saw in the Iraqi prison.

[yellowwing]

"he said allegations against Frederick were appropriately investigated." - investigating the allegations by Frederick will be interesting.

SNCO LEADERSHIP Question:
Should have Staff Sgt. Chip Frederick done more? Could he have made his way up to the CG with his concerns?

[enviro]

Other photos can be found here:

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0428-13.htm

[arzach]

The writings were given to the AP by Frederick's uncle, William Lawson, who said the Army has treated his nephew unfairly. Lawson and Frederick's wife, Martha, said Frederick was being made a scapegoat for commanders who gave him no guidance on managing hundreds of Iraqis with just a handful of poorly equipped troops.
Lawson said Frederick started keeping a journal to keep track of what had happened before he was assigned a military lawyer.
Lt. Cmdr. Nicholas Balice, spokesman for the Central Command, which is in charge of U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf, said he couldn't comment on Frederick's statements, but he said allegations against Frederick were appropriately investigated.
__________________________________________________ _

Seen and heard of people being 'railroaded' like this, but tell me how a staff NCO..and a corrections officer in civilian life, could claim 'lack of training'. He not hear of 'Request Mast' or whatever the army calls it....This is a sickening display of selfishness on the part of ANY soldier who took any part in the taking of these pictures. CBS is at fault in showing the pictures, the story could have been told on a night news cast; this puts all our fighting men at a higher level of risk and heaven forbid, any become captured....stupid idiots, knuckleheads...this is dispicable!

S/F
Rick

[yellowwing]

It goes toward wrecking the good will that we have built up. The populace that is not taking up arms against our force is angry. Tonight's BBC report showed several Iraqi folks in a peacful market sounding off.

As a SNCO he had to have been supervising some people. He should be accountable for what happened on his watch.

Now we have another Kim Phuc and Saigon Police Chief sensation to deal with.

[thedrifter]

Accused general called scapegoat


By Rowan Scarborough
THE WASHINGTON TIMES


The woman general who ran the Abu Ghraib prison in post-Saddam Iraq is being made a scapegoat in the Army's investigation of abuse of Iraqi prisoners, a defense attorney charged yesterday.
Attorney Neal A. Puckett, who has been hired by the general's family, said Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the top commander in Iraq, worded his order for an investigation last winter to ensure that Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski would take the fall.

"He knew when he heard about these things that this was going to be a big, big problem for the Army and what better way to solve a big problem for the Army than to hold senior leaders responsible, even if they weren't," Mr. Puckett said.
Mr. Puckett said the Baghdad command rebuffed Gen. Karpinski's request for more troops. "Detention operations were close to untenable with overcrowding, little support and questionable facilities," he said.
The lawyer said all interrogations were under the control of military intelligence, not Gen. Karpinski's Military Police brigade.
"This was not an MP supervision problem," he said. "This was a military intelligence interrogator supervision problem."
Gen. Karpinski, who Mr. Puckett said had planned before the incident to retire, has declined to comment publicly. The general, who is a business consultant and lives in South Carolina, faces a possible reprimand.
Reached yesterday afternoon, when it was 11 p.m. Baghdad time, a military spokesman said Gen. Sanchez's spokesman was not available.
According to portions of the Army's investigative report obtained by The Washington Times from a source close to the probe, Gen. Sanchez "requested an investigation of detention and internment operations by the brigade from Nov. 1 2003 to present. Lt. Gen. Sanchez cited recent reports of detainee abuse, escapes from confinement facilities, and accountability lapses, which indicated systemic problems within the brigade and suggested a lack of clear standards, proficiency and leadership."
Reading the language, Mr. Puckett said it was clear the investigative officer had no choice but to find fault with Gen. Karpinski.
Mr. Puckett is a former Marine Corps judge advocate who has spoken to Gen. Karpinski and was retained by her brother. Gen. Karpinski commanded the Army's 800th Military Police Brigade, a New York-based Reserve unit that operated the prison near Baghdad.
The Army has charged six MPs from the 800th Brigade with criminal offenses in the abuse of Iraqi prisoners during interrogations by military intelligence officers.
Gen. Sanchez ordered the probe after a soldier obtained photos of the abuse and gave them to superiors.
Mr. Puckett said that Gen. Karpinski was told by a superior officer that she was cleared in the probe.
But when the report was completed in March, the investigative officer, Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, recommended she be reprimanded and relieved of her command.
The report obtained by The Times lists 10 "findings" against her. They included "failing to ensure and enforce basic soldier standards throughout her command," "failing to establish basic proficiency tasks for soldiers throughout the 800th MP Brigade," and "failing to take appropriate action regarding the ineffectiveness of a subordinate commander."

http://www.washingtontimes.com/natio...2641-1768r.htm


Ellie

[usmc4669]

yellowwing

Should have Staff Sgt. Chip Frederick done more? Could he have made his way up to the CG with his concerns?

A soldier accused of abusing Iraqi war prisoners wrote that his commanders ignored his requests for rules of conduct and silenced his questions about harsh, humiliating treatment of inmates.
In a journal he started after military investigators looking into the abuse approached him in January, Army Reserves Staff Sgt. Ivan "Chip" Frederick wrote that Abu Ghraib prison, near Baghdad, was nothing like the Virginia state prison where he worked in civilian life."When I brought this up with the acting BN (battalion) commander, he stated, 'I don't care if he has to sleep standing up.' That's when he told my company commander that he was the BN commander and for me to do as he says," Frederick wrote.

Seen and heard of people being 'railroaded' like this, but tell me how a staff NCO..and a corrections officer in civilian life,

Is Frederick being made a scapegoat for commanders who gave him no guidance on managing hundreds of Iraqis with just a handful of poorly equipped troops?

Staff Sgt. Chip Frederick was a prison guard here in the states, you cannot tell me that he didn't know that what they were doing to these Iraqis prisoners was according to Military regulation in handling of prisoners. He may have kept a manual to cover his a**. Yes he could have went to his senior officer, who was the General who got relieved of her duties. Still he should have had the common sense to not take part in the torture of these prisoners. Now read the article below and tell me why they didn't train our own troops in how to treat Iraqis prisioners?

MPs work to better Iraqi prisons
Submitted by: I Marine Expeditionary Force
Story Identification Number: 200352165730
Story by Army Master Sgt. Robert Cargie

AL-HILLAH, Iraq (May 22, 2003) -- The group entered the prison with authority. Many had been in a building like this before - not as prisoners but as corrections or police officers. Still this prison looked and felt much different from what they were used to.
The members of the 310th Military Police Battalion, an Army Reserve unit from New York City, were there to assess the prison in Al-Hillah. They, along with military police companies from West Virginia and Puerto Rico, are working to re-establish a "criminal internment facility" in southern Iraq and to train prison officials. They are all assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force's area of operation.
Considering the brutal nature of the prison system prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom, they realize what a difficult task they face.
"Before the war you would always hear about how people were treated in the prisons here -- how they were tortured," said Army Command Sgt. Maj. Timothy Woodcock. "What I see here is an extremely sub-standard facility."
Woodcock has experience in running a prison. For the last 10 years, as a lieutenant in the Connecticut's Department of Corrections, he was responsible for training correction officers. He says changing attitudes and changing the way things were done has to be a "lynchpin" of training the Iraqis.
"I've opened two new [prison] facilities in Connecticut," Woodcock said. "You have to begin with an understanding that fair and equitable treatment of inmates is an essential part of any corrections training program."
Another essential consideration when operating a detention facility is "officer safety", according to Army Sgt. 1st Class Shane Liden, a 310th MP Battalion operations sergeant.
"We are here to show the Iraqi correction officers how to create a safe environment for them and for the prisoners they guard," Liden said. "With a safe environment you don't have to use the threat of brutality to keep people in line. They need to know that when dealing with inmates you can sometimes catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar."
The prison in Al-Hillah is located in the middle of the city. The whitewashed interior walls have murals and Arabic sayings painted on them. On one of the murals a splash of black paint exists where once the painted likeness of Saddam Hussein looked over the shoulder of guards and prisoners alike.
Bunk beds without mattresses are crowded into the prison's cells. Each room holds about twenty beds in a space as big as many American bedrooms. Newspaper clippings of automobile advertisements are pasted to the walls. That and left over fabric that covers some of the beds are the only indication that at one time someone occupied these filthy rooms.
The facility holds no inmates now. According to the Deputy Warden, Ali Ahim, all the prisoners were released right after combat operations began. He said the released inmates were incarcerated for various reasons, to include assault, theft, robbery and rape.
Ahim showed little emotion when speaking through an interpreter and only answered questions he was asked. A number of individuals described as "former guards" shadowed him and the MP assessment team throughout the tour. It was unclear why so many people were still in an empty prison. That question was never asked.
Army Cpl. Michael Capriola, an MP with the 310th and a Suffolk County, N.Y., police officer, said he hopes Iraqi prison guards could learn a more professional way of dealing with prisoners.
"Ideally we will be able to train guards and bring Iraqi prison standards up to the point where guards can be both humane and effective," Capriola said.
Army Capt. Robert Woodson, a platoon leader for the 157th Military Police Co. of the West Virginia Army National Guard, echoed that sentiment. "We have an opportunity to create a new environment. . .create a new attitude towards corrections and how Iraqi prisoners are treated across this country," Woodson said.
The MPs walked through the prison with solemnity. Woodcock and others were rapidly scribbling notes as they continued. They came to a room that was lit by a high, iron-barred window. The sunlight illuminated a wall etching and various Arabic writings.
"This is where the prisoners were interrogated," Michel Al Mane spoke out loud in the room that was now starting to fill with people. A Kuwaiti volunteer translator, Al Mane was translating what the Iraqi prison officials had told him.
Those words were said again and again as other people entered. The word interrogated was soon replaced with "tortured."
Liden, a narcotics detective for the New York City Police Department, walked out of the room with his eyes looking down.
"We need to come in here and set up a system where everybody gets a fair shake," Liden said with determination. "It would be better for society here as a whole."
When asked how their presence in Iraq would effect the Iraqi people Woodcock became focused.
"The Iraqi people are not used to having a prison that is meant for convicted criminals," Woodcock said. "They are not use to a prison being a place where convicted criminals can serve their time for the crime they committed and then return to society, hopefully a better person."
The team finished the assessment and prepared to leave. They walked through the prison entrance doorway. Like everywhere else in Iraq where troops stop, Iraqis gathered around the military vehicles. Looking at the crowd Woodcock became resolute.
"I know what it takes to train correction officers from start to finish," Woodcock said. "This is going to take a little time. I know it will take longer than we are scheduled to be here. But I hope we can plant a seed that will grow into a strong tree eventually."

[MillRatUSMC]

What in heaven's name is going on;
Frederick also says there were far too few soldiers there for the number of prisoners: “There was, when I left, there was over 900. And there was only five soldiers, plus two non-commissioned officers, in charge for those 900 -- over 900 inmates."
One General grade Officer, two non-commissioned officers plus five soldiers to guard over 900 inmates.
Most of the five soldiers were peace officers or correction officers in the USA.
So the had to have training on handling prisoners.
Common sense would tell you that some of this conduct was unbecoming.
Hatred toward some viewed as those responsibile for attacks on our Nation led to this.
Is it another Mi Lyi?
Another Army Officer who could not instill discipline.
They just add more burden to a difficult job.
We view this with disgust but in all fairness, is there treatment of our POW's different.
They murdered some held captive, and threating to kill more.
What a mess they have created...

Semper Fidelis/Semper Fi
Ricardo

[namgrunt]

These photos have already made it to Al-Jazeera TV. In other words, the whole doggone Middle East has seen what a few idiots are capable of doing. Unfortunately, the idiots in question are Americans. To compound it further, some of the photos show FEMALE soldiers in the picture. That will inflame the radical extremists to double their efforts.

There is going to be hell to pay by our ground forces, regardless of the outcome of any investigation into this incident. These knuckleheads have just gotten fellow American soldiers and Marines killed before the shots are even fired.

As for the Army SSGT, if he followed what he considered "unlawful orders", and didn't pursue clarification further than an 'acting Bn Cmdr', then he is guilty if he took part. Let the "Chips" fall where they may.

Semper Fi!

[Scotty1023]

This should never have happened!!! These jerks need to be court martialed, sent to Levenworth and we need to show the world that this behavior is dead wrong and we will never accept this. And that so called woman soldier in the photos, what type of woman is this? They all need time and hopefully they will not have this treatment inflicted upon them.