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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Get Ready for a Lot More Horror Stories About Interrogations |
| 2004-05-03 |
| .... Muwafaq Sami Abbas, a lawyer by training ... was seized from his bed by U.S. troops in the middle of the night, he said, along with the rest of the men in his house, and taken to a prison on the airport grounds. The black sack the troops placed over his head was removed only briefly during the next nine days of interrogation, conducted by U.S. officials in civilian and military clothes, he said. He was forced to do knee bends until he collapsed, he recalled, and black marks still ring his wrists from the pinch of plastic handcuffs. Rest was made impossible by loudspeakers blaring, over and over, the Beastie Boys’ rap anthem, "No Sleep Till Brooklyn." The forced exercise was even harder for his 57-year-old father, a former army general who held a signed certificate from the U.S. occupation authority vouching for his "high level of cooperation and assistance" in the days after the war. .... Interviews with former Iraqi prisoners and human-rights advocates present a picture of the U.S. prison system here as a vast wartime effort to extract information from the enemy rather than to punish criminals. Former prisoners say lengthy interrogation sessions, employing sleep depravation, severe isolation, fear, humiliation and physical duress, were regular features of their daily regimen and remain so for the estimated 2,500 to 7,000 people inside the jails. The system comprises 16 prisons, four of which hold prisoners accused of being part of the anti-occupation insurgency. But there are countless other holding cells on U.S. bases, many once used by former president Saddam Hussein’s government, where young Iraqis spend their first fearful hours in captivity. .... Abdullah Mohammed Abdulrazzaq, an unemployed 19-year-old, was held for six months in several prisons around Iraq. .... His interrogators -- first U.S. soldiers, then a man who he said wore the uniform of a Kuwaiti army captain -- sought information on the location of weapons of mass destruction, Saddam Hussein and the insurgents in his neighborhood. For the next three days, he said, the Kuwaiti man tortured him using electricity. U.S. soldiers came in and out of the room where he was tied naked to a chair, he said, adding that he saw their boots from beneath his blindfold and heard them speaking English. He collapsed because of the physical stress and lack of food and water. He was eventually taken to Baghdad International Airport on a stretcher. "I told the American soldier when I arrived to do something for me, and punish this Kuwait soldier," he said. "He told me, ’I can’t do anything against him. And you are going to find the same treatment here.’" ..... Saif Mahmoud Shakir, a 26-year-old taxi driver, always carries the papers he received on his March release from Abu Ghraib. He said he was taken from his house in July, accused of participating in the insurgency and threatening to kill a translator working for the Americans. The man owed him $60, he said, and was trying to avoid repaying the loan by lying about him to U.S. troops eager to hunt down the insurgents. .... His first stop was another U.S. base in Adhamiya. There, he said, he was beaten by his interrogators before being taken to a special section of the airport prison where he said he was held along with senior members of Hussein’s government. "I arrived there and I was urinating blood because my kidney had been injured by the beatings," he said. "The doctor was very sympathetic and gave me medicine and fruit." Shakir, whose gaunt cheeks are covered by a thin beard, said U.S. interrogators used his relationship with his brother to try to extract a confession. On three occasions following extended sessions, he said, they were taken in Humvees into the desert north of the port. There, he said, they were buried up to their necks in the sand. .... the interrogators sometimes fired near his head to frighten him. .... |
| Posted by:Mike Sylwester |
| #21 Karpinski's on Fox's O'Reilly right now - near the end of the interview - she sez she wasn't even in charge of the prison when the photos were taken (I think) and is saying that the orders to "soften up" prisoners and lax oversight was coming from the CIA / Mil Intelligence -- not the Army personnel with MP or prison background. I think she said she's leaving the service - and wanted to clear the air. Only heard about 2 minutes of it and could have hashed it all up... Info might be on website later - maybe even video playback. Catch the replay of O'Reilly to see it - apparently the first interview in the show today. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-05-03 8:12:36 PM |
| #20 I don't have credit cards, or electronic bank accounts. LOL see? Life is passing you by. ;> |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-05-03 6:25:46 PM |
| #19 Today in my local paper there appeared a news item about an Iraqi named Dhia al-Shweiri who was supposedly held by Saddams regime twice and the US Army once. In the article he says he would rather face the turtoters of Saddams regime than the "humiliation" of being stripped naked. This from a guy who says he was electrocuted, beaten and hung from the cieling with his hands tied behind his back. If they can't stand that, then I say any place theres trouble tell 'em the only way they are gonna get out is if they leave town naked. |
| Posted by: cheaderhead 2004-05-03 6:09:08 PM |
| #18 Anonymous4716> There are also some trojans and viruses which delete people's cookies -- in practical terms this would mean that you'd be forced to retype your name and email each time you posted. The reason for that is that the trojans want to force you to retype all passwords you may be using, collect the keystrokes and email them to some guy who will then use them to steal your bank accounts. I had fallen victim of such a Trojan (I don't remember its name right now, I'm afraid) some time ago, but happily I don't have credit cards, or electronic bank accounts. |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2004-05-03 2:36:48 PM |
| #17 CF -- for most of the last year, we've heard stories about videotapes from Saddam's torture chambers being available for purchase on the streets of Baghdad. How much news coverage have those generated? |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-05-03 1:07:27 PM |
| #16 What is the ratio of the media coverage of these 'prisoner misuses' to the media coverage of the mass graves, rape rooms, rape squads, and the reported gouging out a little girl's eyes out in front of her father to get him to talk (under Saddam). |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-05-03 12:16:58 PM |
| #15 Jen - If Drudge is correct, then there will be another question. If these "prisoners" are the ones who messed with our POWs, and that becomes general knowledge, would the American public react negatively to any severe sanctions put on the soldiers who "tortured" the Iraqis? I'm thinking of the Iraqi Hannibal Lechter you mentioned. |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-05-03 11:50:05 AM |
| #14 I heard Drudge. That would mean that these Iraqis are the same guys who defiled the bodies of our dead soldiers for the benefit of Al Jazeera (among other things). Jessica Lynch can't remember what they did to her (probably mercifully) but suffice it to say, she's had to call off her wedding. Funny, but I can't remember anyone in the Arab world being very sorry about the abuse of those American soldiers who were taken hostage or for the atrocities committed with their bodies (after the Iraqi soldiers had killed them). I believe Drudge said that one Iraqi was shown eating the flesh from a dead American soldier's arm with blood running down his face. How does that compare to a lady soldier pointing out some naked Iraqi's "unit" and smiling? (Why is that even abuse and why do you think they call it prison?) |
| Posted by: Jen 2004-05-03 11:43:31 AM |
| #13 CyberSarge- No doubt that some of the prisoners were mistreated but to what degree and why? Did you hear on Drudge's radio show last night that he has a source that at least some of these Iraqi prisoners were the ones who held our POWs earlier? (The 2 helicopter pilots, and some of the "Jessica Lynch" group). They may have repeated the reported tortures our POWs reportedly got. Perhaps that explains, but of course, does not "excuse", the actions. We have to SHOW that we are BETTER than they are. Having these photos appear hurts that a lot. |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-05-03 11:28:45 AM |
| #12 Amen to what CF and CS said! We've got a John F'in Kerry "American soldiers are babykillers and torturers" campaign going on...and now this whining about "torture" to get info from the bad guys. I'm sure whatever they do to get intell isn't pleasant but we're not the Russians...the Turks...or Saddam's boys, either. Rules against things like "torture in interrogations" and assasinating evil leaders and using rather bad men as our own agents were obstacles to espionage that, together with Ms. Gorelick's wall between the CIA and Justice, made 9/11 possible. Are we going to fight this war and this enemy TO WIN or not? War is hell and the WOT is no exception! If we allow the Left to keep this up, it will be the first war we've lost to whining...(well, actually the second. Vietnam was the first.) |
| Posted by: Jen 2004-05-03 11:22:19 AM |
| #11 There will be a lot more stories from the Arab 'victims' concerning torture. No doubt that some of the prisoners were mistreated but to what degree and why? If they were trying to get CRITICAL information (to save lives) out of a prisoner and he was uncooperative maybe it was necessary. However sometimes guards/interrogators cross the line and that has to be dealt with. What we have is one HUGE propaganda mess and we need to find a way to clean it up, QUICK! |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter) 2004-05-03 11:06:06 AM |
| #10 Virginian, No this is the same bullshit John Kerry (who is now running for President), and the media have used before during the Vietnam war. Make up some 'testimony' (back then it was 'Winter Soldier' - an 'investigation' organized by John Kerry and the VVAW (and certain Democratic congressmen) and later proven to have been a fraud) and then make a big media circus about it (back then it was protests and JOHN KERRY's testimony before [supportive members of] congress) in hopes of turning public opinion against the war. Check out the website. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-05-03 10:31:31 AM |
| #9 thanks .com |
| Posted by: Annonymous no more 2004-05-03 10:27:42 AM |
| #8 Anon4716 - When you are reading an article (clicked on a comment to an article in the upper right hand sidebar) you will see the Amazon button on the right in the article-only window. And you can change the Anon by changing the posting ID box contents when you post comments. It will cookie the machine you're using - it will only "apply" when RB is browsed and will last until cookies are deleted. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-05-03 10:20:56 AM |
| #7 No euros, please, we do have standards. lol! well how about a PO box for the diamonds or a cashier's check?? I'd have to set up a whole new email address to use paypal as it's not my own. I'd like to contribute. |
| Posted by: Annonymous4716 2004-05-03 10:13:32 AM |
| #6 Sounds to me like a sensational ripping piece by the Wapo. Sit down, students, and I will help describe how to put together a politically motivated piece by mentioning some charges without attribution, and then place a hard focus on some anecdotes about 'torture' in later paragraphs, to bolster my minor charges. You will notice that the basis of this 'news' article are interviews by former prisoners, three of which were named, but, no surprise there, the 'human rights advocate' curiously, is unnamed. It seems to me iffin' you need to name the worker who told these stories. Oh wait... Nevermind. My bad. That may mean you, as a writer, have an agenda, and we don't want that to cloud a perfectly good read, now do we? You have to make certain three sources are named so that you can reliably use plural in your published charges, and make certain they are the worst of the torture which has been going on in US military prisons, and make damn sure at least one of the techniques involve actual physical pain. Interviews with former Iraqi prisoners and human-rights advocates present a picture of the U.S. prison system here as a vast wartime effort to extract information from the enemy rather than to punish criminals. Well duuh! Isn't that why we want to extract information from those people. And do we really want to use WaPo approved techniques of interrogation? I dont want to punish them as criminals either. I want to find the damn weapons, or find out who knows where they are. Former prisoners say lengthy interrogation sessions, employing sleep depravation, severe isolation, fear, humiliation and physical duress, were regular features of their daily regimen and remain so for the estimated 2,500 to 7,000 people inside the jails. Oh the horror! Remember, this is at the start of the article. You will notice there are no comments or attempts to gain comments from any military authority. Just one side of this story is being presented as fact. Three interviews and one unattributed source. Facts displayed without attribution. Sounds like the WaPo is doing their best NY TimesGuardian UK imitation, and doing a fine job at that. |
| Posted by: badanov 2004-05-03 8:59:20 AM |
| #5 I guess the 5th column AKA "the media" have found a new way to undermine US credibility and morale. |
| Posted by: virginian 2004-05-03 8:54:53 AM |
| #4 Is there any way to donate other than paypal? We also accept gold bars, uncut diamonds, oil futures contracts and small unmarked bills. No euros, please, we do have standards. |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-05-03 8:37:25 AM |
| #3 Is there any way to donate other than paypal? I don't do paypal. Amazon - a PO box?? |
| Posted by: Anonymous4716 2004-05-03 8:03:06 AM |
| #2 This happens somethimes if you have switched computers or are using a family members login. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-05-03 7:56:05 AM |
| #1 why is my name coming up as anonymous4716??? |
| Posted by: Anonymous4716 2004-05-03 6:05:15 AM |