TelePolis writes about Iraq ¹ and quotes a number of sources.
The Army Times writes:
This was not just a failure of leadership at the local command level. This was a failure that ran straight to the top. Accountability here is essential — even if that means relieving top leaders from duty in a time of war. ²
Human Rights Watch has a list of previous reports:
Allegations of torture and mistreatment of detainees by U.S. forces in Iraq do not involve isolated cases, but are part of a broader pattern of what the Army’s own investigation into the matter called “systemic abuse.” Concerns about mistreatment of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan, and in other undisclosed detention facilities set up after September 11, 2001, have been raised many times by the media, human rights organizations, and Congress. This is a partial listing of such reports. ³
The list is long.
I have not dared read any Iraqi blogs in recent days.
Telepolis also writes about mistreatment in *German* prisons. ⁴
I started reading Riverbend’s post:
All I can think about is the universal outrage when the former government showed pictures of American POWs on television, looking frightened and unsure about their fate. I remember the outcries from American citizens, claiming that Iraqis were animals for showing ’America’s finest’ fully clothed and unharmed. So what does this make Americans now? ⁵
It could have been you...
[...] and all I could think was, “I might know one of those faceless men...” I might have passed him in the street or worked with him. I might have bought groceries from one of them or sat through a lecture they gave in college... any of them might be a teacher, gas station attendant or engineer... any one of them might be a father or grandfather... each and every one of them is a son and possibly a brother. ⁶
Tales from Abu Ghraib...
M. and her mother were taken to the airport for interrogation. M. remembers being in a room, with a bag over her head and bright lights above. She claimed she could see the shapes of figures through the little holes in the bag. She was made to sit on her knees, in the interrogation room while her mother was kicked and beaten to the ground. ⁷
#Iraq