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March 17, 2005
Us? Torture?
CIA Director Porter Goss defends U.S. interrogation practices in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing:
CIA Director Porter Goss defended U.S. interrogation practices and rejected any notion that the intelligence community engages in torture. ... “I can assure you that I know of no instances where the intelligence community is outside the law on this,” Goss said. “And I know for a fact that torture is not productive. That’s not professional interrogation. We don’t do torture.”
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the Associated Press is compiling lists of the known cases of "Prisoner deaths investigated as involving criminal homicide or abuse by U.S. personnel." (Note how it's merely abuse, not torture, even if the victim ends up dead):
_Mohammed Sayari, Afghanistan, April 28, 2002. Army Special Forces captain reprimanded._Mullah Habibullah, about 28, Bagram, Afghanistan, Dec. 3, 2002. Sgt. James P. Boland, 377th Military Police Company, charged with dereliction of duty; more charges possible against others.
_Dilawar, 22, Bagram, Dec. 10, 2002. Pfc. Willie V. Brand, 377th Military Police Company, charged with involuntary manslaughter, according to documents obtained by Human Rights Watch. Boland charged with dereliction, assault and maltreatment, more charges possible against others.
_Unidentified person, Wazi Village, Afghanistan, January 2003. Under investigation.
_Jamal Naseer, 18, Gardez, Afghanistan, March 2003. Under investigation.
_Unidentified person, Camp Bucca, Iraq, May 12, 2003. Soldier reprimanded for not using warning shots before killing someone trying to enter the camp.
_Abdul Wali, 28, Asadabad, Afghanistan, June 2, 2003. CIA (news - web sites) contractor David Passaro charged with assault.
_Dilar Dababa, Baghdad, June 13, 2003. Died of head injury. USA Today reported he died during interrogation.
_Obeed Hethere Radad, Tikrit, Iraq, Sept. 11, 2003. Soldier discharged for voluntary manslaughter for not warning escaping prisoner before shooting him.
_Manadel al-Jamadi, Abu Ghraib, Iraq, Nov. 4, 2003. Died during interrogation. Several Navy SEALs charged; and two CIA personnel under investigation.
_Abdul Wahid, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Nov. 6, 2003. Badly wounded man dies in U.S. custody. No U.S. charges The Denver Post reported he died at interrogation facility while shackled and gagged.
_Muhamad Husain Kadir, Taal Al Jal, Iraq, Feb. 28, 2004. Pfc. Edward Richmond, 25th Infantry Division, received three years in prison for voluntary manslaughter.
_Karim Hassan, 36, Kufa, Iraq, May 21, 2004. Capt. Rogelio Maynulet, 1st Armored Division, facing court-martial over what he described as mercy killing of wounded Iraq militiaman.
_Unidentified person, 16, Sadr City, Iraq, Aug. 18, 2004. Staff Sgt. Johnny M. Horne Jr., Fort Riley, Kan., sentenced to three years in prison in another purported mercy killing. Staff Sgt. Cardenas J. Alban, also from Fort Riley, convicted and sentenced to one year confinement.
_Three unidentified people, Sadr City, August 2004. Sgt. Michael P. Williams and Spc. Brent May, from Fort Riley, facing murder charges.
_At least 6 more investigated by U.S. Army.
Note that these don't include dozens that are ruled "justifiable homicide" under very untransparent conditions. And again, these are only the publicly known cases.
Where's the outrage?
Posted by zeynep at March 17, 2005 06:51 PM
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Comments
this is why i can't understand the viewpoint of people who are against the war but still "support the troops". these young men are obviously disturbed individuals who are finally getting a crack at freely unleashing thier brutality. this is the way we raise 'em and the way way we train 'em.These cases which are growing in number and being documented(i'm sure there are many many undocumented ones too)are making it quite apparent that there is indeed a policy that is in full swing here. that it is far reaching and that these horrific war crimes are not merely the sporadic misbehavior of "a few bad apples". But so far in depth investigations, media coverage and public outcry are all missing from the scene.
Posted by: PCR at March 17, 2005 07:37 PM
where's the outrage? exactly. where was it when Bush was selected to be president? when congress gave him authority to bomb Iraq? when a known defender of torture was made attorney general? when, when, when will we be outraged enough? thanks for the names.
Posted by: Jodi at March 17, 2005 10:40 PM
what's even more remarkable - in terms of what's gone unnoticed or un-outraged-upon - has been the back-tracking and retracking by the admin over the last week: gonzales says it doesn't happen(contrary to mounds of evidence), goss says it kinda-sorta does, and in the last couple of days the president, in his typically confused way, mumbles something about sending "people back to their home countries," with the ominous addendum, "with a promise that they won't be tortured."
Posted by: dexter at March 18, 2005 03:04 PM
Hi Zeynep;
I haven't visited here since you got the drop on me with that Nader thing:-). Anyway, I just wanted to say that, while I hate Bush and his war, I think I do understand the mentality of the GIs who believe they are in a "kill or be killed" situation. For this reason, I do not believe for example that Guiliana Sgrena was deliberately targeted to be killed. If she were, they would have killed her and her companions and just melted away into the darkness. A cover story would have been invented and the deed attributed to "terrorists' or jumpy Iraqi policemen or bandits or whatever. They would not have called an ambulance for her and assisted her party back to the Italian embassy. If I were there, I would have shot also, as I did on a number of occasions in Vietnam. I don't think Americans have a terribly high opinion of the CIA or private contractors or even of the progenitors of this war like our World Bank President-in-Waiting. But they are fiercely loyal to the average GI with whom they identify, a sentiment cynically exploited by the country's leaders. Thanks for hearing me out.
Posted by: Louis Godena at March 18, 2005 08:33 PM
Prisoners of the US in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay are on a HOLIDAY TRIP TO THE PARK, compared to western prisoners in Terrorist custody.
Ask Eugene Armstrong, Nick Berg, Daniel Pearl and the others if they'd rather have panties on their heads, or have their HEADS CUT OFF, which is what they got. Gee, forgot about that already, huh? Maybe you haven't actually SEEN a beheading video. I have. Eugene Armstrong's body was still alive and wheezing as his head was being cut off WITH A FOLDING JACK KNIFE. That's how THEY treat OUR prisoners.
Oh, but we're supposed to be concerned and alarmed if Mohammed bin Asshole doesn't get a prayer mat? Fuck them. I hope the US is attaching the wires and lighting them up like CHRISTMAS TREES every day. ANYTHING to glean any info to save our troops, until President Hallburton brings them home.
Yeah, it's a fucked up war, but as long as we're there, let's realize that it is WAR. Even with all the "abuse" reports, the US is STILL the good guy in this.
Re: above post and "unleashing their brutality". Hey, why don't YOU go over and watch a bunch of your friends get blown to bits, have your superiors ORDER YOU to torture prisoners, leave you unsupervised, then wonder why you went a little further than ordered.
It is OBVIOUS that these soldiers were INSTRUCTED and EQUIPPED to do these things. Did Lyndie England arrive in Baghdad with her own leash, looking for an Iraqi prisoner to attach to it? Please, those hoods and the wires and the collars and the leashes were all SUPPLIED by someone. Probably at the company PX.
It's disgusting that this supposed "abuse" is even getting a drop of ink. Just sit all the US prisoners down and show them how OUR guys get treated. Replay those beheading videos over and over and over. There are LOTS of them. Remind our Islamic guests that THIS is how they COULD be treated. Maybe they'll become more cooperative more quickly.
Posted by: D. Thoms at March 22, 2005 07:57 PM
Prisoners of the US in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay are on a HOLIDAY TRIP TO THE PARK, compared to western prisoners in Terrorist custody.
Ask Eugene Armstrong, Nick Berg, Daniel Pearl and the others if they'd rather have panties on their heads, or have their HEADS CUT OFF, which is what they got. Gee, forgot about that already, huh? Maybe you haven't actually SEEN a beheading video. I have. Eugene Armstrong's body was still alive and wheezing as his head was being cut off WITH A FOLDING JACK KNIFE. That's how THEY treat OUR prisoners.
Oh, but we're supposed to be concerned and alarmed if Mohammed bin Asshole doesn't get a prayer mat? Fuck them. I hope the US is attaching the wires and lighting them up like CHRISTMAS TREES every day. ANYTHING to glean any info to save our troops, until President Hallburton brings them home.
Yeah, it's a fucked up war, but as long as we're there, let's realize that it is WAR. Even with all the "abuse" reports, the US is STILL the good guy in this.
Re: above post and "unleashing their brutality". Hey, why don't YOU go over and watch a bunch of your friends get blown to bits, have your superiors ORDER YOU to torture prisoners, leave you unsupervised, then wonder why you went a little further than ordered.
It is OBVIOUS that these soldiers were INSTRUCTED and EQUIPPED to do these things. Did Lyndie England arrive in Baghdad with her own leash, looking for an Iraqi prisoner to attach to it? Please, those hoods and the wires and the collars and the leashes were all SUPPLIED by someone. Probably at the company PX.
It's disgusting that this supposed "abuse" is even getting a drop of ink. Just sit all the US prisoners down and show them how OUR guys get treated. Replay those beheading videos over and over and over. There are LOTS of them. Remind our Islamic guests that THIS is how they COULD be treated. Maybe they'll become more cooperative more quickly.
Posted by: D. Thoms at March 22, 2005 07:58 PM
I list people who were killed while in our custody, in cases that are classified as "criminal homocide," and someone posts a long rant about how I'm supposedly complaining that "Mohammed bin Asshole doesn't get a prayer mat." It's really hard to know what to say.
Posted by: Zeynep at March 24, 2005 07:07 AM
Captain Maynulet, convicted of manslaughter for shooting a wounded Iraqi insurgent, after a medic pronounced the Iraqi had untreatable head wounds, acted exactly as the Courts in Florida acted in the Terri Schaivo case, with one exception: Captain Maynulet ended the Iraqi's life quickly, and as mercifully as possible, rather than torturing him for 13 days.
Should he have taken the wounded man to a detention facility and denied him water until he died?
If I am ever helplessly wounded and untreatable, I would much rather be in the hands of Captain Maynulet, than in a hospice in Florida.
I therefore ask readers to demand his conviction and sentence be voided, and that Captain Maynulet be returned to his unit. He has served his country with honour, and dealt with his prisoner with compassion.
Posted by: Christopher Coughlin at April 1, 2005 10:41 AM