General Accuses White House of War Crimes

[Aquila]

General Accuses WH of War Crimes


By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Wednesday, June 18, 2008; 12:44 PM

The two-star general who led an Army investigation into the horrific detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib has accused the Bush administration of war crimes and is calling for accountability.

In his 2004 report on Abu Ghraib, then-Major General Anthony Taguba concluded that "numerous incidents of sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses were inflicted on several detainees." He called the abuse "systemic and illegal." And, as Seymour M. Hersh reported in the New Yorker, he was rewarded for his honesty by being forced into retirement.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...061801546.html

[chosenbyone]

Originally Posted by Aquila

General Accuses WH of War Crimes


By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Wednesday, June 18, 2008; 12:44 PM

The two-star general who led an Army investigation into the horrific detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib has accused the Bush administration of war crimes and is calling for accountability.

In his 2004 report on Abu Ghraib, then-Major General Anthony Taguba concluded that "numerous incidents of sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses were inflicted on several detainees." He called the abuse "systemic and illegal." And, as Seymour M. Hersh reported in the New Yorker, he was rewarded for his honesty by being forced into retirement.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...061801546.html

I didn't think you would get much traffic on this thread, but I was glad you posted the information. Many folks have felt uncomfortable with facts that questioned their perception of reality.

What happened in Abu Ghraib and Camp Xray were crimes against humanity! There was no excuse for torturing anyone....ever!

God bless.

[Pressing-On]

Originally Posted by chosenbyone

I didn't think you would get much traffic on this thread, but I was glad you posted the information. Many folks have felt uncomfortable with facts that questioned their perception of reality.

What happened in Abu Ghraib and Camp Xray were crimes against humanity! There was no excuse for torturing anyone....ever!

God bless.

My husband is ex-military. Do you want me to tell you what he says about it?

[chosenbyone]

Originally Posted by Pressing-On

My husband is ex-military. Do you want me to tell you what he says about it?

About innocent men who were taking to those facilities and tortured? Sure!

Torture is barbaric and is the last thing I would think that Jesus would sanction here on earth. Of course, that's just my opinion.

[Pressing-On]

Originally Posted by chosenbyone

About innocent men who were taking to those facilities and tortured? Sure!

Torture is barbaric and is the last thing I would think that Jesus would sanction here on earth. Of course, that's just my opinion.

Well, last time I checked, Friend, 30 released prisoners went back into their terrorist activities.

Aside from that, I have the same mind for the prisons in our own country. I don't think they should have the privileges they have. I think they should all be doing some type of labor - all the time, no amenities.

[chosenbyone]

Originally Posted by Pressing-On

Well, last time I checked, Friend, 30 released prisoners went back into their terrorist activities.

Aside from that, I have the same mind for the prisons in our own country. I don't think they should have the privileges they have. I think they should all be doing some type of labor - all the time, no amenities.

I wonder what I would do if was incarcerated with no just cause and subjected to torture and humiliation for years? Perhaps, the reported 30 released prisoners only saw committing acts against our military as the only means of preventing those same things happening to their friends and/ loved ones?

I think that prisoners in the US should be rehabilitated, given an education or taught a trade in order to prevent them from being released and have nothing to fall back on except crime. Once again, that's just my opinion.

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by Pressing-On

Well, last time I checked, Friend, 30 released prisoners went back into their terrorist activities.

Aside from that, I have the same mind for the prisons in our own country. I don't think they should have the privileges they have. I think they should all be doing some type of labor - all the time, no amenities.

Holiness isn't hardness.

[Baron1710]

Originally Posted by chosenbyone

About innocent men who were taking to those facilities and tortured? Sure!

Torture is barbaric and is the last thing I would think that Jesus would sanction here on earth. Of course, that's just my opinion.

A few of the things that took place in the report would qualify as torture, most would not examples of torture from the report include...

(S) Forcing naked male detainees to wear women’s underwear;

Makes me feel so sorry for them. (And how are they naked if they are wearing women’s underwear?)

(S) Arranging naked male detainees in a pile and then jumping on them;

worse things happen to folks joining a fraternity

(S) Taking photographs of dead Iraqi detainees.

I didn't hear them complain.

(S) Writing “I am a Rapest” (sic) on the leg of a detainee alleged to have forcibly raped a 15-year old fellow detainee, and then photographing him naked;

Who was committing torture?

(S) Placing a dog chain or strap around a naked detainee’s neck and having a
female Soldier pose for a picture;

wow he is probably scared for life from such torture


There were a few things that were done by individuals that were clearly criminal such as raping a detainee but I have my doubts Bush ordered that. We punished those who committed these acts.

Were they humiliated? Probably. Do I care if they are humiliated? Nope.

[Pressing-On]

Originally Posted by Baron1710

A few of the things that took place in the report would qualify as torture, most would not examples of torture from the report include...

(S) Forcing naked male detainees to wear women’s underwear;

Makes me feel so sorry for them. (And how are they naked if they are wearing women’s underwear?)

(S) Arranging naked male detainees in a pile and then jumping on them;

worse things happen to folks joining a fraternity

(S) Taking photographs of dead Iraqi detainees.

I didn't hear them complain.

(S) Writing “I am a Rapest” (sic) on the leg of a detainee alleged to have forcibly raped a 15-year old fellow detainee, and then photographing him naked;

Who was committing torture?

(S) Placing a dog chain or strap around a naked detainee’s neck and having a
female Soldier pose for a picture;

wow he is probably scared for life from such torture


There were a few things that were done by individuals that were clearly criminal such as raping a detainee but I have my doubts Bush ordered that. We punished those who committed these acts.

Were they humiliated? Probably. Do I care if they are humiliated? Nope.

Mega Dittos!!!

[chosenbyone]

Originally Posted by Baron1710

A few of the things that took place in the report would qualify as torture, most would not examples of torture from the report include...

(S) Forcing naked male detainees to wear women’s underwear;

Makes me feel so sorry for them. (And how are they naked if they are wearing women’s underwear?)

(S) Arranging naked male detainees in a pile and then jumping on them;

worse things happen to folks joining a fraternity

(S) Taking photographs of dead Iraqi detainees.

I didn't hear them complain.

(S) Writing “I am a Rapest” (sic) on the leg of a detainee alleged to have forcibly raped a 15-year old fellow detainee, and then photographing him naked;

Who was committing torture?

(S) Placing a dog chain or strap around a naked detainee’s neck and having a
female Soldier pose for a picture;

wow he is probably scared for life from such torture


There were a few things that were done by individuals that were clearly criminal such as raping a detainee but I have my doubts Bush ordered that. We punished those who committed these acts.

Were they humiliated? Probably. Do I care if they are humiliated? Nope.

From what I have read, your assessment above seemed to only cover a fraction of the atriocities that prisoners held by our government suffered while in custody. The pictures on this link http://www.antiwar.com/news/?articleid=2444 clearly shows the extent of torture at Abu Ghraib.

Here's an excerpt from an article about the conditions at Guatenamo:

The U.S-based human rights organization says it found evidence of U.S. torture and war crimes, and it accuses U.S. military health professionals of allowing the abuse of detainees, denying detainees medical care and providing confidential medical information to interrogators that was then exploited.

Physicians for Human Rights did not identify the 11 former prisoners to protect their privacy. Seven were held in Abu Ghraib between late 2003 and summer of 2004, a period that coincides with the known torture of prisoners at the hands of some of their U.S. jailers. Four of the prisoners were held at Guantanamo beginning in 2002 for one to almost five years. All 11 were released without charges being laid.

Those examined reported being tortured or abused, including sexually, and described being shocked with electrodes, beaten, shackled, stripped of their clothes, deprived of food and sleep, and spit and urinated on...


The degradation of some prisoners by their U.S. captors is well documented by the government's own reports. Once-secret documents show that the Pentagon and Justice Department allowed, at least for a time, forced nakedness, isolation, sleep deprivation and humiliation at its military prisons in Guantanamo Bay and at Abu Ghraib.

Physicians for Human Rights' medical examiners did not have access to the 11 patients' medical histories prior to their imprisonment, so it was not possible to know whether any of the prisoners' ailments, disabilities and scars pre-dated their confinement. The U.S. military says an al-Qaeda training manual instructs members, if captured, to assert they were tortured during interrogation.

However, doctors and mental health professionals stated they could link the prisoners' claims of torture while in U.S. detention to injuries documented by X-rays, medical exams and psychological tests.

"The level of the time, thoroughness and rigour of the exams left me personally without question about the credibility of the individuals," said Dr. Allen Keller, one of the doctors who conducted the exams, in an interview with the Associated Press.

"The findings on the physical and psychological exams were consistent with what they reported."

All 11 former detainees reported being subjected to:

-Stress positions, including being suspended for hours by the arms or tightly shackled for days.

-Prolonged isolation and hooding or blindfolding, a form of sensory deprivation.

-Threats against themselves, their families or friends from interrogators or guards.

-Ten said they were forced to be naked, some for days or weeks.

-Nine said they were subjected to prolonged sleep deprivation.

-At least six said they were threatened with military working dogs, often while naked.

-Four reported being sodomized, subjected to anal probing, or threatened with rape. Click on link to read the full artice: http://news.aol.ca/article/Guantanam...s-Show/260796/