Abuse Of Iraqi Prisoners Probed

[NewHampshireDem]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/27/60II/main614063.shtml

A few weeks ago, the U.S. Army announced that 17 soldiers in Iraq had been removed from duty, and six of them were facing court martial for mistreating Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib, the infamous prison where Saddam Hussein and his henchmen tortured and executed Iraqis for decades.

60 Minutes II has obtained photographs of what was happening in Abu Ghraib. The photos show American soldiers mistreating Iraqi prisoners.

<snip>

The discovery of the photographs by the Army led to an investigation which concluded that there were problems at the prison from the general in charge of the prison, to the military police guarding the prisoners. An investigation into abuse claims started in January, after a U.S. soldier came forward with allegations and evidence of abuse.

Kimmitt, in an interview conducted by satellite from Baghdad, told Correspondent Dan Rather: "We're appalled...these are our fellow soldiers, these are the people we work with every day, they represent us, they wear the same uniform as us, and they let their fellow soldiers down....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 do that to our soldiers."

Kimmitt says even though charges have been filed against the six soldiers, a more general investigation continues into how prisoners are interrogated at the prison.

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[alarcojon]

1. Kick!

This is another of those costs of war we rarely address - how it dehumanizes our troops. It is also interesting how the Army brass handles this. If there was any way they could deny it, they would. However, since there are photos, they do the right thing and admit the mistakes and discipline those involved. However, then there is the obligatory "bad apples" theory, denying that there is any systemic problem. This despite the fact that, once again, we placed our soldiers in a position for which they were not adequately prepared. One accused soldier said as much:

We had no support, no training whatsoever, and I kept asking my chain of command for certain things, rules and regulations, and it just wasn't happening

It will be interesting to see how 60 Minutes II handles this.