X-Rated Iraq: A Tortured Story

[G_j]

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/02/x-rated-iraq-a-tortured-story

X-Rated Iraq: A Tortured Story
by Captain Eric H. May / February 18th, 2008

The most fun thing? Definitely the women.
— Soldier X

An anonymous man wearing a US Special Forces T-shirt is a war criminal, if his three-minute YouTube interview is to be believed. In it, he claims to have taken part in routine torture of Iraqis — Hajji’s in soldier slang — in the infamous Abu Ghraib prison, and to have been part of a scheme with other guards to prostitute a 15-year-old Iraqi girl who later hung herself.

YouTube continues to be the worst nightmare of a White House that has practiced infowar — the militarization of information — since 9/11. I heartily encourage each of my readers to view the clip, then make his or her own decision as to whether or not to believe that Soldier X is in earnest, as my military contacts and I believe, or is part of a well-acted hoax, as Bush apologists are arguing.

If Soldier X is telling the truth, he isn’t telling us anything new. In April 2004, American journalist Seymour Hersh was writing in articles and saying in interviews that the shocking treatment of Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib, proved by photographs, was systemic, encouraged and enabled by the CIA, and was expressly okay-ed by the Bush administration.

The CIA showed us a lot of shit, man.
– Soldier X

It bears remembering that the US government and the US media collaborated to keep the vast majority of the photographic record detailing torture, rape and murder from the American people and the international community. While endless images of 9/11 were completely kosher for broadcast and print by a cheerleader media that took its signals from a cheerleader- in-chief, the images of our war crimes were not.

..more..

[DS1]

1. he looks a bit small for spec-forces

[Fleshdancer]

4. that was my first thought too n/t

[blondeatlast]

5. Agreed. But that makes me a Bush apologist, I guess.

Go figure. :shrug:

[seriousstan]

2. Here is a picture of the soldier ....well lit

A phony soldier you can trust.

[Dora]

3. Jessie Macbeth

He is a fraud, and his name should never be mentioned when arguing about Iraq war atrocities as it will do nothing except destroy your credibility.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Macbeth

[blondeatlast]

6. Oops. There's enough horror from Iraq to go around; we don't need liars; this helps the hawks.

Man who posed as military hero sentenced to 5 months in prison
By Jennifer Sullivan

Seattle Times staff reporter

A Tacoma man who falsely claimed he was a decorated war hero when he took the stage at demonstrations held in opposition to the U.S.'s role in Iraq was sentenced this morning to five months in prison in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

Jesse MacBeth, 23, was also sentenced to three months in a halfway house after his release and three years of probation.

MacBeth claimed that he was an Army ranger who killed more than 200 people, many at close range, including some as they prayed in a mosque. He spoke at an anti-war rally in Tacoma and appeared in a 20-minute anti-war video that circulated widely on the Internet.

In reality, MacBeth made it through only six weeks of Army basic training and never set foot in Iraq.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003895483_webmacbeth21m.html