The photographs we are showing in the accompanying gallery represent a small fraction of these visual materials. None, as far as we know, have been published elsewhere. They include: a naked, handcuffed prisoner in a contorted position; a dead prisoner who had been severely beaten; a prisoner apparently sodomizing himself with an object; and a naked, hooded prisoner standing next to an American officer who is blandly writing a report against a wall. Other photographs depict a bloody cell.
The DVD also includes photographs of guards threatening Iraqi prisoners with dogs, homemade videotapes depicting hooded prisoners being forced to masturbate, and a video showing a mentally disturbed prisoner smashing his head against a door. Oddly, the material also includes numerous photographs of slaughtered animals and mundane images of soldiers traveling around Iraq.
2006-02-20
'We don't torture,' II
From Salon.com:
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7 comments:
I'm with you wimpy peaceniks on this issue. My only variance is recognizing that these awful actions have accomponied even the most just wars of the past, including the US civil war and WWII.
I am very disappointed that Bush hasn't made elimination of torture a top priority; instead, I am certain that he's made it part of policy.
The leftists seem to view 100% of the prisoners as innocent Iraqi cab drivers; the rightists seem to view 100% of them as murderous tyrants. Surely the correct figures are somewhere in between. Does the hypothetical value of torturing one true tyrant (if there could be any value) exceed what is lost by torturing one falsely accused? I say nothing is gained by the one, and something significant is lost by the other.
What a mess.
Well, shouldn't a president who pursues a persistent policy of torture, continually denies (ie, lies about) it, and lets dog soldiers take the fall for it, be, well, impeached?
Yes. I would support impeachment on this ground.
The dog soldiers are behaving shamefully, but I am convinced that at the very least their leaders are failing to make elimination of toruture a primary objective. What could possibly be more important to a dog soldier than:
- Ensuring against toruture of your own captured comrades?
- Removing incentive from your enemy to fight to the death?
This conduct -- the actions of the torturing soldiers, and the inaction (and perhaps inaction) of the leaders -- is uncivilized, unsophisticated, backwards, ignorant, and retarded. I find it more appalling than the muslim nuts who are killing over cartoons. Those guys do not claim to promote freedom. The torture situation is an embarrassing disgrace, and it makes me seriously question supporting Bush's war effort. I have never been certain that Bush's plan could work, but I am rather certain that it cannot work if troops torture those whom it believes are muderous tyrants.
"...if troops torture those whom it believes are muderous tyrants."
Have you read Seymour Hersh's New Yorker articles? The military casting a pretty wide and indiscriminate net when rounding up prisoners for Abu Graihb, leading up to the infamous torture photos.
Paul advocates impeachment on the grounds of torture?
Nadir: Yes, I advocate impeaching Bush on these grounds.
Tom: If Hersh is correct, this is a serious military mistake, perhaps a crucial one. But in any case I assume that the prison guards regard all the incoming POWs as women-beaters who blow-up school houses.
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