Former U.S. Army interrogator speaks out

[fbahrami]

Former U.S. Army Interrogator Describes the Harsh Techniques He Used in Iraq, Detainee Abuse by Marines and Navy Seals and Why “Torture is the Worst Possible Thing We Could Do”

With deep remorse, former U.S. Army interrogator Specialist Tony Lagouranis talks about his own involvement with abusing detainees in Iraq and torture carried out by the Navy Seals. He apologizes to the Iraqi people and urges U.S. soldiers to follow their conscience. Lagouranis returned from Iraq in January and until now had given no live interviews. But Lagouranis says he now feels it his duty to speak out about what he witnessed in Iraq:

o His use of harsh interrogation techniques on prisoners in Iraq including dogs, sleep deprivation, prolonged isolation and dietary manipulation.

o How Navy SEALS induced hypothermia by using ice water to lower the body temperature of prisoners.

o Serving in Fallujah and going through the clothes and pockets of some 500 dead bodies to try and identify them.

o The corpses on men, women and children in Fallujah, which had been lying in the streets for days and had been "eaten by dogs and birds and maggots," were then stacked up in a warehouse where U.S. soldiers ate and slept.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/11/15/1632233

[leftchick]

1. and they were not even a threat to anyone...

<snip>

I was believing the intelligence reports that came in with the prisoner. I believed the detainee units, but later it became clear to me that they weren't -- they were picking up just farmers, you know, like these guys were totally innocent and that's why we weren't getting intel. And it just made what we were doing, like, seem even more cruel.

[twaddler01]

2. I watched a documentary on how the prisoners were treated

I about gagged :puke:

[cantstandbush]

3. This must be kept in the public eye. And the MSM must be asked why

they fail to report these things. Send to Senators and Reps.

[nickyt]

4. Hope more speak out. My sister, a brilliant psychologist, was telling me

last week of an experiment at a college years ago in which half of a class became "guards" and the other, "inmates". They were going to see how everyone reacted to and acted out their new roles. The experiment was to last six weeks. It lasted one. They had to end it because the guards became so abusive and sadistic that the boundaries of "role playing" were seriously over-stepped. It was decided that the crucial missing factor here was a LACK OF LEADERSHIP. Well, in Iraq, of course, our "leadership" is from Rumsfeld, and he is saying POUR IT ON.
My sister went on to say that the "guards" experienced terrible anguish when they "came to" and realized how quickly and totally they had become virtual animals, and that they had to do a lot of psychological "de-briefing" (if that is the phrase) to understand why they had become so debased and cruel in such a short amount of time...
My heart goes out to Tony and others like him. There will be thousands of "Tonys" shipped home from Iraq. I hope he gets the support he needs to work through the horror he is now experiencing as he looks in the mirror at himself. I hope speaking out helps him to begin coming to terms with his anguish and his broken heart. He's a genuine hero. I hope his voice becomes a loud chorus. And I will end by saying f u c k y o u R u m m i e, it didn't have to be like this.

[happyslug]

17. 1971 Stanford University Experiment

For more see:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/06/international/middleeast/06PSYC.html?ex=1399262400&en=91f8144cdf7dd44a&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND
http://www.stanford.edu/dept/news/relaged/970108prisonexp.html
http://www.childoffortune.com/stanford.prison.htm
http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2001/august22/prison2-822.html
http://forejustice.org/zimbardo/p_zimbardo_interview.htm
http://www.prisonexp.org/30years.htm
http://www.augsburg.edu/psych/vml/zimbardo.html
http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/Projects/quiet%5Frage/new%5Fsite/

A slide show presentation on the Experiment:
http://www.prisonexp.org/

[nickyt]

18. WOW, thank you for these, links, happyslug. I'm 1/2 way through them, and

just spooked as hell...

[jayfish]

5. 500 Sounds About Right If This Picture Is Any...

indication

WARNING:EXTREMELY GRAPHIC EXTREMELY GRAPHIC EXTREMELY GRAPHIC EXTREMELY GRAPHIC EXTREMELY GRAPHIC

http://dahrjamailiraq.com/gallery/view_photo.php?set_albumName=album32&id=81_G

By looking at the rest of the photos on that site, one can see that the number 438 is a body-count increment.

Jay

Original Thread

[truebrit71]

6. Jesus!!!

Man that is harsh.....

[Ilsa]

8. Was that last photo an example of white phosporus?

There seems to be some variation in cause of death. Some are burned, etc.

Thanks for the link (I think).

[jayfish]

10. I Only Know What I've Read In The Thread...

and at the site. Check out the original thread in LBN for more details.

Jay

[leftchick]

9. oh my god....

This is the first time I have dared to look at Dahr's photos and I am going to have nightmares. I hate all of those mutherfucking neofreaks that have done this to the Iraqis...

MAY THEY ALL SUFFER LIKE THIS AND ROT IN HELL!

:puke: :cry: :cry: :cry:

[arewenotdemo]

13. I won't look at them.

I know enough to believe that Bush and his whole lot of war criminals should be imprisoned for life....

I don't need the nightmares.

When is the next march on Washington?

[leftchick]

14. not soon enough for me

I am hoping in February. Without ANSWER!

[wordpix]

11. you're right, extremely graphic and makes me angrier at * than ever, the

goddamn philistine freak.

[Roland99]

7. "corpses of...women and children in Fallujah"?? We were told only..

insurgents were left in Fallujah before the U.S. didn't use incendiary weapons there.

[vogonity]

12. What information exactly were we trying to obtain in Abu Ghraib?

What were the Iraqi prisoners being tortured for? What information would they have thet we need? If it were plans for future attacks, it seems that WHATEVER they may have known has probably no longer very current.

I think the same applies to the Gitmo prisoners. Does anyone believe that they have any information we need to know? It seems in the last two years, whatever they might have known is no longer current.

On edit: I just got my donor star. Ain't I cool?

[jbnow]

16. Yes, you look

very nice in your star.

It is a good question-what info did they hope to get?

Before I knew we were torturing people I read about our soldiers questioning villagers for info about insurgents. They got none. The soldiers had equipment come in and rip out their orchards. They showed pictures of the women begging them to stop. There weren't many places that could grow these trees. (I already forgot what kind. Olives? Citrus?) They had been caring for them for years and it was how all these people supported themselves. It meant everything to them.

We didn't care. They didn't tell us what we wanted.

Winning hearts and minds.

[The Backlash Cometh]

15. Right out of the nazi playbook.

Damn. What has Bush turned us into?

[superconnected]

19. Good, someone coming forward. Now if more and more will.

[Voltaire99]

20. "We never produced any intelligence."

No, indeed.

Only broken lives, broken hearts.

Lagouranis is courageous: his confession shines a bright light on these sordid practices, yet at great personal risk to himself.

[daleo]

21. But Bush said there was no torture

And the Pentagon said they didn't use WP on people. So many lies to sort through.

[AuntiBush]

22. Bad for Our Captured Troops.

Bad for America. Thankfully we have Amy Goodman & Democracy Now. Seen other's speaking out tonight on Hardball about this very issue.

Somethings brewing as something wicked this way came.