I was left bloody and bruised. Now we've become the torturers

[G_j]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4915013-103550,00.html

I was left bloody and bruised. Now we've become the torturers

In the 1991 Gulf war John Nichol, an RAF navigator, was shot down over Iraq, beaten up and paraded on TV. He gives his reaction to the images of allied brutality

John Nichol
Sunday May 2, 2004
The Observer

They are the images I thought I would never have to see again, sickening pictures of Iraqi prisoners, naked, tortured and humiliated. Surely liberation from Saddam Hussein's brutal, evil regime had seen an end to all of that? Yet here they are, photographs of American soldiers abusing prisoners in Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib's dungeon and of British servicemen brutalising captives in Basra.

They have sent shock waves around the world and shivers down my spine. During the Gulf war in 1991, I was shot down over Iraq, taken prisoner, tortured, humiliated and paraded on TV in pictures that provided an enduring image of that war. Now, perhaps, these horrific new pictures from Iraq will be the lasting image of so-called liberation.

I was held at Abu Ghraib prison during my ordeal as a POW. It was a place of monstrous cruelty and unspeakable brutality; at times the screams of men and women echoed around the bare cell blocks and I would try to bury myself under my single, lice-infested blanket to block out the noise.

On one occasion etched in my memory the guards came crashing into my cell. Blows rained down on me from all sides and I fell to the floor under a merciless avalanche of abuse. I clearly remember watching the blood drip from my nose and form pools in the dust of the cell. At one point a guard pointed a gun at my head and told me he was going to kill me, he pulled the trigger but the hammer fell on an empty barrel; he had removed the bullets as part of his game.

..more..

[saigon68]

1. Servicemen on Death Row; 6 killers

Servicemen on Death Row; 6 killers await as military justice crawls


http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=17&did=300

By THOMAS M. DeFRANK
Daily News Washington Bureau Chief


It's called the special housing unit at a place known as The Castle. But for the six soldiers on the military's Death Row at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., life is no fairy tale.

Despite intense public and media interest in Timothy McVeigh's execution, little attention has been paid to the six condemned soldiers incarcerated within the pale yellow-and-white walls of the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks.

One of those convicted murderers is in the last stages of a 12-year appeals process that may end with the first execution by the armed forces in more than 40 years.

[boobooday]

2. I saw pictures today

That included what were apparently images of U.S. soldiers sexually abusing Iraqi women. These pictures are horrible and disgusting. We will be hated forever for this. They were already going to hate us forever . . . forever and a day?

This is a day of shame. There was no moral high ground to begin with, where does that leave us to go?

:cry:

http://www.wgoeshome.com

[this_side_up]

4. the ones with the green uniforms?

From elsewhere on the net, I've read that the
consensus is that those are not Americans or
American uniforms and 2)

they look staged i.e. beautiful rug conveniently
displayed on the ground.

I don't know about the green uniforms
but I am sick of all of this
and every day, the news about the conditions
over there worsens. Be it the innocent
Iraqis or US military, they are all in
deplorable conditions. Thanks Republicans!

From north to south, east to west, from the
WH to local dog catcher - vote the Reps out.
The world cannot withstand any more of their
shit.

[salin]

3. Meanwhile... on Friday a Bush speech includes extolling the success

of ridding Iraq of Saddam's torture and rape chambers. The irony - brought me to tears. Be these isolated or widespread incidents - for me, as a Christian, in my mind Jesus is weeping - as am I.

[G_j]

5. 20,000 Iraqis being held by the coalition forces

this didn't get much interest before the torture revelations, perhaps it's significance will be more evident now.


http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0421-01.htm

Published on Wednesday, April 21, 2004 by the Inter Press Service

Iraq: Think of Those the US Has Detained
We have heard of the U.S. soldier captured by Iraqi fighters. Think of the 20,000 Iraqis being held by the coalition forces.

by Aaron Glantz

BAGHDAD - Private First Class Matt Maupin assigned to the U.S. Army Reserve's 724th Transportation Company based at Bartonville, Illinois, became the first prisoner taken by Iraqi insurgents since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

The U.S. military is currently holding more than 20,000 Iraqis behind bars -- most of them taken during house to house searches by the U.S. military.

Take the village of Abu Siffa, an hour's drive north of Baghdad. Cattle graze on the side of the road and date palms sway in the wind. The mighty Tigris flows nearby.

Rejan Mohammed Hassen stands in front of the rubble that was her house and recalls the night last summer when the U.S. Army took her sons and destroyed her house.

..more..