Iraqis Say Troops Caged Them With Lions

[tocqueville]

By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 52 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Two Iraqi businessmen, who were imprisoned by U.S. forces in Iraq, claimed Monday that American soldiers threw them into a cage of lions in a Baghdad palace, as part of a terrifying interrogation in 2003.

"They took me behind the cage, they were screaming at me, scaring me and beating me a lot," Thahe Mohammed Sabbar said in an interview. "One of the soldiers would open the door, and two soldiers would push me in. The lions came running toward me and they pulled me out and shut the door. I completely lost consciousness."

Army spokesman Paul Boyce said he has never heard of lions being used in any detainee operations and it has never come up in any of the more than 400 investigations into detainee abuse conducted by the military over the past three years.

"We take every allegation of detainee abuse seriously," Boyce said. "But it does seem unusual that this is now coming out for the very first time after three years of investigations."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051115/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/iraqi_detainees_lions

[opihimoimoi]

1. But.....it has been REPORTED...Might be TRUE...then might not be...

Prudence sez we gatta follow up because if it is true that this happened...we would not want a repeat....would we??

[Ian David]

4. A story on Prison Planet says we're using lions with lasers on their heads

Actually, I made that one up.

[leveymg]

2. If the Inquisition doesn't work -- use Roman tactics

What's next: have captured POWs fight to the death with swords on network television?

Caligula is back.

[Clark2008]

5. If Alito doesn't work out, is Bush gonna appoint his horse

to the Supreme Court?

Oh... wait... Bush is scared of horses.

Maybe Barney? :shrug:

[tocqueville]

7. crucifixion was popular then

I bet it would be today too among the fundies

[Ian David]

3. Okay, I'm gonna need more proof before I believe THIS one

I'd be more willing to bet that this story was planted by the CIA as part of an effort to undermine the legitimate allegations of abuse.

"And then they turned me into a newt!....





"I got better."



Lions? Possible. Likely? I don't think so, but it wouldn't surprise me all that much.

[Ian David]

6. Here's some more that lends the story SOME credence...

<snip>

The two men described the July day in 2003 when they were arrested by American troops with guns and armored vehicles. They said they were covered with plastic hoods and repeatedly struck by soldiers using the butt of their guns.

<snip>

They both described standing in front of a lion cage, and said they could hear other prisoners screaming as the metal cage door creaked open and slammed shut.

<snip>

ACLU lead counsel Lucas Guttentag said the lion cage was not mentioned in the initial legal filing because lawyers considered that part of the charges of mock executions, which would later be detailed. He said media reports in summer 2003 documented that American soldiers had access to the lions.

Other reports suggested that the lions were being sent to zoos, although it is unclear when they were moved.

<snip>

Saddam Hussein's eldest son, Odai, kept lions in his compound at the presidential palace, which was taken over by U.S. troops during the war. He was killed in a gun battle with American soldiers in July 2003.

More:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051115/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/iraqi_detainees_lions

So, we know that our troops actually had lions in their possession at some time.

It is also unclear to me from reading this if the Iraqis actually saw the lions, or only thought they heard lions while they had hoods on their heads. From reading this, it also sounds possible that interrogators used a sound effects recording to fool prisoners into thinking they were about to be attacked by lions.

But still... it looks like we actually had lions we could have used.

[Frustratedlady]

8. There were segments shown of the animals

that Odai had at his palace, which was one the troops took over shortly after they invaded Baghdad (if my memory is close to correct). Photos have been shown of Odai with his animals. His "zoo" was in pretty bad shape, due to the stress of the war around them and not being fed or watered. As much as I hate to say, I can believe the lion(s) were used as a threat. It isn't any further from the realm of possibility than the sexual abuse we saw. BTW, what happened to the latest prison photos we were supposed to be shown?

[Ian David]

10. Seems a reckless way to torture a prisoner with supposedly valuable intel

I wouldn't want to be the one to tell my boss, "Well, we almost got the information out of him, but we weren't able to pull him back from the lion quite fast enough."

[NNN0LHI]

9. The soldiers did have access to tigers

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030920.wmaul0920/BNStory/International/

'Drunk' U.S. soldier shoots rare tiger in Baghdad zoo

Baghdad — A U.S. soldier shot and killed an endangered tiger at the Baghdad zoo after it bit another soldier who had drunkenly reached through the bars of its cage to feed it, a security guard said Saturday.

The soldiers had been drinking beer when they entered the zoo Thursday night after it closed, said the guard, Zuhair Abdul-Majeed. After the man was bit, the other American shot the tiger three times in the head and killed it, he said.

The head of the zoo confirmed the story in an interview with Agence France-Presse.

"The soldiers arrived in the evening with food and beer, accompanied by a group of Iraqi police officers," Adel Salman Musa said. "One of the soldiers, who the Iraqi police said had drunk a lot, went into the cage against the advice of his colleagues and tried to feed the animal, who severely hurt his arm."