[lbo-talk] American Sexual Torture and Murder of Iraqi Prisoners

Yoshie Furuhashi furuhashi.1 at osu.edu
Fri Apr 30 12:18:32 PDT 2004


CBS's 60 Minutes II reports that "photographs surfaced showing American soldiers abusing and humiliating Iraqis being held at a prison near Baghdad": "It was American soldiers serving as military police at Abu Ghraib who took these pictures. The investigation started when one soldier got them from a friend, and gave them to his commanders. 60 Minutes II has a dozen of these pictures, and there are many more - pictures that show Americans, men and women in military uniforms, posing with naked Iraqi prisoners" ("Abuse Of Iraqi POWs By GIs Probed," April 29, 2004).

According to the Army, one Iraqi prisoner was told to stand on a box with his head covered, wires attached to his hands. He was told that if he fell off the box, he would be electrocuted.

Some pictures show Americans, men and women in military uniforms, posing with naked Iraqi prisoners. There are shots of the prisoners stacked in a pyramid, one with a slur written on his skin in English. In some, the male prisoners are positioned to simulate sex with each other.

Another shows a detainee with wires attached to his genitals. Another shows a dog attacking an Iraqi prisoner. There is also a picture of an Iraqi man who appears to be dead - and badly beaten. In most of the pictures, the Americans are laughing, posing, pointing, or giving the camera a thumbs-up.("Arab TV Shows Iraq Abuse Photos,"April 30, 2004)60 Minutes II had the goods two weeks ago, but it caved in to "an appeal from the Defense Department, and eventually from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers, to delay this broadcast" (April 29, 2004). It finally aired the images of sexual torture and murder of Iraqi prisoners on Wednesday, as the photos were "beginning to circulate elsewhere, and with other journalists about to publish their versions of the story" (April 29, 2004). . . .

The rest of the story, with links to the shocking still images, is posted at <http://montages.blogspot.com/2004_04_01_montages_archive.html#108335065366363523>. -- Yoshie

* Critical Montages: <http://montages.blogspot.com/> * Bring Them Home Now! <http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/> * Calendars of Events in Columbus: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/calendar.html>, <http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, & <http://www.cpanews.org/> * Student International Forum: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/> * Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio> * Solidarity: <http://www.solidarity-us.org/>



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