IRAQ JAILS: Expanded to hold 16,000 Detainees

[LynnTheDem]

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The U.S. military said Monday it plans to expand its prisons across Iraq to hold as many as 16,000 detainees, as the relentless insurgency shows no sign of letup one year after the transfer of sovereignty to Iraqi authorities.

The prison population at three military complexes throughout the country - Abu Ghraib, Camp Bucca and Camp Cropper - has nearly doubled from 5,435 in June 2004 to 10,002 now, said Lt. Col. Guy Rudisill, a spokesman for detainee operations in Iraq. Some 400 non-Iraqis are among the inmates, according to the military.

"We are past the normal capacity for both Abu Ghraib and Camp Bucca. We are at surge capacity," Rudisill said. "We are not at normal capacity for Camp Cropper."

The burgeoning prison population has forced the U.S. military to begin renovations on existing facilities, and work has also begun on restoring an old Iraqi military barracks near Sulaimaniyah, 160 miles northeast of Baghdad.

The facility, to be called Fort Suse, is expected to be completed by Sept. 30 and will have room for 2,000 new detainees, Rudisill said.

http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=56933

That bush! Just spreading his "FREEDOM" all over Iraq! He sure does make Saddam look a total amateur. RAH RAH RAH America!