Reply #10: (Un)Covering Torture. We have done our best; now we need your help by NewS

[quagmire_iraq]

http://newstandardnews.net/content/?action=show_item&itemid=579



On May 4, we published a story about Sadiq Zoman, an Iraqi who US troops abducted from his home in Kirkuk and, one month later, dropped off at a Tikrit hospital in a "persistent vegetative state," his body exhibiting telltale signs of torture. We told the story of Mr. Zoman’s family -- nine daughters and a wife who have sold every last possession to pay for his care as he lies unresponsive and helpless. They are desperate for answers and accountability from the foreign forces occupying their country, and who, from all evidence, deprived them of a husband and father as they knew him.

Even the New York Times picked up on our May 4 article and described the Zoman family’s ordeal in a feature story on torture victims and their relatives.

Still, the United States Army will not answer most of our questions on the matter.

We believe the military owes the American public — and the Zoman family — a clear explanation of how a man who entered their custody in perfect health wound up on the verge of death three weeks later.


When we started The NewStandard we envisioned our readership as active participants in the world around them — engaged with the news, instead of passively consuming it. From your letters and phone calls, we know you are that readership. As we strive to provide you with daily news from a perspective you can relate to, we need your help. Gathering the news need not be reserved for professionals. Sometimes a story can only be acquired through collective action.


We are asking you, and everyone you know, to take a few minutes to help us demand answers from the US military. With your help maybe we can unravel a mystery and help ten impoverished Iraqi women gain some peace of mind.

Two Ways You Can Help

The US Army needs to hear that the American public wants the truth about what happened to Sadiq Zoman. If the military does not already know the real story, it should immediately investigate, and it should cooperate with The NewStandard’s own investigation into the story.

You can help pressure the military. Call the following people and demand answers:

Major Joslyn Aberle, Assistant Public Affairs Officer of the 4th Infantry Division:
254-287-7013

Her boss, Lieutenant Colonel Bill McDonald:
254-287-7011

Colonel Campbell, who signed a paper releasing Sadiq Zoman to the hospital, already in his current, "vegetative" condition:
254-287-7280