Use of Dogs to Scare Prisoners Was Authorized

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32776-2004Jun10.html

U.S. intelligence personnel ordered military dog handlers at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq to use unmuzzled dogs to frighten and intimidate detainees during interrogations late last year, a plan approved by the highest-ranking military intelligence officer at the facility, according to sworn statements the handlers provided to military investigators.

A military intelligence interrogator also told investigators that two dog handlers at Abu Ghraib were "having a contest" to see how many detainees they could make involuntarily urinate out of fear of the dogs, according to the previously undisclosed statements obtained by The Washington Post.

The statements by the dog handlers provide the clearest indication yet that military intelligence personnel were deeply involved in tactics later deemed by a U.S. Army general to be "sadistic, blatant and wanton criminal abuses."

<snip>

In Army memos regarding interrogation techniques at the prison, the use of military working dogs was specifically allowed -- as long as higher-ranking officers approved the measures. According to one military intelligence memo obtained by The Post, the officer in charge of the military intelligence-run interrogation center at the prison had to approve the use of dogs in interrogations. There is no explanation in the memo of what parameters would have to be in place -- for example, whether the dogs would be muzzled or unmuzzled -- or what the dogs would be allowed to do. The Army previously has said that the commanding general of U.S. troops in Iraq -- Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez -- would have had to approve the use of dogs.

[seemslikeadream]

1. I guess now we know why Sanchez stepped aside today

n/t

[saigon68]

18. AAAH YES Lets not Forget this LITTLE BEAUTY

At Least 1,000,000,000 Muslim men, woman and children appreciate the discipline and order shown this this little GEM.

[PurityOfEssence]

25. I wonder when we'll ever see the rest of the sequence.

We know there are more that document his getting bitten and bleeding, but when will they be made public?

EVERTHING needs to be made public.

Gonzalez may have convinced some that we've rendered provisions of the Geneva Convention "quaint", but it'd hardly have to be a a Currier & Ives print to be nicer than this kind of stuff.

[saigon68]

27. It will come out some day

Certain Dinos in congress are helping it stay hidden

[saigon68]

28. It will come out some day

Certain Dinos in congress are helping it stay hidden

[Just Me]

30. A part of me dreads the humility and anguish that day(s) will bring. n/t

[Cronus Protagonist]

38. This was authorized too...

[UpInArms]

2. ah, Sanchez's name rises in the pile

once again.

He's the one asking that Fay be replaced so as to muddy the waters.

[The_Gopher]

3. slap the cuffs on the whole bush crime family.

contests to see how many people they could make piss themselves? this is what we're paying for? this is what soldiers are dying for? this is what Bushco has created?
This fish is rotting from the head, and rotting fast.

http://yourlogohere.blogspot.com

[shraby]

4. I notice in the Senate hearings

on C-Span that the Senators use the newspapers for reference so this will be noticed big-time. They have to use the newspapers because the Bush crime organization will not produce anything for them. Slaps on the wrist aren't going to get what you want, Senators...gotta hit them big time.

[Hobarticus]

5. Professionalism's alive and well in our armed forces

The timing of the anniversary of D-Day and these revelations is sickening. Sixty years ago, the US freed a continent from tyranny. Now we take pride in making naked men pee.

[Southpaw Bookworm]

22. Makes the whole "support your troops" thing

Pretty laughable.

[Sliverofhope]

6. "You haven't begun to see evil..."

http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/movable_type/2004_archives/000987.html

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1766518

Don't worry, no horrid pictures, but a disquieting story from Seymour Hersh.

[molly]

20. We need to keep all of these bumped

:kick:

[0rganism]

7. Really? How about the use of dogs to maul prisoners?

I wonder who signed off on that one.

This is some far-out freaky wombat crap. Someone from deep inside needs to blow a whistle on the whole chickenshit operation.

[Skittles]

8. in the pictures I saw, the dogs were not muzzled

this just plain sick

[Miss Authoritiva]

9. Wild leaps of imagination here.

Use trained military guard dogs -- unmuzzled-- in a close-in situation with terrified, shackled, naked prisoners. Do you think chunks of human flesh might go flying? Do you think flying chunks of human flesh would constitute torture? a war crime?

Do you think just the fear of having your face torn off by a guard dog would constitute torture? a war crime? Do you think just the fear of having your exposed genitals bitten off by a guard dog would constitute torture? a war crime?

Doesn't take much thinking, does it.

[Hobarticus]

10. Not be morbid, but...

Read an article about an SS concentration camp commander who trained a dog named Man to attack prisoners' genitals with the command, "Man, attack Dog".

Just think. D-Day was sixty years ago this week. How soon we forget what evil is.

[saigon68]

29. A LITTLE BIT OF WAR CRIMES

SCHINDLER'S LIST



Ralph Fiennes plays a chilling Amon Goeth in the movie, and plays him to the point that some
people have had trouble distinguishing him from the real thing.

Poldek Pfefferberg, one of the Schindler Jews, famously said, "When you saw Göeth, you saw
death."



GENERAL MYERS TRIBUTE TO AMON GOETH




THIS IS GOING OVER REAL WELL IN EUROPE THE OLD MEMORIES OF THE
GERMAN REICH AND THE DOGS WHO ENFORCED DISCIPLINE STILL RESONATE IN
THE MINDS OF THE TORTURED

[Voltaire99]

12. Exactly. I'm reminded of Winston Smith in Room 101. . .

No one should be surprised that our military is populated with its share of O'Briens. Who else would you expect to find working for Big Brother?

[grytpype]

11. Urination contest?

Just when you think it can't get any worse, it does.

[TahitiNut]

15. Yes, yet another definition of "pissing contest."

This is beyond detestible, imho. The command structure all the way up to an including DimSon should be jailed for crimes against humanity.

This is not the behavior of a powerful nation. This is the soulless behavior of cowards and bullies without honor, without pride, and without patriotism.

[cliss]

13. I recall reading that the use of dogs

was approved quite a while ago. Even RumsFool admitted it under questioning by the Senate Committee. I also remember reading that Sanchez approved the use of dogs.

The guy (Sanchez) was dumped, but that's not good enough. They need to go all the way up the chain and take down everyone, including Steven Cambone.

I've had nightmares about that poor young man, nude, cowering in fear as he was outnumbered by 2 vicious dogs.

I've posted on another thread that 9 Iraqis are suing CACI and Titan. Good for them.

[Disturbed]

14. I call it Torture

The "abuse" lable is too mild. I believe that Congress must be forced to do it's job that they swore an oath to do. Uphold, defend and protect The Constitution of the USA!!! All of BushCo and the Military have to be charged with War Crimes, NOW!!!

[Judi Lynn]

36. Glad you mentioned the effect the images left with you.

I've had that recurring imprint of the man completely alone against nothing but hatred and threat, myself. What a lonely situation. There was absolutely nowhere he could go.

So much for our "Christian" "Golden Rule."

Our right-wing chicken hawks MUST have as much of our country easily mobilized through propaganda as possible. Where else would they get the numbers of people they need to attack people in other countries repeatedly? This means they must keep as many people as possible ignorant and easily manipulated through stark, simple images they can turn to their own advantage, like 9/11.

The ONLY way to provide a constant stream of soldiers is to stoke the fires of hatred. What would happen if all the countries were too afraid to attack us? Well, we'd have to create the illusion we'd been attacked, to consolidate the base.

Those guards aren't even seeing the prisoners as human beings. They won't, either. So while our right-wingers wave their Bibles under our noses, remember they have no interest in seeing what Christ said become a part of every day life. Hatred is the only thing they can use.

That's why we have fat bastards like the psychopathic general swaggering around boasting our "God" is the only "God" who matters, and their "god" is crap! I'd like to ask him for a link on that!

[keithyboy]

16. Get this RR funeral over so that the country can learn what is going on.

I know the Republicans would like to have a 100 days of mourning so that they won't have to deal with what the hell is going on and Bush has fucked up the world but come Monday morning, it will be "morning in America" and people had better WAKE THE HELL UP!!!

[Spazito]

17. Kick

*

[Cooley Hurd]

19. According to pointy-girl's lawyer...

...(or one of the MP's lawyers - I forget which one) testified that his client actually saw Sanchez at Abu Ghraib during the time tortures were happening there daily. Now, Sanchez has recused himself from the investigation.

I don't think there's any question that Sanchez not only knew about Abu Ghraib, but was the one who ordered it...

[Judi Lynn]

37. Thanks for the information. Haven't seen this anywhere else.

It gets a lot more serious if Sanchez steps back.

[Just Me]

21. Conspiracy to commit (and cover-up) war crimes,....

,...all senior DoD and their deputies, the executive and his lackeys, the AG and his following, and all those who participated,...must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

I hope they all end up in Ashcroft's favorite prisons.

[yellowcanine]

23. So was there a presidential finding? Almost had to be, imo. This was a

radical reinterpretation of U.S. law on the treatment of prisoners. There had to be a presidential finding signed by Bush to make this kind of change imo. Remember it was a presidential finding that got Reagan in hot water over Iran-Contra and finally forced him to "take responsibility" for trading arms for hostages. This is far more serious than that because international laws and the Geneva Conventions are involved.

[Spazito]

24. This is one of the top stories on Canadian news...

even with our election coverage and the Reagan funeral.

[geniph]

26. This makes me so furious, so sick at heart

We used to be known as a nation that tried to help those oppressed by tyranny, a nation that tried to free those held in durance vile and tortured by madmen and zealots. This is such a black stain on our nation. It will take a war crimes tribunal to make amends for this, and the stain will never be erased.

This must never be forgotten, never. This is the most un-American kind of thing imaginable.

What a sick, sad era for our nation.

[tom_paine]

31. It was ALL authorzed right from the top!

[Snazzy]

32. WAPO released 3 new Photos -- WARNING GRAPHIC! Sidebar to cited article

I'm fairly certain most people have no idea new photos came out yesterday, and I don't see any news coverage or Blog coverage where I go anyway.

General Discussion thread link at bottom.








From WAPO slideshow here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/flash/photo/world/2004-06-10_photodogs/index_frames.htm?startat=1&indexFile=world_2004-06-10_photodogs&nav=morephotos


GD Thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=1776153&mesg_id=1776153

[Snazzy]

33. kick (photos should be on every network--they're on none) n/t

[ElectroPrincess]

34. Horrific ... The Criminality goes all the way up to Rummy's Office

I love K-9s. However, not only is this horrific for anyone viewing, it is also a slap in the face of the Muslim culture in Iraq. Dogs are not revered and valued as pets as they are in the USA. Therefore the average Iraqi, no doubt, are twice as intimidated by these police dogs' presence as an average American citizen.

I just came from walking my dog today which included picking her up and kicking at the chest of a larger dog who was trying to attack her. I'm not afraid of dogs and I've been bitten in the middle of a big dog fight to save my Sheepdog from getting his K-9 butt handed to him by a Rottweiler. Truth: the adrenalin rush when a large dog is attacking you is unbelievable ... more intense than skydiving because the danger is "in your face."

Damn *all* these immoral soldiers who torture ... and double damn their leadership! Let's never forget, leadership sends this message (it's OK) from the TOP. The atmosphere was set by Rumsfeld's cavalier attitude about the Geneva Conventions.

[Snazzy]

35. It's even wrong for the K-9--they were making the dogs torturers too

Despite being a dog lover, that's the last thing I'm concerned about, however. One wrong among a great many bigger wrongs. These dogs are trained to attack differently than a police dog, I assume. I mean kill. But that must be a last ditch maneuver. Here you have a dog being used to intimidate and tasting blood doing it. That's going to be a screwed up dog forever.

I'm surprised the handler allowed the dog to go that far. Take that back--a handler wouldn't. Had to be an order, which I believe I saw one of them saying somewhere.

There needs to be warcrimes trials. There is no doubt. This cannot stand as an example to the world. The neocons need to either win, and we become the evil, feared imperial empire they are so comfortable with and desire, or hold real trials, by a third party, where the entire command answers to the world under the real jeopardy of lifetime imprisonment and reparations--actually, these guys love the death penalty.... Those are the only ways we are going to recover what America really means from this.