Ordered to just walk away (Prisoner Torture Now Handled By Iraqis)

[wellst0nev0ter]

BAGHDAD - The national guardsman peering through the long-range scope of his rifle was startled by what he saw unfolding in the walled compound below.

From his post several stories above ground level, he watched as men in plainclothes beat blind folded and bound prisoners in the enclosed grounds of the Iraqi Interior Ministry.

He immediately radioed for help. Soon after, a team of Oregon Army National Guard soldiers swept into the yard and found dozens of Iraqi detainees who said they had been beaten, starved and deprived of water for three days.

In a nearby building, the soldiers counted dozens more prisoners and what appeared to be torture devices - metal rods, rubber hoses, electrical wires and bottles of chemicals. Many of the Iraqis, including one identified as a 14-year-old boy, had fresh welts and bruises across their back and legs.

The soldiers disarmed the Iraqi jailers, moved the prisoners into the shade, released their handcuffs and administered first aid. Lt. Col. Daniel Hendrickson of Albany, Ore., the highest ranking American at the scene, radioed for instructions.

But in a move that frustrated and infuriated the guardsmen, Hendrickson's superior officers told him to return the prisoners to their abusers and immediately withdraw. It was June 29 - Iraq's first official day as a sovereign country since the U.S. invasion.

MORE. . . :grr:

[proud patriot]

1. What Hendrickson did was right ...Oh Boy ...I'm extremely mad at this

Lord have mercy ...:cry: :grr: :cry:

[Union Thug]

2. They hate us for our freedom and houses...

Torture and abuse has nothing to do with it -

yeah, that's the ticket!

[enough]

3. It's amazing that this story saw the light of day.

Quite a long and detailed story. Thanks for posting this.

snip>

The incident, the first known case of human rights abuses in newly sovereign Iraq, is at the heart of the American dilemma here.

In handing over power, U.S. officials gave Iraqis authority to run their own institutions - even if they made mistakes. But officials understand that the United States will be held responsible when the new Iraqi authorities stumble.

"Iraqis want us to respect their sovereignty, but the problem is we will be blamed for leaving the fox in charge of the henhouse," said Michael Rubin, a former adviser to the interim Iraqi government who isnow at the American Enterprise Institute. "We did not generally put good people in."

snip>

[acmavm]

4. Someone please remind me why we had to 'remove' Saddam. I'm a

little confused by all this.

So, because the puppet government is now doing the beatings and punishment, is it supposed to be okay? Someone needs to ask the pResident about this. Maybe he'll invade again.

[NMDemDist2]

5. it's a mess, just an awful f&*king mess

what have we done?? :mad:

[daleo]

6. Let freedom reign

They are merely raining down freedom blows for democracy. Bush approves of this, since Saddam is in jail.

On edit: Looks like "users of marijuana" are the new terrorists.

"The men in the room said they had not beaten anyone. They asserted, however, "that these prisoners were all dangerous criminals and most were thieves, users of marijuana and other types of bad people," according to Southall's account."

[Rose Siding]

7. No, no, please don't thank us

Seeing that our soldiers here still recognize right and wrong is small consolation. The bushies have broken something that we can't fix.

[amber dog democrat]

8. I just heard this on Weekend Edition on NPR today.

Meet the new boss, the same as the old boss --- Neyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh !!

[Disturbed]

9. Tell me I am wrong.

Most Iraqis do not condemn the beatings and torture of prisoners. Anyone detained by their police is considered guilty. This is standard treatment. Iraqis are harsh and most Americans would be appalled at how they treat their "criminals". Teir police force does not have habeous corpus or most of the rights that the Anmerican Justice system usually has. The use of humiliation techniques is an American idea. Iraqis abhor that sort of treatment. Iraqi standards are much different than what most Americans would condone.

[amber dog democrat]

11. The learning of new humiliation techniques reminds me of

how European settlers introduced scalping in their warfare with indiginous tribes.
Imatation is the sincerest form of flattery - I am not aware of ANY Middle Eastern or Islamic countries that have a habeous corpus standard.

While i wish i could say you are wrong, we both know we would not fare well if we fell into the clutches of their local constabulary. I don't see a difference between them or us- except maybe we are the greater hypocrates.

[kskiska]

10. Wasn't it just yesterday that * told the story of the men whose hands

were cut off under Saddam Hussein, and how he greeted them at the White House and shook their new prostheses?

[daleo]

16. Did they count their artificial fingers afterwards? n/t

n/t

[jonnyo]

12. A time may come soon, when ordered to walk away, we will have to decide

if we should walk away or stand fast. I wonder where the American Bastille will be?

[schultzee]

13. Kohlberg's level 6 of moral reasoning would be civil disobedience

[countmyvote4real]

14. Stand fast or walk away from what?

Your post has noble sentiments, but it's so vague that I'm not sure what you mean.

Welcome to DU.

[saigon68]

15. NICE DEMOCRACY

STRONG MEN WITH GUNS KILL AND ABUSE WEAK MEN

POWER EMANATES FROM THE BARREL OF A GUN

LEARN IT GUN GRABBERS

[wellst0nev0ter]

17. kick

[sandnsea]

18. Mike Francis is a dipshit

I don't trust anything from this guy. This was written to open the door to a "blame the Iraqi's" prison abuse excuse. I just emailed him a week ago on his rah rah blogs from Iraq and his response was "At least you took the time to write". Now he writes this? Just wait, the newest talking point from the Republicans will be that it was Iraqi's doing all the prison abuse.

[unfrigginreal]

20. Huh? Have you seen the pictures?

Who gives a rats ass what his partisan leanings are, this was a good piece of journalism. Why would seeing pictures of people abused, by a regime that we installed, give the Republicans anything to gloat about?

Here's the pics and they ain't pretty:

http://oregonlive.com/galleries/news/index.ssf?iraq

[Kadie]

19. Senator asks for probe into report that soldiers ordered to leave abused I

Senator asks for probe into report that soldiers ordered to leave abused Iraqi prisoners



By WILLIAM McCALL, Associated Press
Last Updated: August 8, 2004, 03:40:00 PM PDT


PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A senator sent the Pentagon a letter Sunday seeking an investigation into a report that U.S. soldiers were ordered to abandon an effort to prevent Iraqi jailers from abusing prisoners.

The request from Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld followed a report by The Oregonian newspaper that guardsmen saw dozens of Iraqi prisoners being abused on June 29, Iraq's first day as a sovereign nation after the U.S.-led invasion last year.

The newspaper reported Sunday that Oregon National Guard soldiers attempted to stop Iraqi jailers from abusing the prisoners but were ordered to return the prisoners to the jailers and leave.

Wyden said the incident suggests that "the policy of the U.S. is that we will no longer engage in torture, but we will turn a blind eye as it is committed by others."

more...
http://www.modbee.com/24hour/politics/story/1552288p-9119766c.html

[saigon68]

21. That's OK

The official word is they are ENEMY RAG HEADS--- HEY LYNNDIE get your trailer trash butt back there and give them the Business.

</sarcasm>

Or the Lovely Sabrina Harmann can get a new PET CORPSE.