U.S. Changes Arrest Techniques in Iraq

[floda]

Hmmm, a bit late isn't it?


BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. military is avoiding once-common arrest techniques like bagging suspects' heads, the U.S. commander in charge of the Iraqi capital said, because such actions are considered humiliating by Iraqis and pushing new recruits into the insurgency.

"You've got to see it from a force protection standpoint: You're making more enemies," U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Peter Chiarelli told The Associated Press. "When we mistreat one person I've got a net increase of nine enemies."

Soldiers are told to avoid handcuffing or blindfolding suspects - often done by placing a cloth sack over a suspect's head - in front of their families, said Chiarelli, who commands the Texas-based 1st Cavalry Division, which controls security in Baghdad.

The Army's 1st Infantry Division, which guards a swath of the Sunni Arab homeland north of Baghdad, started a similar "dignity and respect" initiative in April. Its commander, Maj. Gen. John Batiste, asked soldiers to be more courteous at traffic checkpoints and to stop putting bags over detainees' heads, division spokesman Maj. Neal O'Brien said.

more...

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/nation/9575974.htm

[jukes]

1. jesus...

i'd say it's too late...

[neuvocat]

2. 20,000 insurgents

and counting...

[Alpharetta]

3. duh!

[mazzarro]

4. I guess these commanders did not get Cheney's memo that

disparaged sensitivity in war!