Sexual abuse at Guantanamo

[KurtNilsen]

Anyone remember the reports coming out of Guantanamo a few months back about sexual abuse. These came from some of the British detainees that were released.

People being degraded. smeared in menstruation blood etc etc.

At the time, I was sure they were just lying.

Now?


It is getting downright scary. Bush has put in place a system of gulags from Afghanistan to Guantanamo.

It is Soviet Union type of stuff.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

1. How about the hundreds of prisoners who died in those drums of Asphyxiatio

in Guantanamo? I'm surprised that hasn't come up again...

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

2. Thought that was Afghanistan

[kerry-is-my-prez]

7. You could be right....

n/t

[rumguy]

3. Exactly

Like most Americans I am inclined to believe a General when they say how well prisoners are being treated.

It just goes to show you the "official" story is often a fucking lie.

[KurtNilsen]

8. I dunno. I am just shocked. I still have shivers....

I must admit that when some DUers calling the government fascists and criminals, I thought of well, little too much hysteria and to little good sense.

Now I wonder... about a lot....

There is no way all this is going on without someone really high up knowing about it. The president, Rumsfeld? Cheney?

I bet the two latter know a lot.

[whistle]

4. These are the actions of the true believer...

...the real insanity has been that these kinds of things have been going on for years and we have been blind to it.

[KurtNilsen]

11. what do you mean?

[Minstrel Boy]

5. I've been thinking about that story a lot in recent days.

Here's the link to piece in The Mirror:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/content_objectid=14042696_method=full_siteid=50143_headline=-MY-HELL-IN-CAMP-X-RAY-name_page.html

And the DU thread where it was discussed:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=417184

There was a lot of denial then that such bizarre sexual humiliation would be practiced in a US-run military prison. Who can deny it now?

[KurtNilsen]

9. Thanks for the links.....

I am so shocked at the moment so I would not like to talk politics..

(but, there has to be a change now. Everyone must understand that. Kerry will have one he%% of a job cleaning up this mess)

[charlie]

6. Look what the military admitted to today

Promising a broader investigation, the U.S. military acknowledged Wednesday that two guards at the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had been disciplined over allegations of prisoner abuse.

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/world/8597384.htm

The shit is starting to fly pretty thick.

[seabeyond]

10. yup yup yup

was going to put it on the board again today, and kept forgetting

it is not like WE didnt know this stuff, hear this stuff. and here the admin doesnt know. but, i sitting in the panhandle of texas know. bs

[KurtNilsen]

12. In the US, can an administration resign?

[readmylips]

13. I was thinking that the Muslin Chaplain accused....

of one hundred millions things, all major charges dropped later, and just charge him with adultery. That whole mess was suspicious. Could it be that the Muslin Chaplain was taking photos of Guantanamo prison abuse, and those were the things the government said were secret material. To blackmail the chaplain, the government brought the adultery charges, which he totally denied. I don't know what happened to the chaplain, if he got kicked out of the service or what.

[KurtNilsen]

14. Very good question. I don't know.. I feel just duped.

I don't trust anything anymore... I've had chills for the last few hours. I didn't even pay much attention to prisoner abuse reports.

Reading the Pentagon report therefore just hit me really hard a few hour ago.

What a naive fool I have been.

I am getting bloody tired of commissions, but for the sake of democracy this administration needs to be scutinized closely.

I almost want Howard Dean back.

[myccrider]

15. I read that ALL charges were dropped...

and he was completely vindicated & reinstated to his former position (but reassigned from Gitmo) with nothing put on his record either. I read it here on DU, but am too lazy right now to search for it.

So, yeah, it seems pretty obvious that he was charged just to shut him up about what was going on. He may have had to make a deal to keep quiet to get all those charges dropped. He & his wife broke up over the adultery revelations, I think.

Wish someone could convince him to talk.

I was really torn when I read the stories told by those released from Guantanamo, too (although I tended to believe some pretty bad stuff HAD happened). I still couldn't quite accept that our armed forces would condone that sort of bizarre sexual abuse/torture. After the photos from Abu Gharaib, my doubts are gone. This same sh*t is going on at Gitmo!

I think the Red Cross, Amnesty, et al should set up offices in Guantanamo & observe how detainees are treated every day. Mostly I think the US needs to either charge or release them and allow all of them contact with lawyers and their families NOW!

I am so ashamed of my country it makes me nauseous. I always wondered how the people of Germany could stand by while the Nazis imprisoned, tortured and murdered millions. Now I see how it happens - they don't start out by blatantly committing the worst atrocities. They start out by nibbling away at human rights and laws to get us used to the idea that it's ok to deprive SOME people of a few rights. When Americans don't raise a huge stink about the initial abuse, they go on to the next level - slowly acclimating the population to more and more loss of civil/human rights until it seems normal for there to be 'camps' for certain groups who threaten our 'security' or extreme 'solutions' for those who are different (people of color, liberals, Muslims, etc.)

I always thought that fascism couldn't really happen here without some kind of earth shattering catastrophe. It looks like we are teetering on the edge right now. If the economy crashes (as many are predicting), we will be ripe for the fascists to take over! I am truly frightened. :scared:

[Wind Dancer]

16. Well said,

I no longer will believe a word that comes out of this admin. again. (not that I really did before) I am ashamed and can't begin to imagine how much hatred this insane WH has created.