At last, it is no longer just Seymour Hersh moving
from university to university speaking the
UNSPEAKABLE, and it has bubbled up beyond the Blogs
into the Free Press of the UK (Independent) and Australia (Herald Sun)...Will the "US Mainstream News Media" rise to the challenge of the TRUTH and not
only tell the ghastly story but provide the CONTEXT
and CONTINUITY that lead to the increasingly unhinged
and incredibly shrinking _resident and the corporatist
Kulchur of the Bush Cabal? Will the US Senate accept
RESPONSIBILITY and tell the TRUTH to the American
people? Will the Democratic Party share the brutal
REALITY of the Three Stooges Reich with the US
electorate? The stench of Abu Ghraib is on the Bush
White House, the stench of the Bush White House is on
Abu Ghraib.
Charles Arthur, Independent: Young male prisoners were
filmed being sodomized by American soldiers at the Abu
Ghraib prison near Baghdad, according to the
journalist who first revealed the abuses there.
Seymour Hersh, who reported on the torture of the prisoners in New Yorker magazine in May, told an audience in San Francisco that "it's worse". But he added that he would reveal the extent of the abuses: "I'm not done reporting on all this," he told a meeting of the American Civil Liberties Union.
He said: "The boys were sodomized with the cameras
rolling, and the worst part is the soundtrack, of the
boys shrieking. And this is your government at war."
Cleanse the White House of the Chickenhawk Coup and
Its War-Profiteering Cronies, Show Up for Democracy in
2004: Defeat Bush (again!)
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/071704A.shtml
'Secret Film Shows Iraq Prisoners Sodomized'
By Charles Arthur
Independent U.K.
Thursday 16 July 2004
Young male prisoners were filmed being sodomized
by American soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison near
Baghdad, according to the journalist who first
revealed the abuses there.
Seymour Hersh, who reported on the torture of the
prisoners in New Yorker magazine in May, told an
audience in San Francisco that "it's worse". But he
added that he would reveal the extent of the abuses:
"I'm not done reporting on all this," he told a
meeting of the American Civil Liberties Union.
He said: "The boys were sodomized with the cameras
rolling, and the worst part is the soundtrack, of the
boys shrieking. And this is your government at war."
He accused the US administration, and all but
accused President George Bush and Vice-President Dick
Cheney of complicity in covering up what he called
"war crimes".
Allies Reel as Abuse Row Grows
Herald Sun, Australia
Friday 17 July 2004
Washington - New cases of alleged abuse of Iraqi
prisoners by US soldiers have been uncovered.
The news comes three months after US media
broadcast photos of detainees being sexually
humiliated at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison.
"We're still uncovering, as late as this morning,
other incidents, other cases that will be promptly
investigated by the Department of Defence," Senate
Armed Services Committee chairman John Warner said.
Senator Warner, a Republican, said there were
possible violations of the Geneva Convention and
Defence Department rules and regulations.
However, a Republican congressional source said
the Pentagon was "dragging its feet and intends to
postpone any hearing until after" the November 2
presidential election.
"There's a lot of frustration over here," he said.
Senator Warner said Pentagon officials also showed
senators 24 confidential documents from the
International Committee of the Red Cross.
The papers are part of an ICRC report on prisoner
treatment in Iraqi jails written before the scandal
broke in April.
Senator Warner has held three hearings on Abu
Ghraib, and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has
testified before the committee.
Senator Warner said his panel's next public
hearings would be held in September at the earliest.
Open hearings on soldiers being investigated will not
be held to avoid jeopardising their legal rights.
The Philippines said it would withdraw the head of
its force in Iraq and 10 other members of the
contingent as part of efforts to secure the release of
a Filipino hostage.
Foreign Secretary Delia Albert said the remaining
members of the 51-strong contingent would be
withdrawn, though she did not say whether the
withdrawal would take place before the kidnappers'
July 20 deadline.
"The Philippines Government has recalled the head
of the Philippines humanitarian contingent to Iraq. He
is leaving Iraq today with 10 members of the
Philippines humanitarian contingent," Ms Albert said
in a statement.
"The rest of the members of the contingent will be
out of Iraq shortly."
A headless corpse dressed in an orange jumpsuit
has been found by Iraqi police in the Tigris river and
handed over to US forces, but it has not yet been
identified.
It was not known whether the body was that of a
Bulgarian hostage killed by his captors earlier this
week. It was found near Baiji, 180km north of Baghdad.
"The body had been decapitated. It was dressed in
an orange jumpsuit," a spokeswoman said.
Kidnappers linked to al-Qaida ally Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi said a week ago they had captured Bulgarian
truck drivers Georgi Lazov, 30, and Ivailo Kepov, 32,
and would kill them unless US-led forces released
Iraqi prisoners.
Earlier this week, Arabic satellite television
station al-Jazeera said it had received a videotape
showing the decapitation of one of the Bulgarians.
Video of foreign hostages have often shown them
wearing orange jumpsuits, which are typical of US
jails and associated around the world with images of
Muslims at Guantanamo Bay.
Protestors rallied in Baghdad yesterday, demanding
the death penalty for deposed president Saddam
Hussein.
Saddam is in Iraqi custody, charged with
committing crimes against humanity.
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