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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Prisoner release at Abu Ghraib |
| 2004-05-22 |
| The U.S. military said 454 prisoners were released Friday from the Abu Ghraib prison on the western outskirts of Baghdad. Between 3,000 and 4,000 people are still believed held at the prison. The military is still sending detainees considered security risks to Abu Ghraib. A convoy of at least six buses, accompanied by U.S. troops in armored vehicles and jeeps, took detainees to several areas, including Tikrit and Baqouba, north of the capital. Some of those who were freed Friday told of beatings and psychological abuse. They kissed the ground and kneeled to pray after walking out of the police compound in Baqouba. Abdul Salam Hussain Jassim, 18, said he was held for three months after an explosion. "Don't even talk about torture. They destroyed me," Jassim said. He said a family of five brothers and sisters was detained in the same block and that one of the men was beaten so badly he died two days later. Another freed prisoner from Abu Ghraib, Maher Saeed, said he was tied to a car and dragged through the sand for several hundred yards. A man who identified himself as Ghazwan said he was held with his brother and father for nine months. He spent six in isolation. "They were psychologically torturing us especially in the heavy quarantines, they were abusing us inside these quarantines by beating us and forcing us to take off all our clothes," he said. "They were forcing detained women to distribute food to us while we were naked." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 I think we should steel ourselves for a flood of bogus abuse complaints that will approach Biblical proportions. So far as I can tell, Arabs excel at only two things: lying, and playing the poor, helpless victim. We need to stay the course in Iraq and put maximum effort into achieving a peaceful society there, at least so we can honestly say, "Well, we tried." But let's not do this again. The next time some band of Wahhabist fanatics manages to pull off a mass-casualty attack on U.S. soil, we should retaliate promptly-- within hours, not months-- and brutally. Go for pure punishment. This "addressing root causes" stuff is bullshit. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2004-05-22 8:23:40 AM |