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| Iraq |
| U.S. Raises Doubts Over Iraq Prison Control |
| 2005-12-27 |
| The Bush administration suggested Tuesday that prisons in Iraq where hundreds of detainees apparently were abused were only "nominally" under the control of the central government in Baghdad. This is a strange admission, but would cast some light on any new secret SCIRI/Badr prisons or any forthcoming reports regarding prisoner abuse. While the central government, with U.S. help, is trying to take charge of these prisons the Interior ministry, which runs them may have its own way of doing things, suggested State Department spokesman Adam Ereli. "The problem has clearly not been solved and the problem is widespread," Ereli said. "We and the Iraqi government continue to have concern about the way prisoners are treated in Iraqi facilities and in facilities nominally under the control of the Iraqi government," the spokesman said. Ah, the meat. "And the United States, for its part, is going to do everything it can to ensure that the rights of Iraqi citizens are respected," Ereli added. The statement acknowledged weakness in the Iraqi government, but also credited it with trying to address a problem that undercuts the administration's case that reform is taking hold since the toppling of President Saddam Hussein. Elvis's 1st recommended reform, kill Saddam. "We are working with the Iraqi government to provide advice and technical assistance" to correct the prison situation, the U.S. spokesman said. "It is not easy, given the number of detainees, given the number of actors in this system." Capital punishment is an option. One goal, Ereli said, is "not feeding detainees into a system where there is abuse going on." And, he said, "on a deeper level, working with the government to try to correct the system so that the kind of abuses and undermining of authority doesn't happen." U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said earlier this month that at least 120 abused prisoners were found in two detention facilities run by the Shiite-led Interior Ministry. Even before then, Sunni Arabs had complained about abuse and torture by Interior Ministry security forces. Boohoo, we know you'd never abuse prisoners would you Sunnis? The U.S. military said Sunday it would not hand over detention facilities or individual detainees to Iraqi officials until they have demonstrated higher standards of care. I wouldn't expect this anytime soon. Their cultures care little for prisoners and less for treating the enemy in a humane fashion. I tend to agree with a few tenets of their philosophy regarding the enemy, especially in light of all of the revolving doors that develop in "civilized countries". EP |
| Posted by:ElvisHasLeftTheBuilding |