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Born at the Crest of the Empire

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Abu Ghraib is back

The US handed Abu Ghraib back over to the Iraqis about a week ago. (Sorry, link fixed. Thanks, Gary.)
An independent witness who went into Abu Ghraib this week told The Sunday Telegraph that screams were coming from the cell blocks housing the terrorist suspects. Prisoners released from the jail this week spoke of routine torture of terrorism suspects and on Wednesday, 27 prisoners were hanged in the first mass execution since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime.

Conditions in the rest of the jail were grim, with an overwhelming stench of excrement, prisoners crammed into cells for all but 20 minutes a day, food rations cut to just rice and water and no air conditioning.

posted by mikevotes at 8:03 AM

6 Comments:

  • Mike, you linked to the wrong news story here.

    By Blogger gary, at 11:30 AM  

  • Sorry, gary. I'll fix it now.

    Thanks.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 11:33 AM  

  • No air conditioning? Join the club.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:07 PM  

  • Yeah, But Iraq in August......

    Mike

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 2:51 PM  

  • Are we surprised at the level of abuse? Are we surprised at the mass executions? This is all these people have ever known. You can't give a group of people democracy all wrapped up with a pretty bow and expect them to know instinctively what to do with it.

    By Blogger EHT, at 3:01 PM  

  • You're right, there is a history, maybe expectation, of prisoner treatemnet in Iraq, but I'm very hesitant to use a word like "instinctively."

    I would say that some of it comes because of the particularly vicious sectarian edge to the civil war. I doubt anyone in that prison doesn't have someone close to them that has been killed in the violence.

    If someone from the other side were put completely subjugated in their hands....

    Plus, relative to the violence on the streets that most of these guys have been involved in. Toturing and a burn is steps below handcuffed blindfolded and shot in the head. A powerdrill on the knees. beheading.

    Mike

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 3:11 PM  

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