(Un)Covering Torture We have done our best; now we need your help

[JohnyCanuck]

From the New Standard www.newstandardnews.net


On May 4, we published a story about Sadiq Zoman, an Iraqi who US troops abducted from his home in Kirkuk and, one month later, dropped off at a Tikrit hospital in a "persistent vegetative state," his body exhibiting telltale signs of torture. We told the story of Mr. Zoman’s family -- nine daughters and a wife who have sold every last possession to pay for his care as he lies unresponsive and helpless. They are desperate for answers and accountability from the foreign forces occupying their country, and who, from all evidence, deprived them of a husband and father as they knew him.

<snip>

From the time that our Baghdad correspondent Dahr Jamail and Middle East editor Brian Dominick began trying to piece the story of Sadiq Zoman together, the US military has been largely uncooperative with our requests for information.

Through no insignificant effort, Dahr uncovered a remarkable amount of evidence implicating the military in the terrible suffering of Sadiq Zoman and his family. He spent days gathering information from Zoman’s family, and from the US military and Iraqi civilian medical records that had followed Zoman through his capture, custody and aftercare.

<snip>

The US Army needs to hear that the American public wants the truth about what happened to Sadiq Zoman. If the military does not already know the real story, it should immediately investigate, and it should cooperate with The NewStandard’s own investigation into the story.

You can help pressure the military. Call the following people and demand answers:

Major Joslyn Aberle, Assistant Public Affairs Officer of the 4th Infantry Division:
254-287-7013

Her boss, Lieutenant Colonel Bill McDonald:
254-287-7011

Colonel Campbell, who signed a paper releasing Sadiq Zoman to the hospital, already in his current, "vegetative" condition:
254-287-7280

If you think there is any chance your Congressional Representative or Senators might take a personal interest in this case and put pressure on the Pentagon to initiate an investigation, please ask them to do so.


http://newstandardnews.net/content/?action=show_item&itemid=579

[disinfo_guy]

1. the military works for us - good idea

:kick:

[JohnyCanuck]

2. Darn straight.

I called the number for the 4th ID Public Affairs Officer and got a Major Randy Stephus on the line. He professed ignorance about this particular incident with Sadiq Zonan, but was very polite and went online with me on the phone to look at the story on www.newstandardnews.net . He asked if I was a reporter looking for a story and I told him I was just a concerned individual who was very upset at the stories of torture coming out of Iraq and Abu Ghraib and I thought a thorough investigation was warrented so this type of stuff could be avoided in the future. He said he would continue to follow up on the story and take the matter up with his superiors. I should have told him I'd call back for an update in a few days but I forgot.