MORE Abu Ghraib Files From Salon

[kpete]

The Abu Ghraib files

279 photographs and 19 videos from the Army's internal investigation record a harrowing three months of detainee abuse inside the notorious prison -- and make clear that many of those responsible have yet to be held accountable.

Editor's note: The 10 galleries of photo and video evidence appear chronologically in the left column, followed by an additional Salon report on prosecutions for abuse and an overview of Pentagon investigations and other resources. The nine essays accompanying the photo galleries were reported and written by Michael Scherer and Mark Benjamin. Photo and video captions were compiled by Page Rockwell. Additional research, reporting and writing for "The Abu Ghraib Files" was contributed by Jeanne Carstensen, Mark Follman, Page Rockwell and Tracy Clark-Flory.

By Joan Walsh

The human rights scandal now known as "Abu Ghraib" began its journey toward exposure on Jan. 13, 2004, when Spc. Joseph Darby handed over horrific images of detainee abuse to the Army's Criminal Investigation Command (CID). The next day, the Army launched a criminal investigation. Three and a half months later, CBS News and the New Yorker published photos and stories that introduced the world to devastating scenes of torture and suffering inside the decrepit prison in Iraq.

Today Salon presents an archive of 279 photos and 19 videos of Abu Ghraib abuse first gathered by the CID, along with information drawn from the CID's own timeline of the events depicted. As we reported Feb. 16, Salon's Mark Benjamin recently acquired extensive documentation of the CID investigation -- including this photo archive and timeline -- from a military source who spent time at Abu Ghraib and who is familiar with the Army probe.

http://www.salon.com/news/abu_ghraib/2006/03/14/introdu... /

[SpiralHawk]

1. Stop the torture in our name, president skull & boner

It is wrong wrong wrong

It is evil evil evil

stop it

apologize and resign now, you AWOL failure

[Poll_Blind]

2. K&R- Disgusting. Sad. Necessary for Americans to view. n/t

PB

[Julius Civitatus]

3. Depressing, sad, revolting... and done in our name

and as we now know, under the direct orders of Gen. Miller and the approval of Rumsfeld.

Your tax dollars at work, being used to torture and rape people by a bunch of double-digit IQ rednecks gone wild.

Ashamed.

[Julius Civitatus]

4. self-deleted

[kpete]

5. I figured that out and put it back in

but VolcanoJen also had a thread up and so I thought I would take mine out.
When I saw it on the front page, I figured I better put it back in.

I always try and do the right thing...Kpete

[Julius Civitatus]

6. Maybe they should merge them

:)

[otohara]

7. The Photos/Videos Are Horrible - Sick Fucks

support our troops! Wow, that's hard to do when you see shit like this. Yeah, yeah, I know all soldiers don't do this, but I bet many soldiers in Iraq probably hate Iraqi's to the core.

[Trevelyan]

20. Please help the victims in Gitmo by going to this site:

http://www.CagePrisoners.com A lot of information and action items that you can do to help.

Remember Halliburton Brown and Root just finished more space for more innocent captured people at Gitmo and this summer Halliburton will unveil the facility they are working on now for 500 new prisoners.

That is in addition to their contract to build Concentration Camps like Gitmo on THE MAINLAND USA. Stop this now before it goes any further. Please get involved!!

[Higans]

8. HTTP 404 - File not found

HTTP 404 - File not found

The Salon.com page you are looking for cannot be found. The page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.

[Babel_17]

9. Link broken?

You might have not copied all of the addy.

http://www.salon.com/news/abu_ghraib/2006/03/14/introduction/

The above works.

Thanks for the heads-up!

Maybe I should mention, it seems Salon isn't, for the moment, requiring registration or the viewing of a commercial as a prerequisite to get to the article and pictures.

[kpete]

10. here

http://www.salon.com/news/abu_ghraib/2006/03/14/introduction/

[Voltaire99]

11. "Are you gay? Do you like what is happening to you? Are you all gays?"

...Nakhla, a civilian translator employed by the Titan Corp., told CID investigators on Jan. 18, 2004, that he helped translate the verbal abuse of the other soldiers. "Don't try to run away. Stop right there. Are you gay? Do you like what is happening to you? Are you all gays? You must like that position. These were some of the questions or things that I told them," Nakhla said.

This Nakhla turned himself into a soundtrack for monsters. Imagine having that on your résumé, let alone your conscience: torture translator.

I've been against the war from the start because no good case was made for it and because I detest imperialism. Given the US history in the Middle East and its then-recent descent in Florida into banana republicanism, the idea of bringing "democracy" to Iraq struck me not as hubris but as a transparent cover story. An idea on its face so absurd, so violently stupid and vainglorious, you might say it would take a reader of The New York Times to believe in it. The past three years have brought no end of vindication.

Now this trail of war crimes should awaken us to an illness deep within the culture: our martial worship. From the daily masturbation on Fox News and the History Channel to the hagiography in the TV series "Over There" to the endless supply of pro-war Xbox games, the intention is to make war not merely OK but, most perversely of all, beautiful. Well, we see how beautiful: "Do you like what is happening to you?"

If we had an opposition party and not cowards in Washington, we might seize this moment not only to withdraw to our own borders but also to detoxify, and ultimately to downsize, our armies. These opportunistic cowards, however, do us no more good than the bolder devils. So all those with conscience intact are urged to follow Cindy Sheehan's example of refusing to vote for anyone who supports this war--anyone. By their taste for occupation shall you know them.

[Just Me]

12. Just two words: WAR CRIMES. nt

[truth2power]

13. Are Graner and Lyndie England in prison? I forget...

If they're not, they should be. If I were Lyndie England's child, I'd disown her, not that Lyndie appears to have any maternal instinct at all.

F**king POS!

[Trevelyan]

19. General Karpinsky said that she KNEW than Lynndie England did NOT come to

Iraq from rural West Virgina with a dog collar and leash. Karpinski said tha Rumsfeld's instruction of "carte blanc" on torture were hanging outside Abu Ghraib.

Lynndie and the others prosecuted are bad but the masterminds of this Nazi evil are in the White House and must be removed and sent to War Crimes Court.

[Mist]

21. Yes they're both in military prisons, Graner at Ft. Hood TX and England

in CA. Graner got 10 years, England got 3 years, but may be out sooner for good behavior.

[2QT2BSTR8]

14. No matter what it comes down to, I still support the troops.

Now granted, there are apparently a few bad apples in the barrel, but as a human being I just find it hard to believe that another human being could treat another with such disrespect. If the troops were doing their own thing, then heck yeah they should be in prison. At the same time though, their Superiors knew what was going on, including King Bush, and did nothing to stop it.

Despite what atrocities the United States has done in the past, Abu Ghraib will forever shadow us in the Muslim and Arab world, and as an American I apologize that we have such a despicable man as our "president". Please know that there are other US citizens such as myself and other DUers that are working for change in our society and we hope to repair what has been damaged in time.

[deb98126]

15. I couldn't look beyond Ch.6

These are war crimes, crimes against humanity! My own experience, although still a human right's violation, doesn't even come close to this level of inhumanity. I'll go ahead and post my account here, but I don't expect to be contacted by a human rights attorney or investigative journalist any time soon when this type of inhumane torture is occuring around the world, even here in the U.S.

Deborah

Can the authorities illegally detain and hospitalize a U.S. citizen?

I've posted several diaries sharing my own experience of illegal detention and hospitalization, and received mixed responses. Some believe my ordeal, others don't. Many people, I'm certain, don't want to believe that this could happen here.

I'm asking you to consider the ordeal of others who have had a similar experience.

Consider the case of Darlene Early, a paralegal in Albany, NY. She publicly displayed a cardboard protest sign on a vehicle that was legally parked in space she had leased. As a result of her action, Ms. Early was arrested, forcibly hospitalized and forcibly sedated. What I find most disturbing about her account is the journalists comments at the end of the article:

"According to recent reports, in an attempt to counteract increasing political activism and dissent with government, in an attempt to stifle public opposition and attempts at reform, police agencies nationwide are simply levying false charges against their critics, labeling them "mental" in an attempt to not only discredit them but to "teach them a lesson.".
June Maxam, North Country Gazette, 10-25-05

You can read the full story at: http://www.legalhelp.org/public/article.php#TOP
It's also posted at: http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/102505DMVProtestor.html

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="" border="0" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket"></a>


I'm sure there are other cases out there similar to Ms. Early's, and I'm also certain people are afraid to come forward out of fear of being stigmatized.

One simply has to look to the former Soviet Union for multiple examples of how a police-controlled government systematically represses it's citizens. Consider the case of Edil Baisalov, a human right's activist in Kyrgyzstan. In 2003, Mr. Baisalov was forcibly hospitalized for three days prior to his scheduled speaking engagement with a U.S. non-profit that promotes democracy abroad. An account of his ordeal is available at:


You can also read more about Mr. Baisalov at:


Another case of forced hospitalization involved activist Yelena Urlaeva of Uzbekistan
<http://prima-news.ru/eng/news/articles/2002/9/30/17074.html.> or
<http://rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/11/2DD2D733-D23F-4B3E-B07E-E17641EDCE28.html>

Still a disbeliever? Perhaps you think this is just another "batty, liberal conspiracy theory." You don't have to be an activist to receive the above mentioned treatment. Consider this; Coral Ridge Psychiatric Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, FL has sent "bounty hunters" to involuntarily commit senior citizens, whom they deem to have "mental illness." What's the hook? Medicare reimbursed the hospital up to $700/day per patient <http://seniors-site.com/fraudm/forced.html>

You can read my account of forcible hospitalization and detainment by the FBI by clicking on the URL. I know my account probably reads like a movie of the week, and I'm sure there are parts that people will find unbelievable. However I ask you to consider this; at the time my ordeal occurred, I was living in a diverse city with people from all over the world, Atlanta, Georgia. Many people in my neighborhood were of Arab descent, Jewish, African etc. My apartment complex was under heavy surveillance Despite this, I was too involved in my own life, like so many other Americans, to notice what was unfolding around me. If after reading my account, you still don't believe me, then I invite you to spend some quality time in a densely populated ethnic neighborhood in any U.S. city. I guarantee you that you will encounter an undercover agent, or two and not even realize it. Or you could move into an apartment complex populated with several foreign neighbors. And if you're really lucky, you might even move in right next door to the resident undercover agents. Then you to could possibly have your human rights violated, and if you are fortunate enough to live through that, your life will then be changed forever!

Deborah

[e-mail]

[LeftNYC]

16. I am looking through these photos now

and I am in tears. It takes a lot to make me cry, but this is sad and pathetic. What has happened to our country? How can people who are supposedly "defending freedom" do this? How can we support troops who act like such disgraceful pigs? Every time a journalist is held hostage, we get multiple news reports, yet the corporate media wont show these pictures on TV. This is sad. I am ashamed to live in this country.

[LeftNYC]

17. I couldnt get the videos to work...anyone able to do this? nt

[Trevelyan]

18. This EVIDENCE of War Crimes are also on this site. Get the Nazis out

of our White House NOW!!!

279 photographs and 19 videos from the Army's internal investigation record a harrowing three months of detainee abuse inside the notorious prison -- and make clear that many of those responsible have yet to be held accountable.

Editor's note: The 10 galleries of photo and video evidence appear chronologically in the left column, followed by an additional report on prosecutions for abuse and an overview of Pentagon investigations and other resources.

http://mparent7777.livejournal.com/7010744.html

Today's newswire:

http://mparent7777.livejournal.com/2006/03/15/

[1620rock]

22. I have never been so ashamed to be an American...

...these Nazi war criminals make me sick to the core of my soul. :puke:

[Trevelyan]

23. Heart sick at what has become of America

another site
http://www.chris-floyd.com/abu/#oz

==I don't really know what to say.. I don't want to believe it, but I know it's true.. I can't stand this.. I feel ill.

=A man dies in CIA custody, no record of his imprisonment. He's obviously been beaten severely in the face.

Sickening.

=And according to ths SBS Dateline report... He died during interrogation in that blood-soaked room.

=The shame of the nation

“To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”

=546 images of dead Iraqi detainees Unbelievable. I couldn't look at all the photos, but I'm glad they were finally released.

Americans need to know what has been done there, in our name. It's simply horrifying.

=This is what is being done in our name, and with our money. I am horrified beyond belief. Please, tell me someone, what can we do to get this stopped, and get that man out of office?