Victims were celebrating release of sheikh's son from US detention
Reuters Aug 25, 08 3:22 AM CDT
(Newser)
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At least 25 people were killed in Abu Ghraib yesterday when a suicide bomber attacked a banquet where relatives were celebrating the release of a sheikh's son from US detention. Women, children and men from a US-supported neighborhood patrol were believed to be among the victims."The smoke was everywhere mixed with blood. I went unconscious after that," said a guest. US helicopters were flown in to evacuate some 32 wounded.
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Six guards in Iraq face charges
Reuters Aug 14, 08 5:44 PM CDT
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The US Navy will court-martial six sailors who are charged with abusing detainees at a US prison camp in Iraq, Reuters reports. The sailors are accused of beating prisoners and confining them in an unventilated room with pepper spray, a Navy statement says.
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Former general speaks out in new book, describes lies and 'total BS'
Time May 4, 08 11:34 AM CDT
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Early mistakes in Iraq—and the extent of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's involvement in them—are the subject of a Time excerpt from a book by the former commander of US forces in Iraq, Gen. Ricardo Sanchez. Sanchez details an effort by Rumsfeld to get him to agree, on paper, that Rumsfeld had been out of the loop on the premature drawdown of strategic command forces that led to disarray—a claim Sanchez vehemently denies.
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President's wartime powers override law, document argued
Washington Post Apr 2, 08 3:42 AM CDT
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Laws banning torture and assault should not apply to US military interrogators overseas, argues a 2003 Justice Department memo released yesterday. The Defense Department was told not to rely on the memo nine months after it was issued, but it established a legal foundation for controversial interrogations, the Washington Post reports. The document contends that presidential wartime powers override laws and treaties, and details justifications for using aggressive tactics against suspected terrorists.
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Lynndie England implicates ex-defense sec in interview
Stern (Germany) Mar 19, 08 4:37 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Lynndie England spent nearly a year and a half in jail for her role in the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison. In her first interview since her release, she tells the German news magazine Stern that she was sorry about the pictures of Iraqi detainees but insisted that "what we did happens in war." England also insists that "the media" are to blame for publishing the photos and stoking anti-American sentiment that followed the Abu Ghraib scandal.
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Prisoner finally freed without charge was hung upside down, beaten
Reuters Mar 14, 08 5:10 AM CDT
(Newser)
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A Yemeni man was held by the US in secret prisons for nearly three years and subjected to torture after his capture in Iraq, a human rights group has charged in a condemnation of America's "cruel" defiance of international law. The man, Khaled al-Maqtari, was held in Baghdad's notorious Abu Ghraib prison, secret jails in Afghanistan, and a CIA prison in an unknown location, where he was hung upside down by a chain, beaten and drenched with icy water, Reuters reports.
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Documentary wins
Berlin prize, criticism
for 'morbid voyeurism'
Guardian (UK) Feb 20, 08 4:59 PM CST
(Newser)
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Documentary-maker Errol Morris has often spoken truth to power, but his new film about the Abu Ghraib prison scandal may tread too lightly, Geoffrey Macnab writes in the Guardian . Though Standard Operating Procedure explores the infamous prison photos in gritty detail, Morris’ interview style—focusing mainly on implicated American soldiers with an almost sympathetic attitude—has drawn criticism as well as acclaim.
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Only officer charged with a crime in
torture scandal will face no punishment
BBC Jan 11, 08 9:17 AM CST
(Newser)
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The only officer who faced a court-martial over the torture at Abu Ghraib has been cleared of all criminal wrongdoing. The BBC reports that Lt. Col. Steven Jordan was convicted in August of disobeying a gag order, but that decision was annulled and his record is now clean. No officer has been dismissed or faced any direct charges for the Abu Ghraib scandal, although 11 lower-ranking soldiers have been convicted.
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Interrogations filmed to counter mistreatment accusations; stopped when techniques grew harsh, reports NYT
New York Times Dec 30, 07 1:30 PM CST
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Concern over its image prompted the CIA to first secretly create—and later destroy—tapes depicting the harsh interrogation of detainees, the New York Times reports. In spring 2002 the agency decided to document every moment of senior al-Qaeda operative Abu Zubaydah's custody so that perceptions of mistreatment—by prosecutors, Congress, Americans, and Muslims worldwide—could be countered.
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Ex-Iraq commander forges surprising
bond with Pelosi
Washington Post Nov 27, 07 4:50 PM CST
(Newser)
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Nancy Pelosi has made one of her strangest alliances yet with ousted Iraq commander Ricardo Sanchez, and their bring-the-troops-home alliance thrills Democratic leaders but baffles others, the Washington Post reports. Sanchez, forced to retire over the Abu Ghraib scandal, delivered last weekend’s Democratic radio address and blasted President Bush’s "failure to devise a strategy for victory in Iraq."
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NEW RELEASE
Anti-Bush Blacksite game 'genuinely subversive,' says Wired
Wired Nov 19, 07 7:33 PM CST
(Newser)
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Blacksite boasts the usual nasties, but this first-person shooter has them US-trained and -armed—making it “one of the few genuinely subversive games,” says Wired’s Clive Thompson. Most shoot-'em-ups make you "a warrior for the American dream," but Blacksite’s “corrupt authority” is clearly on Pennsylvania Avenue. “If you disagree with the game's political point of view, you'll probably hate it,” Thompson concedes.
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Ex-defense secretary sleeps just fine, thank you; still backs Bush
GQ Sep 10, 07 7:50 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Ever unflappable, Donald Rumsfeld praises progress in Afghanistan, backs his old boss, and tells GQ he has nothing to apologize for in his first interview since his ouster in December. Rummy still exudes the confidence he was known for in office, dismissing questions of guilt in Iraq, saying, "I am not a person who looks back."
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Colonel acquitted of abuse charges, convicted for talking about investigation
Washington Post Aug 28, 07 6:21 PM CDT
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A military jury today acquitted Army Lt. Col. Steven Jordan, the only officer charged in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, of three charges relating to widespread prisoner abuse that led to global denunciations of US involvement in Iraq. Jordan was found guilty of one count of “willfully disobeying” a senior officer by discussing the investigation and faces up to 5 years in prison.
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Agency believed to have teamed up with Pentagon
Salon Jun 21, 07 6:25 PM CDT
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The CIA apparently colluded with the US military to develop torture techniques for interrogating terrorist suspects, Salon reports. The program was based on methods originally designed to teach American special forces how to withstand abuse if captured. While the military's role in this "reverse engineering" had been previously exposed, the CIA link is a revelation.
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New Yorker Jun 17, 07 4:35 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Shortly after the mistreatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq became public Major General Antonio M. Taguba was tasked by the Army with investigating and reporting on the situation. He found "Numerous incidents of sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses were inflicted on several detainees . . . systemic and illegal abuse." For his trouble he was fired.
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