WP: New Prison Images Emerge

[kskiska]

Graphic Photos May Be More Evidence of Abuse

Thursday, May 6, 2004; Page A01

The collection of photographs begins like a travelogue from Iraq. Here are U.S. soldiers posing in front of a mosque. Here is a soldier riding a camel in the desert. And then: a soldier holding a leash tied around a man's neck in an Iraqi prison. He is naked, grimacing and lying on the floor.

Mixed in with more than 1,000 digital pictures obtained by The Washington Post are photographs of naked men, apparently prisoners, sprawled on top of one another while soldiers stand around them. There is another photograph of a naked man with a dark hood over his head, handcuffed to a cell door. And another of a naked man handcuffed to a bunk bed, his arms splayed so wide that his back is arched. A pair of women's underwear covers his head and face.

The graphic images, passed around among military police who served at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, are a new batch of photographs similar to those broadcast a week ago on CBS's "60 Minutes II" and published by the New Yorker magazine. They appear to provide further visual evidence of the chaos and unprofessionalism at the prison detailed in a report by Army Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba. His report, which relied in part on the photographs, found "numerous incidents of sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses" that were inflicted on detainees.

This group of photographs, taken from the summer of 2003 through the winter, range widely, from mundane images of everyday military life to pictures showing crude simulations of sex among soldiers. The new pictures appear to show American soldiers abusing prisoners, many of whom wear ID bands, but The Post could not eliminate the possibility that some of them were staged.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5623-2004May5.html

Pictures on WP home page (Click "More Photos" tab under photo shown)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/

[Catherine Vincent]

1. Wow. The shit is hitting the fan for this administration!

Bush said on the tube that he thought the pictures were abhorrent. Do you think he had to look it up in the dictionary to find out it's meaning?

[not systems]

9. Look in the dictionary. Nah he had to look in the mirror.

[opihimoimoi]

2. Will our Troops expect similar treatment when "Captured ALIVE"?

Now that we have given "License to the Resistance to abuse prisoners too? Damn, this is Civilized? Hardly.

The President will regret this to the BONE

[calimary]

71. No he won't. The man has no conscience.

Actually, I take some of that back. He does regret this - and will regret this to the bone. But what it is that he will be regretting is THE FACT THAT THIS GOT LEAKED OUT and that the whole world knows the truth, now, and that it's making trouble for him now, when he obviously shouldn't have to be worrying about any of this. What he's always gonna regret is how this blew the lid off his nice, comfy, tidy place on top of much of America's altars of worship. THAT he'll regret to his dying day.

I don't know if anybody remembers the People magazine article, during the 2000 campaign, where they were profiling both laura bush and Tipper Gore. In the laura segment, they brought up that car crash in which she killed her former boyfriend. Anybody remember her comment about that? "I'm sorry it happened, and I'm sorry it was reported."

"...I'M SORRY IT WAS REPORTED."

THAT is the mentality here. They're just sorry they've been found out. Why do you think they're so f-ing hung up on their f-ing secrecy? Because they KNOW, full well, that people wouldn't like what they're up to, if they found out about it.

[fishnfla]

3. Next Up: confiscation of troops' cameras

as the article points out, digital cameras were the source.

Potentially, there could be alot more photos, from all over. The 1000 images they have on the CD reflect the range: torture and abuse, dead bodies, dead animals, simulated sex amongst troops, etc....

I'd bet that Rummy has sent the memo already: No troopers shooting anything but guns

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. A very Doctor Strangelove moment

CONFISCATE ALL THE RADIOS... I need to watch that, seems to be this is the history of this administration...

[slinkerwink]

4. where are the photos? I want to see them.

[jasonjay]

6. another source

fosho flash has the pictures up, he had the other ones 2 days before everyone else. and has these up already. www.foshoflash.com

im starting to like his site more then any other of it's type.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. General Court Martial is needed NOW

for the whole lot, from Richard Myers DOWN

And the civilians, to the Hague with the lot of them!

[kskiska]

10. Photos are on WP home page

no URL.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/

On left side of page.

[Catherine Vincent]

21. This is really sickening.

I don't know what to say. I'm going to bed now. I feel sick.

<click>

[KoKo]

19. You want to see the headless cow and cat? and that other stuff....I don't

know if I can handle any more of this...

[Just Me]

5. Is this what that "karma" and "collective conscious" stuff is all about?

'Cause, I gotta tell ya',...there seems to be a freakin' flood pouring down on these assholes.

Have you noticed the entire shift on mainstream media, too?

I sure have,...

Humanity is rebelling!!!

And, all I gotta' say about that is HALLELUJIAH!!!

I still "dream" of every single one of those neo-coverup-cons in orange suits and totally BANKRUPT!!!!

Ohhhhh,...that dream brings me so much satisfaction,...and it doesn't cost a penny.

[maggrwaggr]

26. classic karma. Cause and affect.

it's a law of the universe.

[riverwalker]

7. Lynndie again

dragging a man with a leash around his neck. gawd.

[Bonobo]

17. Does this dispel the myth that woman are sugar and spice vs. men's

snips, snails and puppy dog tails?

[indie_voter]

24. If that didn't, this should

From the WP article:

"England's friends and relatives said the photographs must have been staged. "It just makes me laugh, because that's not Lynn," said Destiny Goin, 21, a friend. "She wouldn't pull a dog by its neck, let alone drag a human across a floor.""


HA HA

Disgusting.

[IndianaGreen]

47. The Bitch of Buchenwald

Lynndie England is not the first woman to derive pleasure from the suffering of others, and she won't be the last. Here is a brief bio of Ilse Koch, known to Holocaust survivors as "The Bitch of Buchenwald":

The "Bitch of Buchenwald"



Known as the 'Bitch of Buchenwald' for her sadistic cruelty and power - mad behavior towards prisoners under her supervision, Ilse Koch was the wife of Karl Koch, Commandant of Buchenwald, whom she had married in 1936. A powerfully built, formidable nymphomaniac who had accompanied her husband to Buchenwald in 1939, who was especially fond of horse - riding exercises - a riding hall costing a quarter of a million marks and not a few human lives was specially constructed for her at the camp - to the accompaniment of the Buchenwald SS band. She also liked to ride through the camp, whipping any prisoner who attracted her attention. Her taste for collecting lampshades made from the tattooed skins of specially murdered concentration camp inmates was described as follows by a witness at Nuremberg: "The finished products (i.e. tattooed skin detached from corpses) were turned over to Koch's wife, who had them fashioned into lampshades and other ornamental household articles.' Her husband, who had become a millionaire from his unscrupulous racketeering and exploitation of concentration camp labor and production for private use, was however brought before an SS court in in 1944 in a famous case of corruption. Sentenced to death, he was reprieved and then executed by his accuser, von Waldeck - Pyrmont, Higher SS and Police Leader of Thuringia, shortly before the end of the war. Ilse Koch was more fortunate. Though sentenced to life imprisonment in the Buchenwald trial of 1947, her sentence was reduced to four years and she was soon released. Re - arrested in 1949, she was tried before a West German court for the killing of German nationals, and the intense publicity in the national press made her name a byword for horror. On 15 January 1951 she was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder. She committed suicide in a Bavarian prison on 1 September 1967.

Courtesy of:
"Who's Who in Nazi Germany"
©1982, Wiederfield and Nicolsa
London

http://motlc.wiesenthal.com/text/x12/xr1294.html

[saigon68]

70. IRMA GRESE "THE ANGEL OF DEATH

She became a camp guard at the age of 19, and in March 1943 she was transferred to Auschwitz. She rose to the rank of Senior SS-Supervisor in the autumn of 1943, in charge of around 30,000 women prisoners, mainly Polish and Hungarian Jews. This was the second highest rank that SS female concentration camp pesonnel could attain.

After the war survivors provided extensive details of murders, tortures, cruelties and sexual excesses engaged in by Irma Grese during her years at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. They testified to her acts of pure sadism, beatings and arbitrary shooting of prisoners, savaging of prisoners by her trained and half starved dogs, to her selecting prisoners for the gas chambers.

She habitually wore heavy boots and carried a whip and a pistol. She used both physical and emotional methods to torture the camp's inmates and enjoyed shooting prisoners in cold blood. She beat some of the women to death and whipped others mercilessly using a plaited whip.

[Piperay]

65. UGH...what a sick twisted

sorry excuse for a 'human' being. :puke: :puke: :puke:

[DoYouEverWonder]

66. She sure likes to pose for the camera

And this sick little girl is about to become a mother. She needs a referral to her local High Risk Clinic, if that baby is going to have half a chance of being normal.

[Barrett808]

11. Sy Hersh predicted this on O'Reilly

HERSH: First of all, it's going to get much worse. This kind of stuff was much more widespread. I can tell you just from the phone calls I've had in the last 24 hours, even more, there are other photos out there. There are many more photos even inside that unit. There are videotapes of stuff that you wouldn't want to mention on national television that was done. There was a lot of problems. There was a special women's section. There were young boys in there. There were things done to young boys that were videotaped. It's much worse.

[Doosh]

14. barf

[AbbeyRoad]

18. I don't even want to imagine

even though I already have.

:puke: :puke: :puke:

[shraby]

22. I have emailed

Senator Feingold to call for the resignation of the entire Bush administration from Bush down.

[Barrett808]

51. Here's a link to the transcript

Hersh on O'Reilly: Inside Iraq's Abu Ghraib Prison
Tuesday, May 04, 2004
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,118955,00.html

...

O'REILLY: OK, but Sanchez the commander put him in charge fairly quickly. They mobilized fairly quickly.

HERSH: No, look, I don't want to ruin your evening, but the fact of the matter is it was the third investigation. There had been two other investigations.

One of them was done by a major general who was involved in Guantanamo, General Miller. And it's very classified, but I can tell you that he was recommending exactly doing the kind of things that happened in that prison, basically. He wanted to cut the lines. He wanted to put the military intelligence in control of the prison.

...

[leftchick]

68. omg Barrett..... Sy is confirming what I suspected from Taguba's report..

<One of them was done by a major general who was involved in Guantanamo, General Miller. And it's very classified, but I can tell you that he was recommending exactly doing the kind of things that happened in that prison, basically. He wanted to cut the lines. He wanted to put the military intelligence in control of the prison.>

From Taguba's report:

IO COMMENTS ON MG MILLER’S ASSESSMENT

1. (S/NF) MG Miller’s team recognized that they were using JTF-GTMO operational procedures and interrogation authorities as baselines for its observations and recommendations. There is a strong argument that the intelligence value of detainees held at JTF-Guantanamo (GTMO) is different than that of the detainees/internees held at Abu Ghraib (BCCF) and other detention facilities in Iraq. Currently, there are a large number of Iraqi criminals held at Abu Ghraib (BCCF). These are not believed to be international terrorists or members of Al Qaida, Anser Al Islam, Taliban, and other international terrorist organizations. (ANNEX 20)

2. (S/NF) The recommendations of MG Miller’s team that the “guard force” be actively engaged in setting the conditions for successful exploitation of the internees would appear to be in conflict with the recommendations of MG Ryder’s Team and AR 190-8 that military police “do not participate in military intelligence supervised interrogation sessions.” The Ryder Report concluded that the OEF template whereby military police actively set the favorable conditions for subsequent interviews runs counter to the smooth operation of a detention facility. (ANNEX 20)


http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4894001

Do You all realize chimpy* Sent him Back to IRAQ?!? HE is now in CONTROL of all of the prisons? Where is the outrage? I sure hope the Democrats bring this up at the hearing tomorrow! :mad:

[IndianaGreen]

75. BG Janis Karpinski fingered General Sanchez on the Debra Norville Show

as the man that signed the orders transferring control of the cell block where the abuses took place from her command to Military Intelligence.

Sanchez is the top general in Iraq. If Sanchez is tainted, then General Abizaid, Commander of Central Command, is also tainted. If Abizaid is tainted...

[Citizen Daryl]

53. Bush wins.

They're definitely going to attack us again, and when they do, Kerry and the election are a non-issue.


http://www.cafeshops.com/subvertpress/132421

[Kool Kitty]

61. Did anyone hear Sy Hersch on the Brian Lehrer show

yesterday? A woman called in, she was the first caller. She asked Sy who she should contact about stuff that she found on a computer. Apparently, the company that she worked for (which she didn't name) was given some computers that had been used in the field in Iraq. The computers were supposed to have been cleaned, and she said they weren't. She said that the things on the computer were horrifying, and she wanted to know who she should contact about it. Sy gave her his cell phone number and Brian told her to hold on so that he and Sy could talk to her off the air. Hmmm....

[PfcHammer]

13. um, 2 words. f*cking disgusting.

[KoKo]

15. A skinned and gutted Cow and a Cat's decapitated Head!!!

What the hell is going on over there. This sounds perverted. Are they so intent on killing anything they do this not only to people but to animals?

[West Coast Democrat]

16. Reconfirming, again and again, the negative stereotypes...

many people have about members of the military. And all of this was going on as we, Americans, were supposed to be "supporting our troops."

[KoKo]

25. Look at least 1% of any population can be depraved given the right

circumstances. There are over a hundred thousand troops there...and even a small percentage is enough to be as depraved as these folks were.

I'm totally anti-Iraq Invasion, but I don't tar all our troops with the same brush as this disgusting group. But, war does bring out the worst in folks, so I hope that's what you were saying rather than saying all soldiers are like this group.

[West Coast Democrat]

28. Are you one of the "few bad apples" apologists?

because I don't see how anyone can be claiming that excuse now.

[KoKo]

42. No, 1% is not a "few bad apples." It's a dreadful culture driven by a

P-Resident whose every other word out of his mouth is Kill, Murderers, Kill, Hate.

Not everyone is so inclined to follow what he says and promotes. But hundreds will if given the right circumstance. He's created the climate and those who are suseptible will "act out" what he says.

[tedzbear]

55. Read this excellent article that speaks to those apologists.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2040-2004May4.html


This article kicks ass. I can't believe it's from the Washington Post.

:kick:

[Zhade]

64. You're right. That's a damn good article.

Stunning to see such real emotion from the WaPo.

[jackstraw45]

72. Notice it's in section C of the paper...Style section I believe?

Figures...the news division would never print something like this.

[calimary]

73. Yeah, but that's actually kind of okay. VERY okay, in fact.

This is NOT a bad thing. Quite the contrary. I know many people who go directly to the "Lifestyle" section or the "Living" section or whatever, first, before the front page, or the sports section or the business section. GOOD that it's there. It'll reach all the readers who really don't want to bother their "beautiful minds" about horrors like this.

We NEED to have corresponding stories and sidebars about this in EVERY section of EVERY paper. The better to reach all the disparate readers any paper has. Heck, even the food section - 'cause I know people who buy the paper mainly for the grocery coupons and the recipes! This stuff has to get in everywhere. Anywhere it pops up, no matter how purportedly ill-matched or ill-placed, is helpful. The same folks who ignore the long articles that start on the front page and go straight to the "Lifestyle" section or the "Classified Ads" section are also many of those who get their "news" from the Pox network. They're the ones who most desperately need to be reached.

This is NOT a bad thing.

[Just Me]

29. THIS IS ABOUT A F-UP LEADERSHIP THAT CREATES HELL,...

,...for all of us.

Sorry for the scream.

That leadership covered this shit up.

That leadership let this shit go (and even encouraged it via its right-wing freaks).

This is about a leadership that is tearing our nation apart and wreaking havoc on the rest of the world,....while USING our troops to do so.

[West Coast Democrat]

31. It's not just the leadership....

those soldiers were smiling, laughing, enjoying themselves, taking photos....why is that?

[tedzbear]

57. War and occupation are ALWAYS dehumanizing...

...for both the victors and the vanquished.

[KoKo]

44. Yes....their sickness is setting the tone for the whole country and for

the leadership of the troops. Bush and his thugs have handpicked their Generals. They will be those who act out what they tell them.

[Catch22Dem]

30. I still support the troops

I truly do, because I know many of them. The problem here is there's a SMALL group of SICK MOTHERFUCKERS over there who are making the rest of our men and women very, very, very unsafe. Actions like this are not only inhumane, but severely endanger the lives of every single American in the Middle East today.

Breaks my heart!

[West Coast Democrat]

33. It's hard for me to support all of them....

when some of them (a small group? We don't really know that!) enjoy this sort of thing, and they're higher ups seem to condone it until the media finds out.

[Catch22Dem]

37. Oh, I don't support them all....not these folks....no way

You're right, it's hard to get around what these people are doing. I will go ahead and assume (all we can do is assume) that it is indeed a small group, like I said before. The reason I say this, is partly because I was in the military and can't imagine any of the people I knew doing this shit. Also, since the average military unit is basically a cross section of Anyplace America, only a small portion of people within that sampling would be capable of this type of thing.

You're right, I don't know, but I like to think I'm right.

[teryang]

36. There's a small group of "sick

...motherfuckers" running this country.

[Catch22Dem]

38. No kidding!

And we see how much damage a small group can do. I guess that's my point. It's a small group that makes every servicemember over there look bad. Hell, in the eyes of the world, you and I look bad for this as well, simply because we're Americans and so are the torturers. If you or I went to the Middle East right now, we'd be less safe because of these fucking morons!

[teryang]

67. I couldn't agree more

You know what they say, every soldier is an ambassador for his country.

[alcuno]

20. They must have known there was more. Why try the "few bad apples"

argument? Something really wrong is happening over there. And none of the higher ups knew about it? That's not even within the realm of possibility.

[BeHereNow]

23. Post is in trouble now...

I just tried to visit the link and got a diversion messge.
The neocons must be telling them to take the pictures down.
Shit be hittin' da fan- oh yeah.
BHN

[kalian]

27. Nope...its the perverted American sheeple....

that want to "lookie at the pictures"....

:puke:

[Citizen Daryl]

52. I want to see them because ...

... I want them to burn in my memory forever. I want to carry these horrific images to my grave, as a reminder of the atrocities that were committed in my name. I want them there so that the next time some douchebag tells me, "They hate us because of our freedom!", I can remember to punch him dead in the mouth.


http://www.cafeshops.com/subvertpress/132421

[calimary]

74. A fascinating thing I noticed, Citizen Daryl, backing up what you just

pointed out.

I posted this elsewhere, that I've been liberally (!) using that TOLL FREE number (see my sig line) to call Capitol Hill, and beyond just my three (Senators Boxer, Feinstein, and Congressman Waxman), I've been calling OTHER people. And QUITE A FEW republi-CONS.

What I've been saying is what YOU just said - pointing out to them that this has been done in MY name. I also said this has been done in YOUR name (to the staffer who was taking my call), AND it's been done in Congressman/woman/Senator so-n-so's (whoever the boss is for whom that staffer works) name. I also said I was compelled to talk to republi-CONS since they have all the marbles - majorities in BOTH houses as well as owning the White House, and THEY were the ones who told us all at the end of 2000 that they were bringing honor and integrity back to the White House and THEY were the ones who said the adults were back in charge, and THEY are the ones who are making leadership a big issue in this campaign season, and as a voter I've gotta say I am seeing NO LEADERSHIP WHATSOEVER. I added that what I am seeing a LOT of is scapegoating, stonewalling, denial and avoidance.

And you know what? They all sound MIGHTY chastened and subdued in those offices. Fairly frequently in the past, when I've called republi-CON offices (to complain, as usual), I'm apt to get some snotnose on the other end of the line who gets in my face and smirks at me and attitudes me all over the map or carries on about how much better and more right they are than my fellow Dems and horrible, low-life Clinton supporters are, and blah-blah-blah. Well, guess what? On Tuesday when I was calling probably 20 different offices, NOBODY in the republi-CON offices was giving me any sass. NONE WHATSOEVER. They're all quiet, subdued, I'd even venture to say chastened by this. They're polite and offer no comebacks or denials or rebuttals or arguments or condescension. NONE. Used to be almost the rule, at least of what I experienced, and I call congress a LOT. Used to get that shit most of the time from the republi-CON side of the aisle. But Tuesday, when I called these people, there was NONE. Absolutely NONE. ACROSS THE BOARD.

They're hurting on this. They're mortified. They know it's all on them. I find myself even entertaining the suspicion that a few of them are starting come to the grudging realization that WE were correct and they got it all wrong. Or that now, they realize that they can no longer fall back on their "well, aren't they so much better off now that we got rid of Saddam?" or "well, aren't we much safer now that we got rid of Saddam?" or "the majority of the Iraqi people really are glad we're there, just look at those polls!" or "look at all the good we've done over there, how we've helped those people." I think some of them are realizing that they can't fall back on these "comfy-chair" excuses and platitudes anymore. Not now. The curtain of denial, and deniability, is being ripped away.

I doubt we'll get any overt defectors. That takes a LOT of guts that most of these sniveling, shameless apologists don't have. I doubt, for example, that you'll EVER see the likes of Bill Frist or Orrin Hatch or John Warner or Rick Santorum or any of these schmucks (or their many underlings) do a public about-face and a mea culpa, as they desperately need to. It's SAVING FACE that these schmucks are clinging to, now. That's why you're still seeing pundits on the air still desperately grasping for the "but weren't these photos staged?" crap. They just cannot admit that they were wrong, and that they were - more significantly - FOOLED. That they were sold a bill of goods that they WANTED so badly to believe, by a guy and his gang in whom they put SO MUCH OF THEIR FAITH. This is personal. And for them to admit to being wrong to THIS profound a degree, is a task I'm not sure they're up to.

They've made character an issue. So be it. Bring 'em on.

And by the way, welcome to DU.

[Catch22Dem]

32. I just clicked on it

And got there fine.

[sniffa]

34. my god

i didn't think i'd see pics that topped the first roLL.

[nadinbrzezinski]

35. It is getting even worst

and will get much worst.

Sly Hersh said it was going to get much worst

[WLKjr]

39. More and More Photos

This is just more fuel to the fire. More recruitment shit for AQ or whatever group comes up next. I think it's funny that Bush spoke about this early, now it looks like he will have to say "sorry" again.

I hate to sound negative, but get ready for another attack....it's comming now with the revelation of more photos. what a mess

[not systems]

41. Another attack by who?

Do you mean the US attacking Syria?

Or the secret team standing down the air defenses again and
letting planes crash into buildings because another Perle Harbor
was needed?

[WLKjr]

56. I was thinking

another one by terrorists. These pictures just piss them off more and more.

I would sure hope that someone wouldn't let an attack happen, and I have always thought syria would be next.

but what do I know?

[Enraged_Ape]

40. I never believed in "Hell" until I saw these pictures...

and then I realized that I truly am living in it.

We are a depraved, despicable species. That there might be a few caring, decent people in this world is a crazy anomaly, not the rule. The vast majority of us are truly sick sons of bitches. I can only hope that we all, individually, eventually get what we deserve, but for myself I can only hope that it won't be on this pathetic ball.

[IndianaGreen]

48. Many DUers criticized the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo

and we questioned the "official" account of the prison riot at Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan where CIA operative Mickey Spann was killed (John "Johnny Taliban" Walker case).

Our voices were loud but few in number. We were attacked by fellow DUers for defending "terrorists". Look at where we are now, and how far down we have gone the rabbit hole since then!

We should never choose to remain silent about human rights and about the Geneva Convention.

[Citizen Daryl]

54. I can only imagine what's been happening at Guantanamo.

*sigh*

If anyone needs me, I'll be packing my bag and renewing my passport.


http://www.cafeshops.com/subvertpress/132421

[saigon68]

76. I never did--- I was ridiculed by a large group of ASSHOLES

When I talked about WAR CRIMES last October

Now My critics are gone BOO HOO

[starroute]

43. There is one note of strangely ironic hope in all of this

The powers that be have been able to shut down the traditional media, embed the reporters, keep a lid on the news.

But now the universal distribution of digital cameras and cd burners has made the whole thing slip out of their grasp. And this has happened not because someone orchestrated it, but simply because it is human nature to be fascinated by the forbidden and to want to spread it around.

It may be thin comfort, but I've always thought that our best defense against 1984 is not any moral high-mindedness, but simply innate human perversity and contrariness.

In short, exactly the same sort of perversity that allowed these atrocities to happen in the first place has also ensured that they become widely known. There's a kind of karmic balance in that.

[tedzbear]

60. I think technology deserves the main credit.

The internet and digital cameras have made it impossible for big brother to control the masses. At least for now.

[TryingToWarnYou]

45. This administration...

is not being held accountable for anything. The American public cares more about American Idol than American standing.

Pathetic and sick. Having worked in corrections and knowing officers that are just like these "soldiers", I can honestly say, they are deserving of the retribution they will get from these prisoners at one point. Karma is a bitch.

[Wind Dancer]

46. Outraged again and again and again!

This is the result of the most corrupt WH in history, this would continue had these pics not been released. (and will in many other places where it can be hidden) I am disgusted beyond belief, but know they will spoon feed the public again with the usual rhetoric.

I am so ashamed and saddened for these poor people.

Can't you just hear the spin tomorrow - well they hate us anyway, a few more pics don't matter. Our country is out of control - God help us!

[paulthompson]

49. Time for a psychology lesson

For the people who say this is just a couple of "bad apples," just a few "sick motherfuckers" - you need to study a little psychology.

Google the Milgram experiment or the Stanford prison experiment. Basically, it has been learned that if people are put in positions of authority with the ability to abuse others without getting caught, a majority of people will.

The Stanford prison experiment is particularly apt. In the 1960s, a bunch of Stanford University students signed up to participate in a psychology experiment. But they didn't know when it would happen. Then, during a school break, a random half of them were arrested (with cop cars coming to their house and everything) and half were recruited as prison guards. They all thought it was real, and not an experiment. The experiment was supposed to last two weeks. To everyone's surprise, the prison guards started abusing the prisoners so badly that they had to shut down the experiment early.

The results of the experiment were so shocking that it directly led to many new regulations to prevent psychological trauma for study participants. But the results are there, and have been confirmed in many other studies.

The conclusion: power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. People definitely have a dark side that most of us luckily never have to confront because we aren't put into these positions. For instance, most people say they wouldn't steal, but if let with a bag of $1 million dollars of someone else's money and little chance of getting caught, how many people would refuse the temptation?

The underlings shouldn't be let off the hook, but much of the blame should go to those who created the conditions of the prison that allowed abusive behavior to flourish. In studies, the numbers of people who turn abusive and how abusive they get can vary by seemingly minor factors such as if they have dark glasses to hide behind.

[Wind Dancer]

58. I remember the Stanford prison experiment well

Students suffered for years after it ended.

Milgram was also shocking, Nightline aired parts of both tonight.

[Citizen Daryl]

50. *sigh* That we had the numbers to impeach this bastard ...

... before he can capitalize on the next attack on American soil, which will be all he needs to suspend elections until further notice.


http://www.cafeshops.com/subvertpress.11085292

[truthisfreedom]

59. drudge has gone berzerk!

his site is filled with images... naked men seem to make his day.

bushco is of course spinning crazily this evening, and gw is conferring with poppy and bros jeb and neil to see exactly what his fake-Christian ass should do...

[Avalon Sparks]

62. This makes me sick~

I'm terribly saddened and feel sick when I look at those pictures.
Maybe American soldiers have always been like this at war, but there weren't digital camera's to capture it. My gut instinct doubts that is true, though and I keep asking what have we become?

I believe 100% in karma. The karma Bush is creating for this country is so black and bitter it chills me to the bone. Since that son of a bitch took office - almost every single day a new policy he was promoting upset/depressed/angered me. And it just has gottan progressively worse each year.

And now this - oh, how the world is gone to hate us. I don't want to be here when the karma retribution comes full circle. I didn't sign off on any of this...

The last thing I want to say, and this is more of an observation is that with all the sexual references with these pictures - perhaps this is something that will 'stick' with the America public - after all, anything to do with "SEX" always interests Americans. Perhaps a good percentage of them will be appalled enough to vote the King Prick out of office. Then maybe we can begin to make amends for all the suffering and pain his administration has caused.

I wish there was something I could do to comfort those men that were tortured. I wish that I could apologize to them for what our troops did.

[OneBlueSky]

63. seems that this stuff wasn't an abberation, but SOP . . .

standard operating procedures . . . and they didn't happen without at least the tacit approval of higher-ups . . . and possibly even on their instruction . . . this not only shames the nation in unimaginable ways, it also gives lie to the myth of American moral superiority that BushCo is always pushing . . . a real tragedy on so many dimensions . . . if the American people re-select Bush in November, don't be surprised if similar roundups and torture of innocents takes place right here in the "homeland" . . . I've never been so disgusted with my government and my country as I am today . . .

[maddezmom]

69. my thoughts, too...and what will be the next bombshell? n/t

[bolokshi]

77. Time for Video...

Hey wanna see them videeooo!! our boys with Iraqi boys (12yrs and up) now that is the shit!! its coming soon to a theatre near you.