YouTube video claims 9-year-old at US prison in Iraq

[MiaCulpa]

A video released on YouTube shows American soldiers taking a group of Iraqis on a tour of a prison camp. The soldier guiding the group tells them that all the cases are currently being reviewed and says, "I'm sure if someone didn't do anything wrong, they'll be released."

At 5:47 into the video, the group approaches a barbed wire enclosure where the inmates tell them, "We are all under 18. ... We all have been here for more than a year."

The guide hastens to explain, "We have juveniles from 14 to 18. ... They're IED makers. They are dangerous people."

One young inmate calls out, "I swear to God, some were just walking in the streets or sleeping and they brought us here. I swear to God we are all innocent."

"I am my mother's only child," says another, at which the American soldier breaks in, "And he is the most dangerous. We know about him."

"I am only a child," says a third, more youthful, voice.

"How old are you?" he is asked.

"Nine years old."

"How long have you been here?"

"Five months. ... They wanted to take my father. I told them take me instead."

The inmates are not shown clearly enough to tell if the speaker does appear to be that young. However, Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, the former commander at Abu Ghraib, testified in 2005 that there were several juvenile prisoners there, including one who said he was almost twelve but looked no more than eight and was crying for his mother.

Full article and video from David Edwards and Muriel Kane at the link:

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/YouTube_video_claims_9yearold_at_US_0815.html


-Diane

[bluestateguy]

1. Probably some kid who flipped a middle finger to a soldier

and of course that makes him a "terrorist".

[TomInTib]

2. We have a raft of 19 year-old hicks playing judge and jury.

We are recruiting future terrorists.

Damn, we make it so easy for them.

[MiaCulpa]

3. We have your sons: CIA

This article details the detention of two young boys, aged 7 and 9 in 2003 -- to date what happened to the children is still unknown -- so we know for certain that nabbing children is not above the powers that be:

Two young sons of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks, are being used by the CIA to force their father to talk.

Yousef al-Khalid, 9, and his brother, Abed al-Khalid, 7, were taken into custody in Pakistan in September when intelligence officers raided a flat in Karachi where their father had been hiding.

Mohammed fled just hours before the raid but his sons and another senior al-Qaeda member were found cowering behind a wardrobe in the apartment.

The boys have been held by the Pakistani authorities but this weekend they were flown to America where they will be questioned about their father. CIA interrogators confirmed that the boys were staying at a secret address where they were being encouraged to talk about their father's activities. "We are handling them with kid gloves," said one official. "After all, they are only little children, but we need to know as much about their father's recent activities as possible. We have child psychologists on hand at all times and they are given the best of care."

Mohammed, 37, is being held in solitary confinement at the Bagram US military base in Afghanistan. He is being subjected to "stress and duress" interrogation techniques.

He has been told that his sons are being held and is being urged to divulge future attacks against the West and reveal the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden.

"He has said very little so far," a CIA official said on Saturday. "He sits in a trance-like state and recites verses from the Koran. But while he may claim to be a devout Muslim, we know he is fond of the Western-style fast life. His sons are important to him. The promise of their release and their return to Pakistan may be the psychological lever we need to break him."

Full article here:

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/03/09/1047144871928.html


-Diane

[blonndee]

5. In addition to holding children..."'stress and duress' interrogation techniques"?

WTF? They're not even ashamed to hide this shit anymore, are they? Sick.

[Swamp Rat]

4. k&r