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Transcript: CIA Used Sledgehammer Handles to Beat Prisoners

By Jeralyn, Section War In Iraq
Posted on Wed Jul 27, 2005 at 04:43:30 PM EST
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The Denver Post has obtained documents from a closed military hearing of three Fort Carson soldiers charged with murder in the death of Iraqi Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush. Soldiers at the hearing testified that CIA officials beat Iraqi prisoners with sledgehammer handles. Three soldiers are facing murder charges in connection with the death.

CIA officials used a sledgehammer handle to beat various prisoners in Iraq, and one official, whose name is classified, would often brag about his abuse of prisoners, according to testimony in a closed session of a military hearing.

The transcript, obtained this week by The Denver Post under a court order, was of a March hearing to determine whether three Fort Carson Army soldiers should stand trial for the death of Iraqi Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush during an interrogation in 2003.

...While allegations about CIA officials and special forces beating
Mowhoush with fists and a rubber hose have been previously reported, the court transcript is the first evidence that those officials repeatedly beat other detainees in northwestern Iraq.

Background here.

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    Transcript: CIA Used Sledgehammer Handles to Beat Prisoners | 16 comments (16 topical)
    Re: Transcript: CIA Used Sledgehammer Handles to (none / 0) (#1)
    by Johnny on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:41 PM EST
    Hmmm... 18 months is what I expect. Who gave them the go ahead?

    Re: Transcript: CIA Used Sledgehammer Handles to (none / 0) (#2)
    by Darryl Pearce on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:41 PM EST
    Hmm, must be some of those "rough men" that George Orwell wrote about. So, um, er, uh... what constitutes "unduly rough"...?

    Re: Transcript: CIA Used Sledgehammer Handles to (none / 0) (#3)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:41 PM EST
    Dogs, axe handles, rubber hoses ... anyone else think Bull Connor is alive and well!? I guess brown is as close to black as these SOBs can get these days.

    Re: Transcript: CIA Used Sledgehammer Handles to (none / 0) (#4)
    by soccerdad on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:41 PM EST
    How many incidents will it take to kill this "few bad apples" meme. Where is the moral outrage by the moderate Christian leaders in this country not only about the torture but also about the many innocents that have been killed in this war. Those who condone these kinds of behaviors either actively or by their silence contribute to the political and moral climate that makes terrorist attacks more likely and makes us less safe. The right likes to talk about moral and personal responsibility and yet they refuse to acknowledge the consequences and impact our actions in Iraq have. Being the relative moralists that they are, they justify all actions by our "noble intentions". Just how much hypocrisy can fit into the brain of a wingnut?

    Re: Transcript: CIA Used Sledgehammer Handles to (none / 0) (#5)
    by soccerdad on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:41 PM EST
    Lets compare and contrast shall we.
    Staff Sgt. Michael G. Rhoades, until recently a driller of Army recruits at Fort Knox, says he was only doing his job, hammering civilians into soldiers who would not crack under the pressures of war. Sergeant Rhoades's methods, investigators said, included punching a recruit in the stomach and hitting him repeatedly in the chest, and throwing another to the floor and calling him a "fat nasty." Years ago such accusations, if privates dared to voice them, might have led to no more than a reprimand or a transfer for a drill sergeant. But Sergeant Rhoades, a 16-year veteran, was court-martialed in May and found guilty of cruelty and impeding an investigation. He was ordered dishonorably discharged
    LINK

    Re: Transcript: CIA Used Sledgehammer Handles to (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:42 PM EST
    Are they just letting off steam? Is this like a frat house hazing? Have they ever had it this good? The Administration that set these actions in motion is an administration of war criminals. No more, no less. Alberto drafted the memo about how to torture by calling it something other than torture. It's a sham and everybody but Jim knows it. The treatment of the prisoners runs directly from the work at the White House to work around those quaint Geneva Conventions.

    Re: Transcript: CIA Used Sledgehammer Handles to (none / 0) (#7)
    by john horse on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:42 PM EST
    I'm sick of these news stories that only emphasize the negative. As the Onion (satire alert!) has pointed out the vast majority of Iraqis have not endured guard-dog attacks, been beaten by sledge hammer handles, low-watt electrocutions, sexual humiliation, and perhaps, most importantly, are not dead.

    Re: Transcript: CIA Used Sledgehammer Handles to (none / 0) (#8)
    by bad Jim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:42 PM EST
    Let's have a little perspective, people. Contemplate Psalm 137, which begins:
    By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea we wept, when we remembered Zion
    Does anyone else hear a reggae soundtrack? But the verse ends with wishes which could hardly be worse:
    Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
    Re: Transcript: CIA Used Sledgehammer Handles to (none / 0) (#9)
    by theologicus on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:42 PM EST
    Where is the moral outrage by the moderate Christian leaders in this country not only about the torture but also about the many innocents that have been killed in this war. Excellent question. Coming soon to a theater near you.

    Re: Transcript: CIA Used Sledgehammer Handles to (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:42 PM EST
    I have, for sometime, been writing the entire college of Methodist Bishops in the U.S. asking them to take a stand against torture. Out of 51, I've managed to get about five of them to write a letter to the administration. I am disappointed in this lack of interested overall. You can read some of the letters here: http://deep.mastersfamily.org/index.php?s=Bishop More important, if you'd like to join me in calling for the leaders of W's claimed religion to call on him to stop this torture, you can get a list of the Bishops and their email and phone numbers here: http://deep.mastersfamily.org/images/BishopList.xls http://deep.mastersfamily.org/images/BishopList.pdf

    Re: Transcript: CIA Used Sledgehammer Handles to (none / 0) (#11)
    by ppjakajim on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:43 PM EST
    B John – An excellent idea. I applaud you. Did you also press them to write letters to their peers within the Islam faith asking them to condemn the terrorists, beheading of captives, etc.?

    Re: Transcript: CIA Used Sledgehammer Handles to (none / 0) (#12)
    by Che's Lounge on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:43 PM EST
    B John, Nice try, but our own grand Poobah has decided you are not doing enough.

    Re: Transcript: CIA Used Sledgehammer Handles to (none / 0) (#13)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:43 PM EST
    Posted by PPJ aka Jim: B John – An excellent idea. I applaud you. Did you also press them to write letters to their peers within the Islam faith asking them to condemn the terrorists, beheading of captives, etc.?
    Don't be silly, everyone already condemns that.

    Re: Transcript: CIA Used Sledgehammer Handles to (none / 0) (#14)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:43 PM EST
    PPJ, you shouldn't be surprised to hear this, but there have been numerous pronouncements by Muslim clerics that the suicide bombings and attacks on innocents are against Islam. But since the media in this country doesn't like to disspell the myth that all Muslims hate us I doubt you will ever hear any moderates of the Islamic faith making these statements on the nightly news. Remember, PPJ, things do happen in this world that you don't know about. Shocking, but true. As for the ax handles, it's not surprising. With an administration as corrupt as the on in power in D.C. today it should be no wonder that their subordinates will emulate that same depraved indifference when it comes to dispensing "justice" to all those that the regime has defined as "insurgents". And don't think folks like BB,ED, and the wonderful PPJ wouldn't condone this type of abuse on the majority of people that disagree with Shrub and the almighty conservative "christians" of this country.

    Re: Transcript: CIA Used Sledgehammer Handles to (none / 0) (#15)
    by DawesFred60 on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:43 PM EST
    So what is Bush Rat doing about this one? i see it as 3 more victims going to prison for the Bush Rat. lets see, how more of our! people have we the people, put in prison for this war? something like 1750 dead and 300 in prison for life, its a win-win for bush and bin laden..so are any of the CIA Guys going to do time? or is bush rat going to saudi arabia to ask for help in the next business deal? and do Bush Rat call the families of the new U.S.,Army Victims to say sorry about that you poor fools?..Bush and business the same as Bin Laden and family, and you are next to be killed or sent to prison for the non bush ideals or deals, hate is good for bush rats.

    Re: Transcript: CIA Used Sledgehammer Handles to (none / 0) (#16)
    by john horse on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:43 PM EST
    I was watching the History Channel on the Holocaust and I was struck by the following comment. The Nazi leadership never gave any direct orders to put Jews in ovens. They let those under them know what the general goal was and they let them find the creative means necessary to achieve the goal. Now I'm not comparing Bush to Hitler or Abu Ghraib to Buchenwald, but I think the process by which the prisoners were abused may have been similar. As the attorney representing the guards who are accused of using dogs to abuse prisoners has noted, "They were trying to Gitmo-ize Abu Ghraib." Abuse and mistreatment of prisoners was now allowable. They left it up to the creativity of the guards as to how to achieve that goal.

    Transcript: CIA Used Sledgehammer Handles to Beat Prisoners | 16 comments (16 topical)