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Former Iraqi Detainees Allege Torture

By Jeralyn, Section Terror Detainees
Posted on Mon Nov 14, 2005 at 11:08:41 PM EST
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ABC News has an exclusive report of two released Iraqi detainees who allege shocking accounts of torture by U.S. troops. Aside from physical beatings, the men allege:

"They took us to a cage — an animal cage that had lions in it within the Republican Palace," he said. "And they threatened us that if we did not confess, they would put us inside the cage with the lions in it. It scared me a lot when they got me close to the cage, and they threatened me. And they opened the door and they threatened that if I did not confess, that they were going to throw me inside the cage. And as the lion was coming closer, they would pull me back out and shut the door, and tell me, 'We will give you one more chance to confess.' And I would say, 'Confess to what?'"

Inside the Republican Palace — the site of Saddam's former office — Sabbar says troops taunted him with a mock execution.

"I found the other prisoners who had come before me there in the line beside me mocking, in a way as to make it a mock execution," he said. "They all stood up, those of us who could stand up. They directed their weapons towards us. And they shot, shot towards our heads and chests. And when the shots sounded, some of us lost consciousness. Some started to cry. Some lost control of their bladders. And they were laughing the whole time."

After a night in jail at the Republican Palace, Khalid says he was taken to the prison at the Baghdad airport where the torture continued. "They put us in individual cells," he said. "And before entering those cells, they formed two teams of American soldiers — one to the right, one to the left — about 10 to 15 each American soldiers. And they were holding wooden sticks. It was like a hallway, like a passage. And they made us go that hallway while shouting at us as we were walking through and hitting us with the wooden sticks. They were beating us severely."

Khalid says U.S. soldiers deprived him of food, water, and sleep. He claims he began to suffer from stomach ulcers, but was denied medical care.

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    Former Iraqi Detainees Allege Torture | 23 comments (23 topical)
    Re: Former Iraqi Detainees Allege Torture (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:07 PM EST
    To allow the U.S. Military to blatantly and agressively torture prisoners under its control, regardless of crime charged with, only opens the door for our own people to be tortured if we should ever find ourselves in "enemy" hands. There should be no distinction between "Enemy Combatant" and P.O.W. and both should be treated as the Geneva Convention dictates. To do otherwise makes the United States into just another overly aggressive Rogue Nation.

    Re: Former Iraqi Detainees Allege Torture (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:08 PM EST
    It scared me a lot when they got me close to the cage, and they threatened me OH MY GOD...what evil animals we are ...we actually scared that guy a lot! LMAO... Give me a break!

    Re: Former Iraqi Detainees Allege Torture (none / 0) (#3)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:08 PM EST
    The lion bit sounds a bit far fetched. It is most unfortunate that my govt. has no credibility when it comes to torture, if they had some credibility I could confidently dismiss this claim. If it turns out to be true, our CIA guys are taking pages right out of Saddam's playbook. Iraqis....meet the new boss, same as the old boss. We got fooled again.

    Re: Former Iraqi Detainees Allege Torture (none / 0) (#4)
    by scarshapedstar on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:08 PM EST
    Yeah... I dunno about the lion story.

    Re: Former Iraqi Detainees Allege Torture (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:08 PM EST
    Starting with Watergate, I don't know how many times I've said, about some alleged government corruption, atrocity, or just plain crime, "Come on! That's just too far out. The accusers must have vivid imaginations." But guess what: those crack-brained accusers have turned out to be telling the truth more often than the guys in the blue suits with the flag lapels. These days I'm not pre-judging *anything* just because it sounds stupid or extreme. Hell, if anything that seems to increase the probability that it's true. I recently read that the pentagon has forbidden the use of dogs in interrogations, but I don't recall them saying anything about other animals.

    Re: Former Iraqi Detainees Allege Torture (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:08 PM EST
    The lion bit sounds farfetched? What about Crusades don't you understand? • The famous Abu Ghraib hooded victim stands on a box with his arms held out, wires on his fingers. If you don't recognize what that symbolic image is, how disturbed and vile that RELIGIOUS HATRED is, then you are a Class A idiot. • Throwing, or threatening to throw, innocent Muslims to the lions...gee, where have we heard of such things? And did you ever hear of Daniel? Gee, I wonder where Daniel was thrown to the lion? And, btw, if you think Hussein didn't have lions, you are NUTS. Along with Persians, Iraqis have a great love of big cats.
    Coalition rockets and gunfire had nearly destroyed the palace grounds, and none of the troops expected to find anything alive. Then, in a small, war-scarred compound, Staff Sgt. Darren Swain peered into a room—and saw three lions, cowering, starving and abandoned. link
    Blowing up Babylon is a BIG part of the Christo-cultic racism, pogrom, and genocide of Bush's Iraq invasion. They have a perverted thrill about doing 'historical' things -- not just writing their names in history with the blood of the innocent. Consider this:
    Meanwhile, in a deserted Babylon tormented by sandy winds, Hussein Sahab wants to keep his job. He shows the visitor that the Lion of Babylon is still standing: it has not been stolen or vandalized. The Lion of Babylon - supposedly a trophy from Hitite times, middle of the 2nd millennium BC - is an enigmatic basalt statue representing a man who is about to be killed by a lion. But in fact the man is resisting: with one hand he tries to shove the lion's mouth away, and with the other he fights one of the lion's menacing paws. Legend rules that as long as the statue is there, Babylon will never be conquered.
    Google, it's not just for the IAEA to PROVE Bush's Niger papers a FRAUD in forty-five minutes.

    Re: Former Iraqi Detainees Allege Torture (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:09 PM EST
    Paul in La LA.... You ramblings are getting more & more incoherent.... I'll ask you yet again... where do you come up with this sh@t? What about Crusades don't you understand? Crusades? LOL.. What body orafice did you pull this out of? So now we are purposely practicing the "crusades" and 'feeding' people to the lions? Of course on direct orders from Bush...right? if you think Hussein didn't have lions, you are NUTS. Nobody is arguing that... the article clearly states that lions were there. You went all out of your way to prove a point nobody disputed. The dispute was on how scared we made this poor soul by taking him "close" to the Lion cage and "really scaring him a lot"! LOL... we are so evil...! How dare we scare that poor man. We should have offerded him milk & cookies huh? hooded victim stands on a box with his arms held out, ......If you don't recognize what that symbolic image is, .....you are a Class A idiot. So the GI's did that purposely to make the sign of the cross? Boy you are really grasping now...LOL Arms are held out to cause cramps & muscle fatigue.... nothing more. But keep groping, and trying to prove to yourself in that warped, twisted little mind of yours, that there is an ultimate conspiracy here though... CONSIDER THIS....You my friend are a class AAA idiot!

    Re: Former Iraqi Detainees Allege Torture (none / 0) (#8)
    by Slado on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:09 PM EST
    There have been lots of "claims" lately in the press that have turned false...national guard, katrina, WMD, etc...so forgive mine and others hesitence to jump on these claims. Also claims of "torture" have often turned out to be false when the claims are explored in depth. Remember urinating on the Koran? The problem is terrorist and anti americans are now trained to make these wild claims and our media in its rush to get a story out buys them at first and isn't skeptical until we've moved on. As for the post Iraqis....meet the new boss, same as the old boss. We got fooled again Give me a break. When we bury people in mass graves I'll entertain that argument. This is the type of over the top rhetoric that makes true "lefties" so unresonable.

    Re: Former Iraqi Detainees Allege Torture (none / 0) (#9)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:09 PM EST
    Red - Don't worry. They'll just have their heads hacked off most humanely... Gimme a break. Find another excuse.

    Re: Former Iraqi Detainees Allege Torture (none / 0) (#10)
    by roger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:09 PM EST
    "False" claims of torture? Must have been some photoshop genius on those Abu Ghraib(sp) pics! What about the videos that congress doesnt want us to see, are they false too? It's hard to claim fabrication when you were caught red handed just the day before1

    Re: Former Iraqi Detainees Allege Torture (none / 0) (#11)
    by Slado on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:09 PM EST
    "False" While humiliating and unecessary Abu Ghrahib was not "torture". No reason to hash this one out, to quote Will Farrell...agree to disagreee... I'm sure this debate was done at nauseam a year ago. Are you saying that Al Quaeda and insurgents are incapable of making up complaints? I thought this was a legal website dedicated to presumed innocence and requiring the facts? Unless of course it means a chance to bash Bush. By all means assume probable terrorists or insurgents are beyond disbelief. The lion story sounds to good to be true for the anti Bush left so it probably is.

    Re: Former Iraqi Detainees Allege Torture (none / 0) (#12)
    by roger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:09 PM EST
    Slado, England has been found guilty of torture crimes. So have several others. Graner got 10 years. I dont know about the lion story, but overall, your credibility is shot. Burden has shifted (it does that).

    Re: Former Iraqi Detainees Allege Torture (none / 0) (#13)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:09 PM EST
    Slado sees "no reason to hash" out the 'CRUCIFICTION' at Abu Ghraib. Not Jews this time, being blamed for Jesus' death, and the manner of it, but Muslims. Posted by BB: I'll ask you yet again... where do you come up with this sh@t? Crusades? LOL.. What body orafice did you pull this out of?" Out of George Bush's mouth, and you mean BLOODY orifice. "So now we are purposely practicing the "crusades" and 'feeding' people to the lions? Of course on direct orders from Bush...right?" • He SAID it was a Crusade. Then he pretended to take it back. Now you pretend to take it back. LIARS! • His Blackwater thugs took over a wing of Abu Ghraib, under Rumsfeld-Bush orders, and 'somehow' came up with putting a man on a box (which represents the block of wood often depicted below Christ feet on the cross), with his arms outstretched, and wires hanging off his fingers. "The dispute was on how scared we made this poor soul by taking him "close" to the Lion cage and "really scaring him a lot"!
    “Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Nowthe king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.” DANIEL 6:16
    "So the GI's did that purposely to make the sign of the cross?" GIs were NOT in Abu Ghraib, you LIAR. That was done by BLACKWATER MERCS and criminal MI and MPs who should all be court martialed. Can't court martial Blackwater -- they don't have ANY legal responsibilities. Another impeachment offense. You stink, BB. The blood and the lies fester like a bay full of rotting carp.

    Re: Former Iraqi Detainees Allege Torture (none / 0) (#14)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:09 PM EST
    deleted

    Re: Former Iraqi Detainees Allege Torture (none / 0) (#15)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:09 PM EST
    Paulie in La La land for good... GIs were NOT in Abu Ghraib, you LIAR... How did I lie this time? You are truly insane.... aren't you? I think you are the one with syphillis.

    Re: Former Iraqi Detainees Allege Torture (none / 0) (#16)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:09 PM EST
    When we bury people in mass graves I'll entertain that argument. Want to bet there's more than a couple round Falugiah (sp). Those the US mil didn't throw in the river?

    Re: Former Iraqi Detainees Allege Torture (none / 0) (#17)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:09 PM EST
    "The Americans were dropping some of the bodies into the Euphrates near Fallujah"

    Re: Former Iraqi Detainees Allege Torture (none / 0) (#18)
    by scarshapedstar on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:10 PM EST
    While humiliating and unecessary Abu Ghrahib was not "torture".
    Yeah. Tell you what, when the government stops stonewalling the ACLU and releases the tapes of our soldiers raping women and kids in Abu Ghraib, you will be called to account. Believe me. I will love hearing your explanation.

    Re: Former Iraqi Detainees Allege Torture (none / 0) (#19)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:10 PM EST
    "Posted by scarshapedstar: "releases the tapes of our soldiers raping women and kids in Abu Ghraib," I agree with you, scarshaped, but again, that wasn't "our soldiers" doing that. It was war crimes by a specific set of MI and MP and MERCENARIES, not ordinary soldiers, or "GIs" as the lying BB wanted to slip under the carpet (General Infantry). General Infantry is probably committing warcrimes plenty (the Marines certainly are) -- but not at Abu Ghraib.

    Re: Former Iraqi Detainees Allege Torture (none / 0) (#20)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:10 PM EST
    Paulie... not ordinary soldiers, or "GIs" as the lying BB wanted to slip under the carpet (General Infantry). This is getting to be fun now... (handing you your ass on several sites that is) So...Lyndie England, her boyfriend, and all those other GI's in the now famous (left loving) Abu Ghraib pics are MPs or MERCENARIES? What a moron you are. And that's NO LIE... LOL

    Re: Former Iraqi Detainees Allege Torture (none / 0) (#21)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:11 PM EST
    You are smearing the entire service for the actions of a tiny group of GIs WHO WERE FOLLOWING ORDERS FROM ON HIGH, and watching and learning from what the MI, MP, and Blackwater mercs were doing. Put a Purple Heart Bandaid over your mouth.

    Re: Former Iraqi Detainees Allege Torture (none / 0) (#22)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:11 PM EST
    LA LA Paulie.... You are smearing the entire service for the actions of a tiny group of GIs WHO WERE FOLLOWING ORDERS FROM ON HIGH, I"M SMEARING???? What a freakin laugh. That's all you ever do on here! First of all...according to you... they weren't even GI's..they were MERCENARIES...remember? Are you so insane that you can't even keep track of the babble you type? Put a Purple Heart Bandaid over your mouth. And you need to put a sock in yours!

    Re: Former Iraqi Detainees Allege Torture (none / 0) (#23)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:11 PM EST
    Listen carefully, BB: Lyndie England was an MP, from the 372nd MP Company. So was her superior officer, who was also having sex with his subordinate. That group of MPs was folded into Gen. Karpinski's original 3,400 MPs of the 800th. The torturers (and Gen. Karpinski) who were punished were RESERVISTS, and Frederick and Charles Graner were prison guards in civilian life.
    "We're disposable," (Karpinski) said of the military's attitude toward reservists. "Why would they want the active-duty people to take the blame? They want to put this on the M.P.'s and hope that this thing goes away."
    "The military intelligence colonel and lt. colonel who had actual control and authority for the offending unit are regular army." (= MI) They were NOT GIs as you claimed. They were what I said, "MIs and MPs and MERCS." They were NOT general infantry, and it is a slander of our boots on the ground to lump our GIs in with some racist guards from the Virginia prison system. TL itself uses the term GI broadly, and I think that's regrettable. When special forces commit some inhuman crime, I don't like to see the regular GIs tarred with the same brush. For the record, I believe the MPs and MIs were under orders -- illegal orders. The mercs who were there at Abu Ghraib (and apparently at tens of secret prisons) remain an unaccounted sociopathic influence. Forcing our GIs to fight next to MERCENARIES is one of the gravest crimes against our soldiers Rumsfeld and Bush have accomplished.

    Former Iraqi Detainees Allege Torture | 23 comments (23 topical)