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Report: Torture by Special Ops at Baghdad Detention Center

By Jeralyn, Section War In Iraq
Posted on Sat Mar 18, 2006 at 12:20:59 PM EST
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If you thought that "Let It Bleed" was just a Rolling Stones song, think again. In what seems like Chapter 22 in the book I hope someone will write, "President Bush Says the U.S. Does Not Engage in Torture," the New York Times introduces us to Task Force 6-26 and describes what it was doing both before and after the abuse at Abu Ghraib came to light in the the "Black Room" at Camp Nama, a converted Baghdad military installation located at the Baghdad airport.

There, American soldiers made one of the former Iraqi government's torture chambers into their own interrogation cell. They named it the Black Room.

In the windowless, jet-black garage-size room, some soldiers beat prisoners with rifle butts, yelled and spit in their faces and, in a nearby area, used detainees for target practice in a game of jailer paintball. Their intention was to extract information to help hunt down Iraq's most-wanted terrorist, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, according to Defense Department personnel who served with the unit or were briefed on its operations.

They even had a slogan, "No Blood, No Foul."

"If you don't make them bleed, they can't prosecute for it." According to Pentagon specialists who worked with the unit, prisoners at Camp Nama often disappeared into a detention black hole, barred from access to lawyers or relatives, and confined for weeks without charges. "The reality is, there were no rules there," another Pentagon official said.

This and the other instances of torture that have come to light cannot continue to be viewed as isolated instances of misconduct by a few rogue soldiers.

It adds to the picture of harsh interrogation practices at American military prisons in Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, as well as at secret Central Intelligence Agency detention centers around the world.

The new account reveals the extent to which the unit members mistreated prisoners months before and after the photographs of abuse from Abu Ghraib were made public in April 2004, and it helps belie the original Pentagon assertions that abuse was confined to a small number of rogue reservists at Abu Ghraib.

How much longer will the American people buy the "few bad apples" meme?

[Graphic created exclusively for TalkLeft by CL.]

< New Bush Poll: How Low Can He Go? | Torture is a Moral Issue >

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    Report: Torture by Special Ops at Baghdad Detention Center | 6 comments (6 topical)
    Re: Report: Torture by Special Ops at Baghdad Dete (none / 0) (#1)
    by joejoejoe on Sat Mar 18, 2006 at 11:06:21 AM EST
    I always thought it would be useful to produce an Op-Ed graphic of all the different US sites that have abuse and torture documented in the form of an apple tree - with each documented abuse represented as an apple and DoD, CIA, the White House and DoJ all represented as trunks and branches. It has to be close to a hundred incidents of clear violations of UCMJ that have been publicly reported. There have been so many incidents reported that I think someone who isn't following it very closely (most people) think it's the same incident being rehashed again and again in the media - not the truth of the matter - a steady stream of new horrors.

    Re: Report: Torture by Special Ops at Baghdad Dete (none / 0) (#2)
    by Andreas on Sat Mar 18, 2006 at 11:54:42 AM EST
    The problem is not that "the American people buy the 'few bad apples' meme" but that both the Republicans and the Democrats support the war and the occupation regime and try to suppress the political opposition against the war.

    Re: Report: Torture by Special Ops at Baghdad Dete (none / 0) (#3)
    by theologicus on Sat Mar 18, 2006 at 12:48:24 PM EST
    Let's end this national shame. National Religious Campaign Against Torture

    Re: Report: Torture by Special Ops at Baghdad Dete (none / 0) (#4)
    by Steven Sanderson on Sat Mar 18, 2006 at 12:52:25 PM EST
    As our country sinks ever deeper into moral depravity, I'm reminded of Pete Seeger's "Last Train To Nuremberg": Do I see both houses of Congress? Do I see the voters, me and you? Who held the rifle? Who gave the orders? Who planned the campaign to lay waste the land? Who manufactured the bullet? Who paid the taxes? Tell me, is that blood upon my hands? Last train to Nuremberg! Last train to Nuremberg! Last train to Nuremberg! All on board!

    Re: Report: Torture by Special Ops at Baghdad Dete (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Mar 19, 2006 at 09:20:54 PM EST
    torture and mass murder is normal inside the usa, so why did bush sell you a bill of goods?...one word...myth. if you want the myth you get the myth, until you are tortured.

    Re: Report: Torture by Special Ops at Baghdad Dete (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Mar 20, 2006 at 12:49:57 AM EST
    if you want the myth you get the myth, until you are tortured.
    This must be the truest thing ever said about America, the idea.

    Report: Torture by Special Ops at Baghdad Detention Center | 6 comments (6 topical)