GQ Exclusive: The Untold Story Behind The Infamous Abu Ghraib Pictures [View All]

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GQ Exclusive: The Untold Story Behind The Infamous Pictures of Prisoner Abuse at Abu Ghraib That Rocked The World


Joe Darby, the American Soldier Who Exposed Mistreatment of Iraqi Prisoners, Gives His First-Person Account


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Among Darby's startling revelations:

- The American abuse "wasn't a conspiracy - it was negligence, plain and
simple."

"Nobody in command knew about the abuse, because nobody in command cared
enough to find out."

...

- "The abuse started earlier than anybody realizes."

" ... there were things going on before our unit even got there. The
day we arrived, back in October of 2003, we were getting a tour of the
compound and we saw like fifteen prisoners sitting in their cells in
women's underwear. This was day one; nobody from our unit had ever set
foot in the prison. We asked the MPs in charge -- the Seventy-second,
out of Las Vegas -- why the prisoners were wearing panties. They told
us that it was a corrective action, that these guys had been mortaring
the compound."

- "There were other (U.S.) government agencies who would come into the
prison and handle prisoners. I can't say which agencies, but you can
probably guess."

"One night, this Black Hawk landed at about 4 a.m., and a couple guys
came in with a prisoner and took him to tier 1, put sheets up so that
nobody could see, and spent the rest of the night in there. They told
us to stay away, so we did. Then a couple hours later, they came back
out. They were like, 'The prisoner is dead.' They asked for ice to
pack him, and then they said, 'You guys clean this up. We weren't here.
Have a good day.' Got back on the bird and took off, left the dead body
right there. Those guys can come in and kill a guy, and there's nothing
you can do. There's no record of them. They were never there. They
don't exist.

You've probably seen pictures of that prisoner with (Charles) Graner and
(Sabrina) Harman crouching next to his dead body, giving the thumbs-up.
Well, that's the guy. Everybody takes that picture at face value, but
the truth is, Graner and Harman didn't kill him."