Pentagon Will Not Try 17 G.I.'s Implicated in Prisoners' Deaths

By DOUGLAS JEHL
Published: March 26, 2005

WASHINGTON, March 25 - Despite recommendations by Army investigators, commanders have decided not to prosecute 17 American soldiers implicated in the deaths of three prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003 and 2004, according to a new accounting released Friday by the Army.

Investigators had recommended that all 17 soldiers be charged in the cases, according to the accounting by the Army Criminal Investigation Command. The charges included murder, conspiracy and negligent homicide. While none of the 17 will face any prosecution, one received a letter of reprimand and another was discharged after the investigations.

To date, the military has taken steps toward prosecuting some three dozen soldiers in connection with a total of 28 confirmed or suspected homicides of detainees. The total number of such deaths is believed to be between 28 and 31. <snip>

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/26/politics/26abuse.html?pagewanted=2

The ICC has jurisdiction when national courts fail to prosecute war crimes.

every member of the past and present bush administration! They can arrrest every single one of them in the various countries they are planning on traveling to after their lovely Easter celebration of chaos! I beleive several key Republicans are planning trips around the world right after their Easter breaks.

Why the ICC hasn't done this up to this point is beyond me!

goes all the way to the top . . . the whole lot should be impeached or fired, and then prosecuted . . . and not just for prisoner deaths . . . there's a lo-o-o-o-o-o-ng string of other violations of both US and international law that need attention . . .

that points to the higher ups is too great now, and I am sure some defence attorneys pointed that out with glaring clarity.

some of the key congressional committee's that seem to be unable to gain access to ANY information which would make impeachment possible!

Even some Republicans have to see by now the necessity to remove the entire administration from power before they destroy this nation!

we should do that here, too. you're allowed to kill, just as long as they aren't white - and your letter of reprimand is delivered by Joe Besser...

"oooo, you make me soooo mad! i'll give you suuuuch a pinch!"

When these sweet hearts come back to amerika.

Get jobs on the SWAT TEAM (their prior service counts for "preference points in the civil service.)


and start imposing their wills on the "darker skinned" residents of various amerikan ghettos (Europe will be watching)

a letter of "bad doggie, no biscuit for you!"

Guess there were no pictures....without pictures the same sorts of crimes aren't as bad, you know. It's those damn cameras that are evil!


Which just shows the Abu Ghraib soldiers would still be unknowns and uncharged had there been no pictures of their crimes...which is why Rummy went after the cameras...he knew he could control the info getting out better if he could fully control the methods of possible delivery of evidence


which just further illustrates the hypocrisy of it all.

WASHINGTON, March 25 - Despite recommendations by Army investigators, commanders have decided not to prosecute 17 American soldiers implicated in the deaths of three prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003 and 2004, according to a new accounting released Friday by the Army.

Investigators had recommended that all 17 soldiers be charged in the cases, according to the accounting by the Army Criminal Investigation Command. The charges included murder, conspiracy and negligent homicide. While none of the 17 will face any prosecution, one received a letter of reprimand and another was discharged after the investigations.

To date, the military has taken steps toward prosecuting some three dozen soldiers in connection with a total of 28 confirmed or suspected homicides of detainees. The total number of such deaths is believed to be between 28 and 31.

In one of the three cases in which no charges are to be filed, the commanders determined the death to be "a result of a series of lawful applications of force." In the second, the commanders decided not to prosecute because of a lack of evidence. In the third, they determined the soldier involved had not been well informed of the rules of engagement.

more....
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/26/politics/26abuse.html

http://newstandardnews.net/content/?action=show_item&itemid=275

Baghdad , May 4, 2004 - Not all evidence of military personnel mistreating Iraqis held in US custody come from leaks within the American- and British-run detention facilities. In many cases, such as that of Sadiq Zoman, 57, who last year entered US custody healthy but left in a vegetative state, the story originates with family members desperate to share their loved one’s story with anyone willing to listen.

American soldiers detained Zoman at his residence in Kirkuk on July 21, 2003 when they raided the Zoman family home in search of weapons and, apparently, to arrest Zoman himself.

More than a month later, on August 23, US soldiers dropped Zoman off, already comatose, at a hospital in Tikrit. Although he was unable to recount his story, his body bore telltale signs of torture: what appear to be point burns on his skin, bludgeon marks on the back of his head, a badly broken thumb, electrical burns on the soles of his feet. Additionally, family members say they found whip marks across his back and more electrical burns on his genitalia.



<snip>

Lt. Col. Hodges’ medical report listed the primary diagnoses of Zoman’s condition as hypoxic brain injury (brain damage caused by lack of oxygen) "with persistent vegetative state," myocardial infarction (heart attack), and heat stroke. The same medical report did not mention any bruises, lash marks, head injury, burn marks or other signs Iraqi doctors said they found on Zoman's body upon his arrival at Tikrit hospital nearly two weeks later.


(before becoming a victim of torture)

...more...

more pictures here: http://dahrjamailiraq.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=Detained_and_tortured_iraqi

(edited for links)

The Pentagon investigates torture claims by it's own soldiers = Fox investigates the killings in the hen house?

I expect nothing good from this maladministration and its henchmen.

I would hope that there would be justice - but that is a time in the past and hopefully in the future - it eludes us all in the present.

The wheels of justice grind slowly, but. they grind exceeding fine. ...

ie, mercenaries. Guess that legislation exempting contractors from consequences(yes george, consequences)did the job. Shameful.

By the massive landslide of '04, it's an indisputable fact that all actions of the Bush Administration and its minions are not only endorsed, but enthusiastically demanded by our nation as a whole.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Army officials have decided not to prosecute 17 soldiers involved in the deaths of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan, a military report says.

NewsFlash Home | More Washington News

Report: Army won't prosecute 17 soldiers
3/27/2005, 5:40 a.m. ET
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Army officials have decided not to prosecute 17 soldiers involved in the deaths of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan, a military report says.
Military investigators recommended courts-martial for the soldiers in the cases of three prisoner deaths for charges ranging from making false statements to murder. Officers rejected those recommendations, ruling that the soldiers lawfully used force or didn't understand the rules for using force, or that there was not enough evidence to prosecute.
Eleven U.S. Army soldiers are facing murder or other charges involving the deaths of detainees in Iraq or Afghanistan. The Army Criminal Investigation Command released a report Friday detailing the cases of 27 detainees killed in custody in Iraq and Afghanistan between August 2002 and November 2004.
Twenty-four cases encompassed the 27 deaths; 16 investigations have been closed and eight remain open, according to the Army report released Friday. Five cases were referred to other agencies, including deaths involving Navy and Marine troops and CIA operatives...
(they really put this out at 5am on Easter Sunday morning?)
http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/washington/index.ssf?/base/politics-6/1111892657183740.xml&storylist=washington

to live in a Fascist Nation?

Amerikans will never hear about this because the Amerikan Media is part of the Fascist Regime of Amerika.

wishes.

They could have said no, but my personal feelings is that these troops were willing participants in these murders.

And they did it with no questions asked, and I'm sure some of the sadistic SOB's enjoyed inflicting pain on their victims.

With the refusal of the Pentagon to bring charges against these 17, the US military has guaranteed that US soldiers will no longer be given any protections under the Geneva Conventions. Because it would be safer for our enemies to execute American military personnel, then to keep them alive, and wasting valuable resources that could be put to better use to fight US forces.

descriptive term. I will just proffer the incidents of torture would be minimal in comparison to what has transpired had those at the top abhored torture and would not tolerate it as much as those at the top now seem to like it, maybe even encourage it.

And we wonder why they hate us?

Pentagon investigates it's own soldiers on claims of torture = Fox investigates the killings in the hen house?

to prosecute possibly suggest these soldiers were just doing their jobs?

So if I understand this correctly, we might punish people for mud wrestling but not for homicide? Man, things are sure getting weird around here.

Excerpt from a crrent Mother Jones article: http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2005/03/03_2005_Bazelon.html

"In March 2003, just as U.S. troops were streaming into Iraq, American troops in Afghanistan arrested an 18-year-old soldier in the Afghan army, Jamal Naseer, at the behest of a provincial governor embroiled in a dispute with local warlords. The arrest wasn’t recorded and no charges were filed, but Naseer was taken to a U.S. base near Gardez. Two weeks later, he was dead. A report prepared for the Afghan attorney general, who considered bringing charges against unnamed American soldiers in the case, found that he had been severely beaten over the course of two weeks. The Afghan investigators and a report by the United Nations also recorded allegations that other prisoners at Gardez had been beaten, immersed in cold water, given electric shocks, hung upside down, and had their toenails torn off. The U.S. Army investigated the circumstances of Naseer’s death, but closed its inquiry because there were no records of who was in charge at the base, or of the names of victims and witnesses."

To repeat: "The U.S. Army ... closed its inquiry because there were no records of who was in charge at the base, or of the names of victims and witnesses."