American troops release 300 Iraqi detainees from Abu Ghraib prison

ABU GHRAIB, Iraq (AP) - The United States began the scheduled release of more than 300 Iraqi detainees from Abu Ghraib prison Friday, a day after Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made a surprise visit and insisted the Pentagon did not try to cover up abuses there.

One bus carrying 17 prisoners left the jail and drove to an American military base in west Baghdad, where tribal leaders awaited them. The prisoners got out, kneeled, and prayed beside the bus.

The coalition periodically releases prisoners from Abu Ghraib, the notorious Saddam-era jail on the western outskirts of Baghdad where abuses of prisoners by American soldiers have erupted into a major scandal and damaged the credibility of the U.S.-led coalition governing Iraq.

Images of abuse were taken by American military guards at the prison near Baghdad. Courts-martial have been ordered for three military police guards.
...
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/040514/w051408.html

these prisoners were all terrorists who deserved to be tortured? Why are they releasing these dangerous terrorists just days latter?

that prison I am sure the troops will see them again.

My god what a cluster...

Each had a bomb under his shirt. I swear this group in DC knows not what they are doing. This should win Heart? I am willing to bet these are the same people who were picked up in these house sweeps when that was going on. All the men over 15 or so put in a truck and taken off, just as the Blogs have said.Course it could be they found out they were all CEO's in an American corp.so we want them out of jail with the other CEO's

well all of a sudden they aren't terrorists anymore...and rummy is encouraging releasing 300-400 a week.

~snip~
Hundreds of relatives of those detained had stood outside the prison since early morning, waiting for their release. U.S. Marines blocked off both lanes of a highway as the first bus left the prison compound. At least five other buses left the prison.


After spending over nine months in the prison, Hussein Sami did not complain of physical abuse. However, he said he and other prisoners were under psychological pressure, with guards repeatedly shouting and insulting inmates. The prison was also unsafe because Iraqi insurgents sometimes targeted it with mortar rounds.


Sami arrived at his house in the Dorah neighborhood of Baghdad, and family members slaughtered a sheep in celebration. He claimed he was never told why he was arrested. He left his father and brother behind at Abu Ghraib, Sami said.


Another former prisoner, Mohammed al-Musawi, complained that he was humiliated by guards at least once during his 11-month incarceration.


"They forced me to take all my clothes off and female prison guards were whispering and laughing at me, " Musawi said while sitting in a room with tribal leaders. He was arrested in Baghdad's Huriyah neighborhood, for allegedly taking part in an attack on a U.S. tank.
~snip~
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=736&e=1&u=/ap/20040514/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_prisoners_released

:kick:

are really gonna love our soldiers now. Get the flowers ready to throw!

If they weren't terrorists before, we've sure turned them into some. Our soldiers better look out.

If our country still had a working press corps, it would be nice to get some answers from the military and the administration:

Who were the released?

No terrorists, right?

Why were they incarcerated in the first place?

Will we be compensating the innocent?

They will just sue us, right? They're not going to exact a horrific revenge for what we've inflicted on them?

How do you know?

Or why he had to die.