Graphic Abuse Photos Emerge

Source: CBS/AP

UPDATED Previously unseen images* showing what appears to be prisoner abuse on the part of U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan have been revealed by an Australian television station, which reportedly acquired them following the Abu Ghraib scandal in 2006.

A slideshow of fifteen of the photos is here: http://www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2006/02/15/1139890768716.html Though portions are blocked out, they are extremely graphic.

Among the shots: A picture of a soldier and four nearly naked detainees, one of whom has the words "I'M A RAPEIST" written on his buttocks; a picture of a prisoner cowering while surrounded by dogs and soldiers with guns; a picture of a naked man with an unidentified white liquid coming out of his mouth; a shot of a naked detainee with eight large red welts slightly above his buttocks; a photo of a smiling soldier kneeling next to a detainee strapped down near the floor; a photo of a naked prisoner hanging upside down from the top of a bunk bed; a picture of a soldier who appears poised to punch a shackled detainee; and pictures of what appear to be the corpses of prisoners.

Another gallery is here(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/worldnews/5330481/New-outrage-over-Iraq-prison-abuse-photographs.html) ; it includes more graphic images.



Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/05/15/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5017693.shtml

to say "see, that's the bush world and the US deplores that and does not do it anymore."

oh well.

Msongs

he had all the evidence in place to start real arrests and prosecutions of cases of torture of those who did and instigated this stuff. THEN released the photos as proof of why the arrests and prosecutions were being carried out. Instead these will circulate through out the world and work as a recruiting tool for AL Quida

Old news.

Have another beer courtside, Barack: it's all good.

Has everyone been dealt with? Or just those the military decided to scapegoat?

About half of the photos that the ACLU is trying to get are from locations other than Abu Ghraib

"After the appeal was withdrawn, the plaintiffs sought clarification regarding other
11 detainee abuse images, and the defendants confirmed that they were withholding an additional 29
12 images, again based on exemptions 6, 7(C) and 7(F). Whereas the Abu Ghraib photos were
13 taken at that one location, the 29 photographs were taken in at least seven different locations in
14 Afghanistan and Iraq, and involved a greater number of detainees and U.S. military personnel."

http://www.aclu.org/pdfs/safefree/acluvdod_photodecision.pdf
from the Second Circuit decision affirming order requiring DOD to release abuse photographs (9/22/2008)

Now, why would that have been necessary . . . ?????

Seriously, what idiot thought it would be a good idea to take pictures of this stuff? Or send emails, or anything that could come back to haunt?

I was raised with Rule #1 - Don't write down anything that you don't want to be public.

Jesus Christ, these fuckers are heartless AND stupid.

had the same thought. :puke:

?

However, the fact is, those images came out three years ago. For heaven's sake. Look at the date on the link in the OP.

remember that little scandal over a prison? Abu Ghraib rings any bells?

My understanding is that these photos, and other that have been previously released, are the least offensive. And I am firmly in the camp of releasing ALL THE PHOTOS, all the materials, including the "rape tapes," if they exist. And no, the last thing we need is more torture porn. Or maybe we do. We still have a sizeable portion of the citizens polled in this country that feel using torture is OK. For the love of gawd, certain members of our own Congress debated on the merits of using torture. It is high-time those persons see the fruits of those labors. We are Germans, Abu Grhaib--or whatever rendition hellhole is today's torture central--are our concentration camps. It's time for all good Germans to see what has been done in our names. We cannot exorcise these demons, until we confront them. And we Americans are not good at confronting our demons.

:)

You win a banana. :)

I remembered that, too and found a couple (there were many more) threads from 2006 discussing them:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2112727
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x438818
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2109108

I wondered about that statement from CBS and about that asterisk following it and went to the link in the OP and found this:

*UPDATE: Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Patrick Ryder tells USA Today that these images appeared in Wired magazine in February of last year. Here is that story, which includes some, but not all, of the shots above. In addition, the Web site Raw Story ran the photos in 2006, though it acknowledges they went "largely unseen." They were also published in Salon.

Looks like they had to correct themselves, though it is a weak and incomplete correction.

I have to wonder which news entity was the one that decided to push this as "fresh". Was it CBS?

Hell, I blogged about it three years ago.

And it's an important question.

By pushing these as "new" it gives the impression that these are the photos being discussed currently, but they clearly aren't.

It's even worse when you consider that for many people in the U.S., even here on DU, these do seem new because they were originally not shown by the major networks as far as I recall, though they were by the international press and by links and articles in Salon and Rawstory. One of the old DU threads even had a link to WAPO.

It is an important question.

As well, the conflation of the Military Abu Ghraib abuses with the CIA abuses is another meme being happily bandied about on teh Interwebs and the mainstream media.

I'll have to find the DU thread, over in GD-P, where someone clarifies the difference.

EDIT ADD: Here we go. A very informative post from MAdem:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8407559&mesg_id=8408133

From the ACLU about why they want these:

http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/2009/04/23/D97OJTR00_us_pentagon_abuse_photos/

"These photographs provide visual proof that prisoner abuse by U.S. personnel was not aberrational but widespread, reaching far beyond the walls of Abu Ghraib," Amrit Singh, staff attorney with the ACLU, said in a statement. "Their disclosure is critical for helping the public understand the scope and scale of prisoner abuse as well as for holding senior officials accountable for authorizing or permitting such abuse."

~snip~
The letter from Justice said the Pentagon was preparing to release 21 photos at issue in the appeal, plus 23 others "previously identified as responsive." The letter added that the Pentagon also was "processing for release a substantial number of other images contained in Army CID reports that have been closed during the pendency of this case."

The ACLU and the Defense Department reached an agreement for "all the responsive images" to be released by May 28, the letter said.

"The disclosure of these photographs serves as a further reminder that abuse of prisoners in U.S.-administered detention centers was systemic," said Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU National Security Project. "Some of the abuse occurred because senior civilian and military officials created a culture of impunity in which abuse was tolerated, and some of the abuse was expressly authorized. It's imperative that senior officials who condoned or authorized abuse now be held accountable for their actions."


So, the ACLU is saying this is about accountability.

Because the same techniques showing up in different locations does more than just suggest a pattern of systemic abuse. More especially since you can also trace the steps of certain individuals just ahead of the abuse showing up...

And when you follow that trail up the chain of command, all paths lead to the WH.

And that will be a damning map, indeed.

I think what the ACLU wants is mass exposure of these images - instead of tucked away on foreign news sites and not-so-well-known websites.

I'm pretty sure The Memory Hole has all the photos in question:

http://www.thememoryhole.org/war/iraqis_tortured/

Anyone with an internet connection and the stomach can view the Abu Ghraib images. For me, the torture memos were the "real" recent news. As well, the reports about torture being implemented to buttress the Saddam Hussein/al Queda connection plus the possibility that the order to do so came from Cheney's office, that's damning stuff. That's fresh hell for the criminals that lied us into war.

In the Salon article, the first paragraph reads:
"The Defense Department will release a "substantial number" of photos depicting abuse of prisoners by U.S. personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan, the American Civil Liberties Union said late Thursday."

So, mass exposure of systemic torture.

And there may even be more than we expect there.

As you note, the torture memos are "damning stuff."

And if anyone deserves to be damned, it's that pack of criminals.


And they know it, which is why Cheney's been more visible in a week than during his whole vice-presidency and why he's been tapping out a desperate, distraction dance.


On a completely different note, I noticed when I went to the old DU links that people were commenting on how much more attention Cheney shooting his buddy in the face was getting than the articles and photos of the torture. No real point here about that, just an odd note.

The exact same 2006 source as cited in the OP.

I understand that the photos were never widely shown in US news venues. The point is, these photos are not new and I find it amazing that they are now being framed as fresh data.

If you want to view several more of these images, then visit Russ Kick's Memory Hole. He posted them in 2006 as well:

http://thememoryhole.org/war/iraqis_tortured/

Some of the press got their hands on some photos, including some of female detainees, and some of these gradually leaked their way onto the Internet. This is the same group of photos as far as I can tell.

The photos are going to suck no matter what. We can either release them on our own terms along with our own apologies and promises to right the wrongs, or we can continue to look like a**holes every time a few get leaked here and there.

Over 2,000 photos. Most, I assume, are digital. It's impossible to keep them all hidden.

in a movie about Abu Ghraib. It was called something like "Standard Operating Procedure" and was interviews with the MPs.

We're right there with ya.

I've seen at least two articles, this one from CBS and another from the Telegraph that call these new.

It goes beyond even very sloppy reporting when they are themselves citing the 2006 date.

WTF is wrong with this this country that they would let this kind of shit continue?

I want prosecutions NOW!

Nobody marches when they rob us blind in plain view. If we don't react when they abuse us what makes you think anyone is going to march for the sake of a bunch of foreigners who may or may not be terrorists? No one gives a fuck about any of these abuses, not really and certainly not enough people to make any sort of difference. Hell, even if a million people marched over it, it would make no difference. They don't listen to us about anything.

It's all over but our burial.

:(

1.- some of these are from the last batch

2.- There are a few new ones.

And yes time for the US to release these photos

I guess it is the work as a humanitarian worker, they may not make me cry, but god I do seem to memorize them

Oh the new one... we have not seen that one as far as my recollection goes, the gentleman hanging from the bunk upside down hanging from ankles.

And the one where Graener is beating the shit of some prisoners, yes that was Sergeant Graener

Oh and the next to last in the Australian sight, and that person looks dead to me...

the handstand.

outside...

that wasn't in jail at the time.

Ooops, sorry, I've been watching American "news" programs.

We really have gone down the rabbit hole...apparently never to return. These types of comments make up the majority of the discourse at that forum.
:scared:


"College fraternity house hazing is worst than this. What's the big deal? Wimps. Do you really think freedom is free?"

"Who cares about the abuse of these prisoners? After all, these morons were bent on destroying America. In case you didn't know, that means slaughtering your spouse, parents, grandparents, children. GOT IT? GOOD!"

"This seems another issue bringing out the mental incompetents who know nothing of war or the needs therein. Your freedoms have come too easily for you to knowledgeably comment here."

"The problem with muslims is they want to be killed in the midst of what they consider a holy war. Doing them a favor and killing them does not gain the information we need to save american lives and lives of oppressed and innocent people. The choices here are two torture for the information or commit genocide on POWS."

"The only point I disagree with you on is that the weepy conservatives cry and whine about it. I think it's more likely the people who never did any time in the military that do the crying and whining. There's plenty of liberals out there crying and whining too."

"Oh one more thought on this subject....The ACLU needs to be shut down 100%. They themselves are terrorist on American soil! Be gone!"

Very disturbing indeed.

I was thinking John Dean talked about a "cancer" on the Presidency during Watergate. I see this entire torture/rendition/Saddam-Al Queda link/WMD/Iraq invasion debacle as a giant boil. It hasn't been lanced yet, but noxious, poisonous stuff is slowly seeping out.

Apologies if you're eating while reading this, but Cheney is the real appetite-killer.:mad:

These are PEOPLE!!!! Unfathomable!

Cattle get the wallow around knee deep is feces, force fed with anitbiotics and GMO food to keep them alive, and then efficiently slaughtered for the benefit of your Krabby Patties.

Chickens, Turkeys, Pork, Cattle.. They are nothing more than a regenerating widget to the big Agribusiness corporations.

These creatures are mistreated in conditions that only Satan himself could dream up, all in the name of profit.

As world population increases, Human life will eventually be regarded as highly as the animals we produce for food. The treatment of these prisoners is proof that a sick, apathetic Human is capable of anything, and this is nothing more than identical behavior that we say during world war II.

I can guarantee you that if you called out the uneducated idiot that wrote the word "RAPEIST", that he was stupid, he would most likely punch you in the mouth to prove he was better than you.

but I guess I'm talking about intentional humiliation and sexual degradation not just unsanitary environments which isn't to say that those conditions or neglect are acceptable. I just mean that there is obviously intentional cruelty. Maybe I'm wrong but it seems like what you're talking about is more like capitalism gone wrong and apathy.

smiling about? Gawd. I just want to scream.



http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2006/02/15/2prisoner_gallery__470x311,0.jpg

The link itself has the date.

The rest are just disgusting.

Obama should put less effort into covering up for his predecessor.

(edited for typo)

Conservatives will save these pics and pleasure themselves to them later.