In U.S. Report, Brutal Details of 2 Afghan Inmates' Deaths -NYT

[Rose Siding]

Even as the young Afghan man was dying before them, his American jailers continued to torment him.

The prisoner, a slight, 22-year-old taxi driver known only as Dilawar, was hauled from his cell at the detention center in Bagram, Afghanistan, at around 2 a.m. to answer questions about a rocket attack on an American base. When he arrived in the interrogation room, an interpreter who was present said, his legs were bouncing uncontrollably in the plastic chair and his hands were numb. He had been chained by the wrists to the top of his cell for much of the previous four days.
...
At the interrogators' behest, a guard tried to force the young man to his knees. But his legs, which had been pummeled by guards for several days, could no longer bend. An interrogator told Mr. Dilawar that he could see a doctor after they finished with him. When he was finally sent back to his cell, though, the guards were instructed only to chain the prisoner back to the ceiling.
...
The story of Mr. Dilawar's brutal death at the Bagram Collection Point - and that of another detainee, Habibullah, who died there six days earlier in December 2002 - emerge from a nearly 2,000-page confidential file of the Army's criminal investigation into the case, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times.

http://nytimes.com/2005/05/20/international/asia/20abuse.html?hp&ex=1116561600&en=8701738ac057aebe&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[Erika]

1. This also sickens me.

I actually defended Bush for going into Afghanistan based on the premise we would get OBL and hold him accountable. That still has not been accomplished and most of Afghanistan is worse off or no better off than before we occupied Afghanistan and Iraq.

[UpInArms]

2. from an Afghanistan paper

http://www.afghannews.net/index.php?action=show&type=news&id=2139

excerpt:

Brand, who acknowledged striking a detainee named Dilawar 37 times, was accused of killing him after maiming him over a five-day period by "destroying his leg muscle tissue with repeated unlawful knee strikes", according to the Times.

The reports provide the first official account of events that led to the death of Dilawar and another detainee, Mullah Habibullah, at the Bagram Control Point near Kabul. The deaths happened nearly a year before the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

The reports, from the Army Criminal Investigation Command, also make clear that the abuse at Bagram went far beyond the two killings, the Times said.

Among those recommended for prosecution is an Army military interrogator who is said to have "placed his penis along the face" of one Afghan detainee and later to have "simulated anally sodomizing him (over his clothes)".

The Army reports cited "credible information" that four military interrogators assaulted Dilawar and another Afghan prisoner with "kicks to the groin and leg, shoving or slamming him into walls/table, forcing the detainee to maintain painful, contorted body positions during interview and forcing water into his mouth until he could not breathe".

U.S. military officials in Afghanistan initially said the deaths of Habibullah, in an isolation cell on Dec. 4, 2002, and Dilawar, in another such cell six days later, were from natural causes.

...more...

[Rose Siding]

3. Senior officers toured frequently and acknowledged seeing abuse

(on pg 2) The file says that harsh treatment "was routine and that guards could strike shackled detainees with virtual impunity".

No charges in the deaths yet. Only 7 have been charged at all.

This is a meaty article...still reading.

[Erika]

4. Guards could strike detainees with virtual impunity?

I guess it's my night to be sickened by this country's actions. But I also know Karma, we will pay for voiding the Golden Rule and common decency.

[shraby]

6. I am so ashamed of my country right now.

The people who should have stopped this knew and didn't, and to add to the crimes, they found no officers guilty of anything. THE OFFICERS ARE IN CHARGE!!!!!!!!!
And above the officers is Rumsfeld to whom the officers send their reports.
These are war crimes and cover up of the first magnitude.

[Frederik]

33. That Rummy is still sec of defense

is simply a scandal. Nothing has any consequences for these people, there's no accountability and no responsibility for anything.

[UpInArms]

12. from even further down in the article

The findings of Mr. Dilawar's autopsy were succinct. He had had some coronary artery disease, the medical examiner reported, but what caused his heart to fail was "blunt force injuries to the lower extremities." Similar injuries contributed to Mr. Habibullah's death.

One of the coroners later translated the assessment at a pre-trial hearing for Specialist Brand, saying the tissue in the young man's legs "had basically been pulpified."

"I've seen similar injuries in an individual run over by a bus," the coroner, Lt. Col. Elizabeth Rouse, added.

[Rose Siding]

15. He weighed 122lbs

and most had concluded that he was innocent. The interpretor lied to his family and told them the Americans were "very nice"

:cry:

[okieinpain]

26. oh yeah, and dems kind of screwed up by not agreeing to some

ban on women being involved in combat. we are going to get jessica lynch, and she probably is not going to get the humane treatment that jessica received from the iraqi's.

[UpInArms]

8. further on in the NYTs article

Specialist Damien M. Corsetti, a tall, bearded interrogator sometimes called "Monster" -he had the nickname tattooed in Italian across his stomach, other soldiers said - was often chosen to intimidate new detainees. Specialist Corsetti, they said, would glower and yell at the arrivals as they stood chained to an overhead pole or lay face down on the floor of a holding room. (A military police K-9 unit often brought growling dogs to walk among the new prisoners for similar effect, documents show.)

"The other interrogators would use his reputation," said one interrogator, Specialist Eric H. Barclais. "They would tell the detainee, 'If you don't cooperate, we'll have to get Monster, and he won't be as nice.' " Another soldier told investigators that Sergeant Loring lightheartedly referred to Specialist Corsetti, then 23, as "the King of Torture."

A Saudi detainee who was interviewed by Army investigators last June at Guantánamo said Specialist Corsetti had pulled out his penis during an interrogation at Bagram, held it against the prisoner's face and threatened to rape him, excerpts from the man's statement show.

[Rose Siding]

13. Atrocities

Dilwar- People kept going to his cell to kick his legs because he cried 'Allah! Allah! Allah!' They thought it was funny.

The coroner said the cause of death was injury to the lower extremeties. She said the injuries were similar to being run over by a bus.

He was 5'9", 122lbs

[Frederik]

32. Homosexuality

There appears to be a lot of supressed homosexuality among those military interrogators.

"... an Army military interrogator who is said to have "placed his penis along the face" of one Afghan detainee and later to have "simulated anally sodomizing him (over his clothes)". "

[Pachamama]

66. You could say that about all the Neocons & homophobic GOP'ers! n/t

[lumpy]

39. Barbaric -Hitler's legacy lives on.

Here's to the bravery and brutality of US military interrogators.

[ausiedownunderground]

58. Correct - No different to Hitler's SS/Gestapo tactics

Fear, however will lead to Loathing in both Afghanistan and Iraq and whoever The "Bush Gang" has decided to target next.
The Intel extracted from these poor souls will only lead to the one-legged guy continuing his ever decreasing circle, the dialysis machine being packed up onto the mule and the guy in underpants being forced to reveal who actually lives in there.
As for the rest of the Muslim World - Well, only the GI's on the ground are going to experience that. I was lead to believe that the SS/Gestapo lost in the End?? But the Trials were humdingers!!!

[Pachamama]

65. And the Bush Admin. wants us to believe a story in Newsweek is to blame ?

I read this story yesterday and felt sick to my stomach...

When I think of how many reports of sodomy & monstorous abuse being committed in our name to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan (and remember-these are just the ones we are hearing about!) I feel distgusted and ashamed....

And to think that there was once a war (WWII) where the appearance of a US Soldier did mean liberation and good....now we are being seen as human rights violators, condoners and perpetrators of torture and murder - of INNONCENT PEOPLE!

And to think that this administration, who lied to the Congress, who lied to the UN, WHO LIED TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, is spending 100's of Billions of OUR TAXPAYER $$$ to enrich their corporate buddies at Halliburton and meanwhile sodomize, torture and murder these people (guilty or not of any crime) and they have audacity to tell us that its just isolated cases of "bad apples" and when there is rioting and deaths protesting the US, we are supposed to believe its Newsweeks fault for reporting something that has been reported before and that none of these other CONFIRMED reports of torture have anything to do with why we are so hated?

[Rose Siding]

5. Interrogators claim they took their instructions from BUSH

...But with President Bush's final determination in February 2002 that the Conventions did not apply to the conflict with Al Qaeda and that Taliban fighters would not be accorded the rights of prisoners of war, the interrogators believed they "could deviate slightly from the rules," said one of the Utah reservists, Sgt. James A. Leahy.

[Erika]

7. Meaning they could treat detainees in an inhumane manner

in which they did. More of the Bush legacy which shows not one iota of Christianity.

[gristy]

30. Now that takes it right to the top, now doesn't it?

That's also what the BFEE wanted to happen. They knew what they were saying.

[johnfunk]

9. But... but... but... NEWSWEEK!!!

You just know that's what the right-wing blowhards are bound to bellow tomorrow...

[okieinpain]

27. when this hits I would think none of the repugs would want to bring

up the newsweek story. this just proves that flushing a koran down a toilet would be nothing to these thugs.

[johnfunk]

37. Methinks the knuckledraggers are going to continue flogging Newsweek...

... remember, it's about their phony claims of media bias!

[ninkasi]

10. The actions of my own country sicken me

The Bush administration, which has caused all of these horrific abuses of fellow human beings, has the unmitigated gall to preach to Newsweek about retracting a story which they claim has caused loss of life and violence.

This administration is cruel beyond description, greedy beyond belief, and evil beyond imagining. I can only pray that the rest of the world will find it in their hearts one day to forgive us for these atrocities.

I would never, in a million years, believe that our country could end up as brutal barbarians, and to do much of their evil in the name of Jesus. We must...absolutely must...get our country out of the hands of the ones who are destroying it.

[Erika]

11. Agreed

We violated every principle of Christianity in our treatment of Afghani and Iraqi detainees.

[OneBlueSky]

14. torture of fellow human beings is official US policy . . .

the evidence is overwhelming . . . the US is violating the Geneva Conventions every day . . . and Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and many others are guilty of war crimes . . . of crimes against humanity . . .

it is truly sickening . . . and they must be called to account for their actions . . . and made to pay . . .

and made to stop . . .

[grytpype]

16. Jesus Christ. I can't believe this.

This is horrible. This is worse than Abu Ghraib. There is systematic torture going on. Someone has to pay for this.

[Roland99]

17. "Torture is not a family value"

My new bumper sticker came in today!

[Disturbed]

18. The Bush Fascist Regime...

condones brutal murders while talkin' shit about Newsweek. Goddamn hypocritical War Criminals!

[ruggerson]

19. WELL THIS IS A TINY LITTLE BIT WORSE THAN FLUSHING BOOKS DOWN A TOILET

so let's see how the rightwing echo chamber tries to discredit THIS.

[maddezmom]

41. has anyone in MSM mentioned it?

I've had CSPAN2 on all am. Just switched to CNN and they are talking about Saddam in his underwear.

[BeHereNow]

20. I can't take it anymore.

This story has led me to believe I have
no option but to leave this country.
I WILL NOT tolerate this being done in my name!
If I do not have a say in my tax dollar spending
and I have no choice but to pay the salaries of
people who would do this, then I no longer
care to be an Amercian.
I am so sickened by this.
How can we, as a people do nothing?
BHN

[RBHam]

21. The 9-11 BIG LIE has worked wonders.

I'll bet the Bush Crime Family can't wait for their favorite terrorist to strike again! Imagine the power they'd have then! Patriot Act? Big deal! Anyone who speaks against Bush after that will be sent to internment camps. Their Neo-Con media has already been hinting at that.

How much more of the BIG LIE will you allow to stand America?

[Erika]

22. It is sickening

and it's 100% Bush.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

23. "I've seen similar injuries in an individual run over by a bus,"

That really makes the point of how extreme it was, doesn't it?

I'm ashamed and saddened by what we, as a nation, are reduced to.

[Judi Lynn]

24. Photo of the taxi driver, Mr. Dilawar

Isn't it odd reading the respectful "Mr. Dilawar" from the NY Times, after US citizens tortured him to death? The article says:

Several hours passed before an emergency room doctor finally saw Mr. Dilawar. By then he was dead, his body beginning to stiffen. It would be many months before Army investigators learned a final horrific detail: Most of the interrogators had believed Mr. Dilawar was an innocent man who simply drove his taxi past the American base at the wrong time.
(snip)

It makes you pray within yourself, not loudly and pompously like a fundamentalist!, that there is an afterlife, and that this young man will find peace far surpassing the agony he has experienced at the hands of men who have gone mad.

[Rose Siding]

36. Everyone who delivered a kick to hear him cry "Allah" is guilty

to one degree or another, of contributing to his death- his murder.

And what of the "several senior officials" who toured frequently and observed the harsh treatment? Did none of them document any butt-covering efforts? ...hard to believe. -Because if they did, and no action was taken that could lead higher up the chain of accountability.

[Judi Lynn]

25. Photo of the taxi driver, Mr. Dilawar

Isn't it odd reading the respectful "Mr. Dilawar" from the NY Times, after US citizens tortured him to death? The article says:

Several hours passed before an emergency room doctor finally saw Mr. Dilawar. By then he was dead, his body beginning to stiffen. It would be many months before Army investigators learned a final horrific detail: Most of the interrogators had believed Mr. Dilawar was an innocent man who simply drove his taxi past the American base at the wrong time.
(snip)

It makes you pray within yourself, not loudly and pompously like a fundamentalist!, that there is an afterlife, and that this young man will find peace far surpassing the agony he has experienced at the hands of men who have gone mad.

[gristy]

28. Earlier I would have been outraged. Now it seems I am only saddened.

Just look how low we have fallen... Will this be on the news tonight? My guess is a 15 second, 2-sentance report, if that.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

29. It is wrong, immoral, evil, undemocratic, unAmerican, pervasive,

systemic, cruel, AND created, approved, condoned and overseen by this adminstration. The horror, the horror.

I wonder what someone like John McCain, who personally has experienced incarceration at the hands of another country ,thinks.

This is how we bring democracy to the world? This is how we hold ourselves up to be the moral beacon of the world that all should emulate? I am disgusted and horrified that this type of activity is being done in the name of my country. I hope every newspaper in the country reprints this. I hope the silent Senate and Congress rise up and say NO MORE. Let's all stop being good, silent, obedient Germans.

Many many more people than a few lower level military peons are involved. At the very least the higher levels are involved in the cover-up of these activities.

Thank you New York Times for your guts and your bravery in running this article.

[Frederik]

31. Fucking sadists

Bagram and Abu Ghraib have become symbols of torture and opression - in the case of Abu Ghraib, Saddam's traditions have continued uninterrupted - they should be closed and their inmates freed before more damage is done.

The rightwingnuts direct their ire at Newsweek while the military is torturing taxi drivers to death. "The mother of all smokescreens"

[shawn703]

34. More proof the Newsweek report is what pissed off the Afghans

:sarcasm:

[Spazito]

35. Horrific, simply horrific

Bush declaring the Geneva Convention did not apply makes him directly responsible for the war crimes committed.

[KoKo]

38. NYTimes Breaks story of Brutal torture of 2 Afghani's by US Soldiers.

(This broke on BBC this a.m., and I went to NYT's site and there's a long article detailing the terrible abuses of 2 Afghani prisoners including a crude drawing. BBC said NYT's has photo's but I didn't see them on the site....The article is heartbreaking)

.......................................................................

May 20, 2005
In U.S. Report, Brutal Details of 2 Afghan Inmates' Deaths
By TIM GOLDEN

Even as the young Afghan man was dying before them, his American jailers continued to torment him.

The prisoner, a slight, 22-year-old taxi driver known only as Dilawar, was hauled from his cell at the detention center in Bagram, Afghanistan, at around 2 a.m. to answer questions about a rocket attack on an American base. When he arrived in the interrogation room, an interpreter who was present said, his legs were bouncing uncontrollably in the plastic chair and his hands were numb. He had been chained by the wrists to the top of his cell for much of the previous four days.

Mr. Dilawar asked for a drink of water, and one of the two interrogators, Specialist Joshua R. Claus, 21, picked up a large plastic bottle. But first he punched a hole in the bottom, the interpreter said, so as the prisoner fumbled weakly with the cap, the water poured out over his orange prison scrubs. The soldier then grabbed the bottle back and began squirting the water forcefully into Mr. Dilawar's face.

"Come on, drink!" the interpreter said Specialist Claus had shouted, as the prisoner gagged on the spray. "Drink!"

At the interrogators' behest, a guard tried to force the young man to his knees. But his legs, which had been pummeled by guards for several days, could no longer bend. An interrogator told Mr. Dilawar that he could see a doctor after they finished with him. When he was finally sent back to his cell, though, the guards were instructed only to chain the prisoner back to the ceiling.


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/20/international/asia/20abuse.html?hp&ex=1116648000&en=6cca0512a38427c3&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[Wilber_Stool]

40. I would like to thank

the anonymous source that revealed this document. So much for anonymous sources.

[umtalal]

42. It is our troops that do this. We own it and condone it. Shame on us.

[chlamor]

43. US Abuse of Afghan prisoners is widespread it is the norm

US abuse of Afghan prisoners 'widespread'

Sarah Left and agencies
Friday May 20, 2005


US soldiers carried out widespread abuse of detainees at the US-run Bagram prison camp in Afghanistan, according to a confidential US army report revealed today in the New York Times.

Seven soldiers have been charged in connection with abuse at Bagram, where the paper reports that harsh treatment by some interrogators was routine, prisoners were shackled in painful fixed positions, and guards could strike shackled detainees with virtual impunity.

The army document highlights the deaths in detention of Dilawar, a 22-year-old taxi driver who most interrogators had believed to be innocent, and another inmate, Habibullah. The two men died within six days of each other in December 2002.

The New York Times carries a graphic account of Dilawar's torture and death. His legs were beaten so badly that he could not bend them to kneel, and he was chained for days by his wrists to the roof of his cell. When he asked for a drink of water during his final interrogation, one US interrogator punched a hole in a water bottle, handed it to Dilawar and tormented him as the water poured away before he could drink, according to an interpreter present at the time.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,1284,1488919,00.html

[Puzzler]

44. The American Inquisition

I should imagine that these brutal US torturers... excuse me, "interrogators" justify their methods in the name of US security. However, would not have Saddam have used similar "national security" justifications for the brutalizing of his population too?

-P

[frictionlessO]

45. Very well put and welcome to the DU... you're gonna like it here I think!

:hi:

[Puzzler]

47. Thanks

"Very well put and welcome to the DU... you're gonna like it here I think!"

I already do. I've been in lurk-mode for a few months.


-P

[lumpy]

46. "Two wrongs don't make a right."

I don't believe even the bastards running our country would use national security as an excuse for the torture methods being use by the US military, but I could be wrong. We've heard some very ludicrous excuses for their inhumane policies.

[chlamor]

48. Hello Puzzler

Welcome to DU :toast:

"Of all races in an advanced stage of civilization, the American is the least accessible to long views. . . . Always and everywhere in a hurry to get rich, he does not give a thought to remote consequences; he sees only present advantages. . . . He does not remember, he does not feel, he lives in a materialist dream."
--Moiseide Ostrogorski (1902, 302-303)

[Pachamama]

67. Atleast Saddam didn't claim to be a good Christian or spreading democracy!

We are supposed to have been the good guys...what have we become?

[maddezmom]

49. this is the story bushco doesn't want out

And so we get the BIG 3 today...Saddam in his underpants, Osama on the run again and Zarqawi injured again. :eyes:

[suffragette]

50. damning report

And damn those who took part in this and those who condoned and encouraged this brutality. When will justice return?

[siliconefreak]

51. the military is an embarassment

I'm only going to echo what others have said, but I have to chime in.

The actions described in the article are horrific. I'm already ashamed of this country, but I can't even imagine being a member of the military at this point. I'm sorry to say this, but I hope the military continues to struggle with their recruitment numbers. They deserve to suffer for allowing these things to occur.

[JohnyCanuck]

52. Bear in mind that these sadistic, brainwashed fucks

will take just as much pleasure in giving you the Bagram treatment, Joe and Jane Blow dissenting US Citizen, as they do Afghani taxi drivers - once the Bush Theocracy is fully installed and up and running.

In the meantime, they'll probably come back home, join the NYCPD or LAPD and have to satisfy their urges by riding horses into peace protesters, whacking protesters over the head with billy clubs or just yanking the plastic cuffs extra tight as they load up the paddy wagon.

[Pachamama]

68. And don't forget them Tasers! Those will be real fun for sadistic people

to use on civilians!

:puke:

When will Americans wake up? Don't they realize that their civil liberties are all being eroded in the name of nat'l security against terrorists? Do they really think this couldn't happen here?

[swag]

53. Report implicates top brass in Bagram scandal

http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,1284,1489147,00.html

. . .
The investigation shows the military intelligence officers in charge of the detention centre at Bagram airport were redeployed to Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq in 2003, while still under investigation for the deaths of two detainees months earlier. Despite military prosecutors' recommendations, the officers involved have yet to be charged.

The Bagram case also suggests that some of the prison guards were given little if any training in handling detainees, and were influenced by a White House directive that "terrorist" suspects did not deserve the rights given to prisoners of war under the Geneva convention.

The prosecution dossier from the army's investigation into Bagram, leaked to the New York Times, deals with the deaths of detainees Dilawar and Habibullah (both, as is common for Afghans, taking a single name).

Dilawar was a taxi driver who appears to have driven past a US military base soon after a rocket attack. Habibullah was handed over to the US by an Afghan warlord, and was identified as the brother of a Taliban commander. Both men were seized in late 2002, interrogated, beaten and killed in a hangar used for holding detainees who were being vetted for dispatch to Guantánamo Bay.

The two were chained to the ceilings of their cells for days at a time and beaten on the legs. They had been subjected to a blow known as the "common peroneal strike", aimed at a point just below the knee and intended to disable. Coroners in the Habibullah case said his legs "had basically been pulpified" and looked as though they had been run over by a bus.

. . . more

[applegrove]

54. Not good news. I mean there are bad apples in every bunch and

for sure they may have been trying to disseminate their own propaganda. I image that in the environment they are in in Iraq that every Iraqi they pump up against has a Saddam Horror story. I don't feel sorry for the brute. I just hope it doesn't give the monster sympathy.

Someone needs to get a handle on the 'boots on the ground'.

[xray s]

55. not that any of this would cause people to hate us

nice little shop of horrors our military has become.

thanks bush...you asshole.

[rodeodance]

56. my god --how horrible (below)

.....The two were chained to the ceilings of their cells for days at a time and beaten on the legs. They had been subjected to a blow known as the "common peroneal strike", aimed at a point just below the knee and intended to disable. Coroners in the Habibullah case said his legs "had basically been pulpified" and looked as though they had been run over by a bus.

. . . more

[thebigidea]

57. i'm getting a little tired of "little training" being used as an excuse

... for torture and murder.

[stillcool]

59. i don't know how.....

but somethings got to give. i don't blame only this administration...everyone is responsible for this shit. Our history is full of 'winner takes all' inhumane actions justified by deception. The reason why these things have taken place and continue to take place is because it is acceptable behavior by those in charge to achieve and end. Here are the present excuses 1. Saddam 2. AlQuida 3. AlZarqawi 4.terrorists 5. few bad apples. To all i say horse-shit. And the mother of all....9/11. If nothing else can we at least call it what it is.

[Up2Late]

60. Report implicates top brass in Bagram scandal (The Guardian)

(Warning: If you are easily grosses out, you might not want to read too far into this article)

Report implicates top brass in Bagram scandal

Julian Borger in Washington
Saturday May 21, 2005
The Guardian

A leaked report on a military investigation into two killings of detainees at a US prison in Afghanistan has produced new evidence of connivance of senior officers in systematic prisoner abuse. The investigation shows the military intelligence officers in charge of the detention centre at Bagram airport were redeployed to Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq in 2003, while still under investigation for the deaths of two detainees months earlier. Despite military prosecutors' recommendations, the officers involved have yet to be charged.

The Bagram case also suggests that some of the prison guards were given little if any training in handling detainees, and were influenced by a White House directive that "terrorist" suspects did not deserve the rights given to prisoners of war under the Geneva convention. The prosecution dossier from the army's investigation into Bagram, leaked to the New York Times, deals with the deaths of detainees Dilawar and Habibullah (both, as is common for Afghans, taking a single name).

Dilawar was a taxi driver who appears to have driven past a US military base soon after a rocket attack. Habibullah was handed over to the US by an Afghan warlord, and was identified as the brother of a Taliban commander. Both men were seized in late 2002, interrogated, beaten and killed in a hangar used for holding detainees who were being vetted for dispatch to Guantánamo Bay.

The two were chained to the ceilings of their cells for days at a time and beaten on the legs. They had been subjected to a blow known as the "common peroneal strike", aimed at a point just below the knee and intended to disable. Coroners in the Habibullah case said his legs "had basically been pulpified" and looked as though they had been run over by a bus.

(more at link above)

[mike_c]

61. rotten pig bastards....

I thought I was overloaded on outrage fatigue until this story broke. This is the democracy we-- and our "troops"-- are exporting. Freedom on the march indeed.

The "lack of training" excuse holds no water at all-- how much training do you need to know decency from cruelty? These poor men were tortured to death over several days by a number of soldiers-- any one of the soldiers involved could have objected along the way, and none did. They just beat the victims more. And then the chain of command tried to bury their behavior by issuing "natural causes" death certificates. This is a conspiracy that extends from the top of the chain of command all the way to the bottom. How many others were tortured, but survived? How many others died "naturally" during their torture sessions with U.S. interrogators?

I cannot begin to express my rage and disgust.

[Eloriel]

62. Does this need a

:kick:

[Gregorian]

63. But what about the thousands who were killed in containers?????

Come on! It's documented that our soldiers participated in the horrible murders of so many. They were stuffed into shipping containers. It's silent out there. Criminally silent. It's two cheerleaders cheering back at each other- the administration and the media. And the people of this country are accepting what they hear as the truth.

[IndianaGreen]

64. The British Independent has an interesting article today about this

Afghan prisoners were 'tortured to death' by American guards
By Justin Huggler, Asia Correspondent
21 May 2005

Shocking and detailed accounts have emerged of how two Afghan prisoners were tortured to death by American interrogators and prison guards at Bagram air base, outside Kabul.

A 2,000-page report on an internal investigation by the US military leaked to The New York Times and published yesterday provides exhaustive detail on how the two were kept chained in excruciating positions and kicked to death.

The harrowing stories of the deaths of Habibullah and Dilawar told in the report could prove as damaging to the US as the photographs of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib jail in Iraq.

The report reveals that Dilawar, a taxi driver, died despite the fact that most of the interrogators were convinced he was innocent.

There will be fears of an explosive reaction in Afghanistan. The New York Times report comes a week after at least 15 people were killed in protests in Afghanistan triggered by a Newsweek report which said US interrogators at Guantanamo Bay had flushed a copy of the Koran down a lavatory. Newsweek has since retracted the report, saying it was based on a flawed source.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=640070

[indie_voter]

69. The final sentence says it all

"He also added a detail that had been overlooked in the investigative file. By the time Mr. Dilawar was taken into his final interrogations, he said, "most of us were convinced that the detainee was innocent." "

(disclaimer: even if he was guilty, that is NOT an excuse. We should NEVER treat ANYBODY in this horrific manner. We're supposed to be better than this, but obviously, we're not. )

:cry:

[struggle4progress]

70. kick