Bay Area MPs say abuse rumors circulated at Baghdad prison

[Kadie]

Bay Area MPs say abuse rumors circulated at Baghdad prison

By LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writer
Last Updated 3:39 am PDT Thursday, May 6, 2004

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Soldiers who staffed the Baghdad prison where Iraqi inmates suffered abuse at American hands were overworked, resentful and lacking guidance from their superiors, according to a California National guardsman who recently completed five months of military police duty there.

snip...

"It is a bad thing. I don't know what kind of sick thing was going on," he said Wednesday. "Was it some kind of bizarre military intelligence thing to break their will? I think it was a bunch of incredibly bored, stressed-out and probably clinically depressed soldiers just losing it and going off the deep end."

snip...
"It was rough. There were a lot of soldiers who were losing it," he said. "Basically, the majority sat in towers for 12 hours a day, watching the detainees, without a radio, a book and until right before we left, no heating ... So not only were you physically uncomfortable, but you were bored out of your skull and then you have mortars falling on you."

snip...
"Combat Stress Management was handing out Prozac and Paxil like crazy, trying to get a handle on the frustration and depression," Spc. David Bischel told the Tribune.

more... http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/story/9189901p-10115294c.html

Were these just overworked soldiers? Do you think that they were living in such hellish conditions that they just lost it?

[Bread and Circus]

1. Spoken like the truth of only someone who was there whould know....

That's refreshing.

[High Sierra Buck]

2. hypocrisy

How can we as Americans denounce one leader as a cruel dictator who uses torture and fear as a weapon, sieze that same country for that same reason, then topple the leadership for the stated cause, and do exactly what we were fighting against in the first place? Make no god damn sense.