Abu Ghraib (External Links)

This article is part of SourceWatch coverage of Abu Ghraib

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Abu Ghraib

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Accountability Bush administration reaction (including damage control and cover-up) Bush administration and torture Charges Against Military Personnel Congressional Investigation Fraternity 'Hazing': "Not as Bad as Saddam" Ghost Detainees Interrogation Methods and Legal Issues Media Coverage Photographic Evidence of Brutality private military contractors sexual abuse The Rumsfeld Factor What Did "They" Know and "When" Did They Know It? Articles & Commentary on Abu Ghraib Additional SourceWatch Resources related to Abu Ghraib Afghanistan detainee abuse scandal Iraqi detainee abuse scandal

The following are External Links related to Abu Ghraib, the large Enemy Prisoner of War (EPW) prison located outside of Baghdah, Iraq, and the alleged acts of brutality perpetrated against detainees by the U.S. and British military and Private Military Corporations personnel entrusted with their care.

• Also see: Abu Ghraib (Additional SourceWatch Resources)

• Nick Childs and Rachel Clark, "Where are Iraq's top 55?," BBC/UK, December 10, 2003: "Coalition forces have also re-opened the Abu Ghraib prison west of Baghdad, once notorious as the 'hellhole' where opponents of Saddam Hussein were detained, tortured and even executed. ... Reputed to be the largest prison in the Middle East, it was emptied as US forces pushed towards Baghdad in April. Inmates were thought to have been killed, transferred or set free."
• Human Rights Watch, Letter to Donald Rumsfeld on "HRW's Concerns About the Rights of Iraqi Detainees," February 10, 2004.
• Human Rights Watch, "Iraq: U.S. Treatment of Detainees Shrouded in Secrecy. Detainees Must Be Treated in Accordance With Geneva Conventions," April 22, 2004.
• "Abuse Of Iraqi POWs By GIs Probed," CBS News, April 29, 2004.
• David Stout, "Bush Expresses 'Deep Disgust' Over Abuse of Iraqi Prisoners," New York Times, April 30, 2004.
• David Dishneau, "Accused Soldier's Journal Details Prison," AP, April 30, 2004: "A soldier facing a court-martial for his role in the alleged abuse of Iraqi war prisoners says commanders ignored his requests to set out rules for treating POWs and scolded him for questioning the inmates' harsh treatment."
• Julian Borger, "US military in torture scandal. Use of private contractors in Iraqi jail interrogations highlighted by inquiry into abuse of prisoners," Guardian/UK, April 30, 2004.
• "Bush Blasts Abuse Of Iraqi POWs," CBS News/AP, April 30, 2004.
• Paul Bryne, "Shame of Abuse by Brit Troops. Rogue British troops batter Iraqis in mockery of bid to win over people," Mirror/UK, May 2, 2004.
• "America's Shame," Guardian/UK, May 1, 2004.
• "UK troops in Iraqi torture probe," BBC/UK, May 1, 2004.
• Robert Fisk, "Victims of Our Own High-Flown Morality. The 'Good Guys' Who Can Do No Wrong," CounterPunch, May 1, 2004.
• Philip Shenon, "Officer Suggests Iraq Jail Abuse Was Encouraged," New York Times, May 2, 2004.
• Jim Wolf, "Top U.S. Officer (General Richard Myers) Can't Rule Out Pattern of Prison Abuse," Reuters, May 2, 2004.
• Sewell Chan and Michael Amon, "Prisoner Abuse Probe Widened. Military Intelligence at Center of Investigation," Washington Post, May 2, 2004.
• Bob Schieffer, Face the Nation, May 2, 2004: Guests: Representative Randy Cunningham (R-CA), Former Senator Max Cleland (D-GA), Thomas Friedman, The New York Times, and General Richard Myers, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, CBS News.
• Roy Eccleston and John Kerin, "US spies 'urged abuse' of prisoners," The Australian, May 3, 2004.
• Tom Brune, "Myers denies systemic abuse of prisoners," Newsday, May 3, 2004.
• Soledad O'Brien, Interview with Seymour Hersh: "'Amazing' collapse of Army prison system," CNN, May 3, 2004.
• Scott Wilson, "Angry Ex-Detainees Tell of Abuse. Iraqis Say They Endured Physical, Psychological Hardship in U.S. Custody," Washington Post, May 3, 2004.
• Luke Harding, "Torture commonplace, say inmates' families," Guardian/UK, May 3, 2004.
• Jim Krane, " More GIs Reprimanded for Iraqi Abuse," AP, May 3, 2004.
• "Excerpts From Prison Inquiry. 'Sadistic, Blatant and Wanton Criminal Abuses' Reported at Abu Ghraib," Los Angeles Times, May 3, 2004.
• Spencer Ackerman, "Prisoner's Dilemma," The New Republic Online, May 3, 2004.
• T. Christian Miller, "Iraqi Prisoner Abuse Appears More Extensive," Los Angeles Times, May 3, 2004.
• "Hannity & Colmes guest compared U.S. soldiers' maltreatment of Iraqi POWs to 'frat hazing'," Media Matters for America, May 3, 2004.
• James Risen, "Command Errors Aided Iraq Abuse, Army Has Found," New York Times, May 3, 2004.
• "Official: CIA Not Involved in Abu Ghraib Abuses," Reuters, May 3, 2004.
• Virginia Tilley, "Torture, Incorporated. Let the Wall of Silence Fall," Counter Punch, May 3, 2004.
• Ray Suarez, PBS Online NewsHour with General Richard Myers, Brig. General Janis Karpinski, Seymour Hersh, Lt. Col. Gary Solis, and Hisham Melham, May 3, 2004.
• Bill Redeker, "'It Was Disgusting'. Former Iraqi Prisoners Recount Mistreatment by U.S. Soldiers," ABC News, May 3, 2004.
• "'Despicable Acts'. Former Iraq Prison Commander Says She Never Witnessed Abuse," ABC News, May 3, 2004.
• Reed Brody, "Terminating Torture," Human Rights Watch, May 3, 2004.
• "Seymour Hersh: U.S. Knew of Rampant Abuse in Iraqi Prisons Months Ago," Democracy Now, May 3, 2004.
• Caroline Drees, "Iraq Abuse May Undermine U.S. 'War on Terror'," Reuters, May 3, 2004: "'Those Americans who mistreated the prisoners may not have realized it, but they acted in the direct interests of al Qaeda, the insurgents, and the enemies of the U.S.,' said Anthony H. Cordesman at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who has held various positions in government. ... 'These negative images validate all other negative images and interact with them,' he said in a statement, citing 'careless U.S. rhetoric about Arabs and Islam,' failures to stabilize Iraq, continued Israeli-Palestinian violence and fears the United States is out to dominate the Middle East."
• James Ridgeway, "One Nation Under Guard. The U.S. Occupation turns Malignant, like those Cancerous Prison Cells," Village Voice, May 4, 2004.
• Robert Burns, "Pentagon Examined Iraq Detention Centers," AP, May 4, 2004.
• Thom Shanker and Dexter Filkins, "Army Punishes 7 With Reprimands for Prison Abuse," New York Times, May 4, 2004.
• "Bremer 'knew of jail abuse'," Gulf News Daily, May 4, 2004. Also see "Former human rights minister told Bremer about Iraq detainee abuse," AFP, May 3, 2004.
• Juan Cole, "Fallujah and Abu Ghuraib: No Comparison," juancole.com, May 4, 2004.
• David Bauder, "CBS News says it held prison abuse story," AP, May 4, 2004.
• Bradley Graham and Thomas E. Ricks, "U.S. Sent Specialists To Train Prison Units. Allegations of Abuse Highlight Inexperience," Washington Post, May 4, 2004.
• Sewell Chan and Thomas E. Ricks, "Iraq Prison Supervisors Face Army Reprimand. Probe of Interrogations May Bring More Charges," Washington Post, May 4, 2004.
• Robin Wright, "In U.S., Seeking To Limit Damage," Washington Post, May 4, 2004.
• "Prison soldier argues he was following orders. Military investigating possibility of abuses at other Iraqi prisons," NBC News, May 4, 2004.
• Robert Scheer, "When We're the Evildoers in Iraq. With immoral U.S. leadership, is it so shocking to find torturers in the ranks?," Los Angeles Times, May 4, 2004.
• Nat Perry, "Apocalypse Again," Consortium News, May 4, 2004.
• Kurt Nimmo, "Inside the Cells of Abu Ghraib. The CIA Privatized Torture," Counter Punch, May 4, 2004.
• Barry Lando, "CACI's Private Horror Chambers. Torture at Abu Gharib," Counter Punch, May 4, 2004.
• Patrick Cockburn, "'What's the Difference Between Them & Saddam?' Iraqis: Disgusted, But Not Surprised at Torture," Counter Punch, May 4, 2004.
• Mike Whitney, "Empire of Torture. America's Dirty Secret," Counter Punch, May 4, 2004.
• Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey, "The Forces of Evil. Gestapo-like behaviour by US Armed Forces," Pravda, May 4, 2004: "The shocking images of US military personnel standing around smiling and giving the thumbs up sign as Iraqi prisoners were tortured comes as no surprise. The surprise is that it took so long for the story to break. Why? Because there was a massive cover-up attempt by the Queen of Liars, Washington."
• Marjorie Cohn, "Torturing Hearts and Minds," Truthout, May 4, 2004.
• Jonathan Fowler, "U.N. Urges Action on Iraq Prisoner Abuse," AP, May 4, 2004.
• Joel Brinkley and James Glanz, "Contractors Implicated in Prison Abuse Remain on the Job," New York Times, May 4, 2004.
• Farah Stockman, "Civilians ID'd in abuse may face no charges," Boston Globe, May 4, 2004.
• Robert Burns, "Lawmakers Seek Answers on Prisoner Abuse," AP, May 4, 2004.
• "White House says Iraq probe under way; lawmakers blast Pentagon over scandal," AFP, May 4, 2004.
• Tom Regan, "'Six morons who lost the war'. Reaction to Iraqi prisoner abuse reinforces concerns about deteriorating US image abroad," Christian Science Monitor, May 4, 2004. Excellent article with numerous article links.
• Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, "More Iraqis Allege Abuse by U.S. Military," Reuters, May 4, 2004.
• "US launches five-prong probe into abuse," Sydney Morning News, May 4, 2004.
• "Army report documents mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners," CNN, May 4, 2004.
• "Another Iraq Prison Cited in Lawsuit," AP, May 4, 2004: "A Canadian civilian says in a lawsuit that he was tortured by U.S. troops in Iraq and saw Iraqi prisoners suffer even worse mistreatment ... Portland lawyer Thomas Nelson said he filed the suit with the U.S. Army Claims Office on April 30 on behalf of Hossam Shaltout, 57, of Los Angeles. Shaltout claims he was beaten after being taken to the Camp Bucca detention center shortly after the launch of the U.S.-led invasion. ... Shaltout's allegations coincide with a larger scandal involving alleged mistreatment of prisoners in Iraq."
• Julian Borger, "Jailed Iraqis Hidden from Red Cross, Says US Army," Guardian/UK, May 4, 2004.
• "Horror, but little surprise among Arabs," Asia Times, May 5, 2004.
• "Capsules of U.S. Troops Investigated in Prisoner Abuse in Iraq," AP, May 5, 2004.
• Jim Krane, "Probe widens on the treatment of prisoners. Army examines 10 inmate deaths," AP, May 5, 2004.
• Lois Romano, "Kerry Decries Prison Abuse. Bush Response to Situation 'Slow and Inappropriate,' Democrat Says," Washington Post, May 5, 2004.
• "The Horror of Abu Ghraib," The Nation Op-Ed, May 6, 2004.
• Charles Babington and Helen Dewar, "Lawmakers Demand Answers On Abuses in Military-Run Jails," Washington Post, May 6, 2004.
• Sewell Chan, "Rage Is on Display During Prison Tour. General Touts Reforms, New Facilities," Washington Post, May 6, 2004: "The tour -- conducted by Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, who oversees the military's prisons in Iraq -- was intended to highlight plans to improve living conditions, health care and interrogation procedures affecting 3,900 inmates, most of them detained on suspicion of aiding resistance to the U.S.-led occupation. ... But it also illuminated the rage within Abu Ghraib, which was Iraq's most feared prison before the U.S. military toppled President Saddam Hussein last spring."
• Paisley Dodds, "U.S. Disciplines 2 Guantanamo Bay Guards," Newsday, May 6, 2004: "Promising a broader investigation, the U.S. military acknowledged Wednesday that two guards at the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had been disciplined over allegations of prisoner abuse."
• Harroon Siddiqui, "Scandal Bigger than Prison Abuse," Toronto Star, May 6, 2004.
• Robert L. Bastian, Jr., "Exporting America's Shame," Los Angeles Times, May 6, 2004.
• Joshua Micah Marshall, "Le Monde has posted some hand-written letters home from Sergeant Ivan L. "Chip" Frederick II... one the soldiers at the heart of the prison scandal in Iraq," Talking Points Memo, May 6, 2004. See Le Monde pdf document. Marshall highlights a troubling passage,

"Back around Nov[ember] an OGA prisoner was brought to IA. They stressed him out so bad that the man passed away. They put his body in a body bag and packed him in ice for approximately 24 hours in the shower in 1B. The next day the medics came in and put his body on a stretcher, placed a fake I.V. in his arm and took him away. This OGA was never processed and therefore never had a number."

The passage is also noted in Seymour M. Hersh's "Torture at Abu Ghraib," The New Yorker, May 10, 2004 (Issue): "American soldiers brutalized Iraqis. How far up does the responsibility go?"

• Julian Borger, "'Cooks and drivers were working as interrogators'. Witness: Private contractor lifts the lid on systematic failures at Abu Ghraib jail," Guardian/UK, May 7, 2004: "Torin Nelson, who served as a military intelligence officer at Guantánamo Bay before moving to Abu Ghraib as a private contractor last year, blamed the abuses on a failure of command in US military intelligence and an over-reliance on private firms. ... He alleged those companies were so anxious to meet the demand for their services, they sent 'cooks and truck drivers' to work as interrogators."
• "Soldiers Back in U.S. Tell of More Iraq Abuses," Reuters, May 7, 2004: "Three U.S. military policemen who served at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison said on Thursday they had witnessed unreported cases of prisoner abuse and that the practice against Iraqis was commonplace."
• Drew Brown, "Abuse breaks all rules, doesn't work, experts say: Treatment of prisoners," Knight Ridder, May 7, 2004.
• "Soldiers Back in U.S. Tell of More Iraq Abuses," Reuters, May 7, 2004.
• Joe Conason, "Lack of protection," Salon, May 7, 2004.
• Matt Kelley, "Pentagon Rejected Lawyer to Oversee Prison," AP, May 8, 2004.
• David Leigh, "UK forces taught torture methods," Guardian/UK, May 8, 2004.
• Seymour M. Hersh, "Knowledge of Prisoner Abuse Investigation 'Severely and Unusually Restricted'," Democracy Now!, May 10, 2004. Links for audio, video, and transcript.
• Joshua Micah Marshall comments on the International Committee of the Red Cross report, Talking Points Memo, May 11, 2004.
• Thomas Schaller, "Dishonorable Discharge. Rumsfeld and Myers sell out," The Gadflyer, May 11, 2004.
• Dana Priest and Joe Stephens, "Secret World of U.S. Interrogation. Long History of Tactics in Overseas Prisons Is Coming to Light," Washington Post, May 11, 2004.
• On May 12, 2004, the Guardian/UK reported that "Rumsfeld Backs Iraq Interrogation Methods" ... "rejecting complaints that they violate international rules and may endanger Americans taken prisoner."
• Marian Wilkinson, "Evidence mounts as Bush hails Rumsfeld," Sydney Morning Herald, May 12, 2004: "'This is unravelling like a cheap Chinese sweater,' said David Hackworth, a retired colonel whose organisation, Soldiers for the Truth, helped bring the abuse story to the US media. ... But Mr Hackworth said he believed that more junior soldiers would soon come forward to 'blow the whistle'. ... He said the general who was in charge of military intelligence in Iraq, Barbara Fast, who has escaped media scrutiny, was likely to become the focus of questions in the next few weeks. General Fast was under the command of General Ricardo Sanchez, the senior US commander for the occupation forces. ... 'They're keeping her away from the media but she was the general in charge of military intelligence and this happened on her watch,' Mr Hackworth said."
• "Rumsfeld Makes a Surprise Visit to Baghdad," AP, May 13, 2004: "...aimed at containing the prisoner abuse scandal ... administration lawyers are advising the Pentagon not to publicly release any more photographs of Iraqi prisoners being abused by U.S. soldiers ... [arguing] that releasing such materials would violate a Geneva Convention stricture against presenting images of prisoners that could be construed as degrading."
• Bryan Bender, "Prison rules 'not humane'. Iraq interrogation guidelines possibly illegal, officials concede," Boston Globe, May 14, 2004.
• Numir El-Higazi & Samir Haddad, "Iraqi Detainees Want Rumsfeld Arrested, Tried," IslamOnline.net, May 14, 2004.
• "German Television Program (Spiegel) Reports That At LEAST One Iraqi Prisoner Was Tortured to Death and the Cause of His Death Concealed," BuzzFlash Reader Contribution, May 15, 2004 (loosely translated from original German).
• "U.S. Military Opens Abu Ghraib Prison To Media," IBS Network, May 18, 2004: "Journalists have had another look at a now-infamous prison near Baghdad. ... Abu Ghraib is where U.S. troops sexually humiliated and abused Iraqi prisoners in their custody. Its name has been changed to 'Camp Redemption' at the suggestion of the Iraqi Governing Council."
• Kate Zernike, "Abuse at Prison Exceeded Directives, Some Guards Say," New York Times, May 18, 2004.
• Eric Schmitt and Douglas Jehl, "M.P.'s Received Orders to Strip Iraqi Detainees," New York Times, May 18, 2004.
• Robert O. Boorstin, "Memorandum on the Geneva Conventions. Tossing Aside the Geneva Conventions, Bush Decisions Place U.S. Troops in Greater Danger," Center for American Progress, May 18, 2004.
• Adam Liptak, "U.S. Barred Legal Review of Detentions, Lawyer Says," New York Times, May 19, 2004.
• "A Corrupted Culture," Washington Post Op-Ed, May 20, 2004.
• Josh White and Scott Higham, "Sergeant Says Intelligence Directed Abuse," Washington Post, May 20, 2004.
• Douglas Jehl and Eric Schmitt, "Afghan Policies on Questioning Prisoners Taken to Iraq", New York Times, May 21, 2004.
• Robert Burns, "Military lawyers objected to Guantanamo interrogation tactics," AP, May 21, 2004.
• Douglas Jehl and Eric Schmitt's May 22, 2004, three-page New York Times article "Dogs and Other Harsh Tactics Linked to Military Intelligence" provides numerous other details in new documents, including those from the International Committee of the Red Cross.
• "US demands war crimes immunity," BBC/UK, May 21, 2004: "The US is seeking to renew the immunity from prosecution enjoyed by American peacekeepers, with a resolution before the United Nations Security Council. ... But human rights campaigners said the Iraq prison abuse scandal proves that the US needs to be held to account."
• Andrew Buncombe, Justin Huggler, and Leonard Doyle, "Abu Ghraib: inmates raped, ridden like animals, and forced to eat pork," Independent/UK, May 22, 2004.
• "Sen. Lott Sounds Off On Iraqi Prisoner Abuse Photos," IBS Network, May 25, 2004.