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"Emmanuel Gustin" wrote in message om... "Kevin Brooks" wrote in message ... Let's see, according to the AP's timeline for this incident: "Jan. 13, 2004: Army Spc. Joseph M. Darby, an MP with the 800th at Abu Ghraib, first reports cases of abuse at the prison. The problem with this AP "timeline" is what it leaves out. The first report of the ICRC notifying the US government about abuse of prisoners by US soldiers was delivered a long time before the US Army finally took this action. The director of operations of the Red Cross, Mr. Kraehenbuehl, is quoted as saying "Our findings were discussed at different moments between March and November 2003, either in direct face-to-face conversations or in written interventions." (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3694521.stm) March 2003 to January 2004 is very a long time to do nothing. Red Cross reports are confidential -- the burden of taking action rests on the government. LOL! March 2003 was when we were moving into Iraq--pretty quick reaction time for the ICRC, eh? And the thought of securing a bad guy in an unlit cell...jeepers (at a time when most civilian Iraqis were also without power...that's rich!)! The claims of murder and shootings seem a bit far-fetched--I guess you think we covered those up, but for some odd reason when the first reputable claim of mistreatment at Abu Ghraib was presented to the military chain, they immediately initiated (multiple) investigations and announced that to the press, eh? Now how do you explain that? Again, you are letting your prejudices cloud your better judgement. I thought you were a bit more sensible than what you have been exhibiting of late, Emmanuel. We have already begun criminal proceedings against soldiers involved in this terrible affair. I will bet you that our accused personnel face a bit tougher future than some other nation's troops that were photographed doing some rather disgusting things (to children, no less--ring any bells for you?)...maybe you ought to instead look a bit closer to home, if you feel such outrageous indignation at the idea of such treatement of prisoners? "First published in the United States on the cover of the June 24th issue of the left-wing weekly Village Voice, the photograph depicts two Belgian paladins of the new world order giddily holding a Somali child over an open flame...One Belgian UN soldier testified that it was a regular practice to use metal boxes as prison cells, and that other Somalis probably died similarly gruesome deaths...Belgian military authorities launched an investigation into the atrocities following publication of a front-page story by Belgium's Het Laatste Nieuws. In early July, Privates Claude Baert and Kurt Coelus, the two paratroopers photographed dangling the Somali child over a flame, were acquitted by a military court, which ruled that the incident - described by Baert and Coelus as a punishment for stealing - was "a form of playing without violence," according to prosecutor Luc Walleyn...In September, another military tribunal will be held to investigate the actions of Sergeant Dirk Nassel, the soldier photographed forcing a Somali boy to ingest worms and vomit. However, the Belgian military system - which is deeply entwined with the UN "peacekeeping" apparatus - has yet to inflict substantive penalties for abuses committed in the service of the UN. Several years ago, according to Gould, "Belgian soldiers were also accused of holding mock executions for Somali children and forcing them to dig their own graves; though their officer was given a suspended sentence, the soldiers were acquitted." (www.whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/ POLITICS/UN/peace.html ) [I was not sure about the veracity of this article, given the somewhat whack-o bent of the website, but it appears from scanning AP reports from the period it was accurate] Or: "A fourth member of the 3rd battalion of the Parachute Regiment, based at Tielen in Flanders, is also due to go on trial in September. Sergeant Major Rudy Derkinderen is suspected of having murdered a Somali whom he was photographed urinating on. The circumstances surrounding the death of another child at the paratroopers' base near Kismayo in southern Somalia are also under investigation. According to the testimony of two former paratroopers, the boy, who had been caught trying to steal food, died after being locked in a container for 48 hours." (www.public.iastate.edu/~vwindsor/WTH.html ) Sounds like you have to do a bit of house-cleaning of your own (I notice that your military courts proved either unwilling or unable to do it for you) before you start worrying too much about whether or not the Iraqi PW's had electric lighting in-place IAW with your own expectations--and I guess in Belgian circles "firelight" is acceptable (even if it is used to "heat up" some Somali child?). Brooks Emmanuel Gustin |
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