March 19, 2006

But Remember, Just Animal House on the Night Shift

Yet another expose of what appears to be the widespread torture of prisoners in Iraq. The motto of the unit: Placards posted by soldiers at the detention area advised, "NO BLOOD, NO FOUL." The slogan, as one Defense Department official explained, reflected an adage adopted by Task Force 6-26: "If you don't make them bleed, they can't prosecute for it."

In the windowless, jet-black garage-size room, some soldiers beat prisoners with rifle butts, yelled and spit in their faces and, in a nearby area, used detainees for target practice in a game of jailer paintball.

This demonstrates the importance of the law--that even while committing torture, soldiers are considering the ramifications. Believing that the consequences only apply when blood is drawn, they believe that blunt force injury is acceptable. Link: Before and After Abu Ghraib, a U.S. Unit Abused Detainees - New York Times.

As the Iraqi insurgency intensified in early 2004, an elite Special Operations forces unit converted one of Saddam Hussein's former military bases near Baghdad into a top-secret detention center. There, American soldiers made one of the former Iraqi government's torture chambers into their own interrogation cell. They named it the Black Room.

Posted by Anupam Chander on March 19, 2006 at 06:33 AM in Current Affairs | Permalink