Sunday, March 19, 2006

In Camp Nama:Detainees paintball targets

NYTimes: "As the Iraqi insurgency intensified in early 04, an elite Special Ops forces unit converted 1 of Saddam's former military bases near Baghdad into a top-secret detention center. There, US soldiers made 1 of the former Iraqi govt's torture chambers into their own interrogation cell. They named it the Black Room. In the windowless, garage-size room, some soldiers beat prisoners w/ rifle butts, yelled and spit in their faces and, in a nearby area, used detainees for target practice in a game of jailer paintball. Placards posted by soldiers at the detention area advised, "NO BLOOD, NO FOUL." The slogan meant, a Def Dept official explained: "If you don't make them bleed, they can't prosecute for it." Prisoners at Camp Nama (Which was often the 1st stop for prisoners going to Abu Ghraib) often disappeared into a detention black hole, barred from access to lawyers or relatives, and confined for wks w/o charges. "The reality is, there were no rules there," another Pentagon official said. And yet we continue to wonder why they despise us and why we cannot win over their hearts and minds.
Posted by Tina :: 12:46 AM :: 4 Comments:

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