Saturday, November 24, 2007

[CanYoAssDigIt] Re: [somewheredowntheroadwithrickreed] Re: The Real Face OF The Occupation's Surge

On Nov 24, 2007 6:22 PM, maybeyoureright2008 <maybeyoureright2008@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> i dont get it --- In
> somewheredowntheroadwithrickreed@yahoogroups.com, "matt love"

I'll try to explain again. I was saying bring the troops home, bring their behavior home with them. Maybe it isn't news here in the when US Airforce pilots get involved in a little harmless horseplay and kill a dozen Italian civilians. Not even worth reporting. But it did happen even if it isn't news here, and the Italians didn't like it very much when the US military found that the US military men had done nothing wrong in this case.

I am sure it isn't news in the US when US servicemen rape a school girl on Okanowa - but they certainly hear about it in Japan.

It may not be news here in the US when US servicemen commit crimes in Iraq, but the Iraqis know what's being done to them.

If those 737 bases on foreign soil are closed and the military is brought home to the US, it won't be Iraqis they are torturing and killing any more - it will be REAL people - you, your relatives, or your neighbors. Of course, you may hate your neighbors. MIght even be tempted to turn them in (that's how a lot of people ended up in Gitmo - somebody with a grudge collected a bounty).

Read the following closely. This is isn't just the story of somebody 1/2 way around the world. This is your story. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. Maybe not the day after tomorrow. But it's coming to a neighborhood near you.

******

Manadel al-Jamadi is well-known to much of the world. What a lot of people don't realize is that this was a man who was a father, a husband, and a good Muslim. He wasn't just the 'photo of the corpse of the Abu Ghraib scandal'. Imagine if he were your father/brother/uncle/son.

I've also posted related links below the photograph. I couldn't write anything up that's better than the article below entitled "The Crucifixion of Manadel al-Jamadi."

Manadel al-Jamadi's widow and son, whose names have
been withheld, hold a photograph of convicted Abu Ghraib torturer Sabrina Harman
smiling over his frozen corpse.
al-Jamadi had been tortured to death by U.S. personnel.
Released to the public domain by al-Jamadi's family. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

A Deadly Interrogation - a very good piece by the New Yorker

Iraqi Died While Hung From Wrists - Common Dreams

Tortured to death in Abu Ghraib prison - SW

Manadel al-Jamadi - Wiki

The Crucifixion of Manadel al-Jamadi

From Tom Head,
Your Guide to Civil Liberties.
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Summary: Manadel al-Jamadi was tortured to death by U.S. personnel at Abu Ghraib Prison on November 4, 2003.

Arrest: At approximately 2am on November 4, 2003, Navy SEALs arrested Manadel al-Jamadi on the suspicion that he might have somehow been involved in the production of explosives later sold to terrorists. The evidence linking al-Jamadi to the crime is secret and may, in fact, not exist; according to the International Red Cross, 70 to 90 percent of Abu Ghraib prisoners were arrested without probable cause.

Ghost Prisoner: al-Jamadi was arrested as an enemy combatant. No records of his arrest were kept--like many detainees, he was a "ghost prisoner" who was to have disappeared without any official record of his status. The CIA officer who interrogated him did not feel obligated to observe the Geneva Conventions and, were it not for the release of Abu Ghraib photographs in 2004, would have most likely never disclosed the circumstances surrounding his death.

Initial Abuse: At the time of his arrest, al-Jamadi was restrained in plastic cuffs, nude from the waist down, with a bag over his head. At some point either during or immediately following the arrest but prior to his interrogation, he sustained a black eye, a laceration on his face, and six fractured ribs.

Palestinian Hanging: The CIA interrogator ordered that al-Jamadi be stripped, hooded, and hung from bars above his shoulders in the manner referred to as Palestinian hanging, which is a form of crucifixion. In this case, crucifixion was apparently used as a means of torture rather than a means of deliberate execution, but it had the latter effect.

Asphyxiation: After 45 minutes of hanging, al-Jamadi became non-responsive and the CIA interrogator, certain that al-Jamadi was faking unconsciousness, called for additional interrogators. Personnel who entered the room lifted the hood and discovered that al-Jamadi had died.

Official Cause of Death: An autopsy revealed that al-Jamadi had died due to a combination of compromised respiration and blunt force trauma to the head and torso. Medical examiners were not, however, privy to the circumstances of al-Jamadi's death. After being briefed on the circumstances, later medical examiners reviewing the autopsy notes came to a more specific conclusion.

The Testimony of Dr. Stephen Baden: According to Dr. Stephen Baden, chief forensic pathologist for the New York State Police:

If his hands were pulled up five feet—that's to his neck. That's pretty tough. That would put a lot of tension on his rib muscles, which are needed for breathing. It's not only painful—it can hinder the diaphragm from going up and down, and the rib cage from expanding. The muscles tire, and the breathing function is impaired, so there's less oxygen entering the bloodstream ... (A)sphyxia is what he died from--as in a crucifixion.

Hiding the Body: CIA personnel destroyed evidence of wrongdoing, including the bloody hood al-Jamadi wore at the time of his death. An IV was attached to the corpse's arm and he was taken through the prison in view of other prisoners and personnel, who were told that he had suffered a heart attack and that they were attempting to save him. His body was later frozen in a shower room for several days, during which time other Abu Ghraib personnel posed with his corpse.

Aftermath:

Eight Navy SEALs involved in al-Jamadi's capture were issued letters of reprimand that essentially ended their military careers, but were acquitted on criminal charges when medical expert testimony determined that it was the interrogator who was responsible for al-Jamadi's death.

NOTE: I've taken the liberty of linking Graner and Harman to their wiki pages, and I've added links to stories about their convictions.

The Abu Ghraib personnel who posed with his corpse, Charles Graner and Sabrina Harman, were later convicted on other charges and sentenced to prison time.
CNN.com - Graner sentenced to 10 years - Jan 16, 2005
Abu Ghraib Sentence: Six Months, Sabrina Harman Was Convicted

The CIA interrogator, who had presumably acted under orders, was never charged.

-Linda

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