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Torture, schmorture

 
 
Perfect Tommy
17:26 / 07.03.03
Will someone please find a link that debunks this story, so that I can believe it's false and not throw up?

America admits suspects died in interrogations

American military officials acknowledged yesterday that two prisoners captured in Afghanistan in December had been killed while under interrogation at Bagram air base north of Kabul – reviving concerns that the US is resorting to torture in its treatment of Taliban fighters and suspected al-Qa'ida operatives.

A spokesman for the air base confirmed that the official cause of death of the two men was "homicide", contradicting earlier accounts that one had died of a heart attack and the other from a pulmonary embolism.

The men's death certificates, made public earlier this week, showed that one captive, known only as Dilawar, 22, from the Khost region, died from "blunt force injuries to lower extremities complicating coronary artery disease" while another captive, Mullah Habibullah, 30, suffered from blood clot in the lung that was exacerbated by a "blunt force injury".

...

President Bush appeared to encourage extra-judicial solutions in his State of the Union address in January when he talked of al-Qa'ida members being arrested or meeting "a different fate". "Let's put it this way," he said in a tone that appalled many, "they are no longer a problem to the United States and our friends and allies."
 
 
Hieronymus
17:42 / 07.03.03
Nope. Saw the same story at The Guardian yesterday. Somewhere the Pentagon is running around waving their arms like meth'd up orangutans because the coroner put 'homicide' on the death cert. Or maybe they don't even care, given that the mainstream US press hasn't even touched this.

*shudders*
 
 
MJ-12
18:51 / 07.03.03
given that the mainstream US press hasn't even touched this.

you mean, like, cnn?

A criminal investigation into the December deaths of the two men is in its final stages, but a U.S. military source said it is not clear whether anyone will be charged.

One senior military official said, "This investigation may not go well for us."
 
 
Hieronymus
20:14 / 07.03.03
Yay!
 
 
Nematode
20:47 / 07.03.03
Sorry what's new here. They've been training torturers for years they export torture equipment [although we Brits can proudly claim to be the global leader in this field]some of their best friends are torturers and after 9/11 as part of the war on terror they were shipping people whose minds they wanted opening to regimes where a little physical pressure was acceptable eg Egypt, Morocco. An american official recently coined the term 'torture-lite' which comes form such a fucked up mind set that I can't get a handle on it. So they've been caught out torturing,what a massive surprise. I guess it doesn't conform to the global media stereotype american good guy which is why it has such an impact but don't worry, we'll get over it.............
 
 
MJ-12
20:05 / 08.03.03
What's new is that this incident in particular has not come to light due to the abovementioned Amnesty International or Human Rights watch, but rather because of an investigation begun by the US military, which would seem to suggest that someone in power has the feeling that some of these types of behaviour are not acceptable.
 
 
Nematode
18:25 / 09.03.03
Hadn't caught that part that's much better news.
 
 
illmatic
13:25 / 10.03.03
What I think what's new about it, is it's part of the post- 9/11 trend that officially sanctions this. I know that they've been doing it forever, but too have it as part of policy..... ? Fucked up. Also, forgive my ignorace here, but have anyone taken prisoner and sent to Cuba been charged yet?
 
 
Our Lady of The Two Towers
13:28 / 10.03.03
In the past it's happened and never been offical policy so that those that matter have plausible deniability. The fact that Bush et al are so unconcerned that they don't care about the plausible deniability defense is the scary thing.
 
 
Nematode
22:12 / 10.03.03
Also kind of makes me wonder what is going on body bag wise in Afghanistan. As far as I can see the situation the Americans have created isn't substantially different from that of the Russians in the eighties i.e. you go in install a puppet leader. The mass of the population sees no real benefit in your presence and the rather sizeable sector that might resist do so, enthusiastically. Must a be a truly shit country to be posted as well on the booze/women/all round good time front the only fun aspect is that it's full of smack and American soldiers have a bit of a history on that one. I wonder just how much pressure the troops over there are under and why we hear so little about it. Does anybody know?
 
  
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