TheUSMil KNEW ABOUT ABU GHRAIB IN 12/2003

Check it out, kids! TheUSMil had a report warning that what was going on in a secret prison in Iraq could "technically" be called "illegal." Goshes, well, thank God they did something about it, right?

Of course, they didn't. Here's an excerpt from an article at Reuters:

A confidential U.S. Army report warned of abuse of Iraqi detainees by the CIA and other U.S. military forces in December 2003, more than a month before mistreatment at the Abu Ghraib prison was uncovered, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

The confidential report by retired Col. Stuart A. Herrington, obtained by the Post, warned that arrest and detention practices used by CIA and other soldiers could "technically" be illegal.

Herrington's report also found that members of an elite group that included CIA members abused detainees at a secret interrogation facility in Iraq to hide their activities, the paper reported.

Yes!! We are a moral and righteous people with an equally moral and righteous government that coincidentally doesn't know shit about morals or righteousness.

What part of "All men are created equally" don't we understand?

They're created equally until one wants to kill you, I suppose. In which case, all bets are off. Yippee!! Who needs morals when you've got a gun?

WOW, am I in a cynical mood or what?From Reuters:

U.S. Military Knew of Iraq Detainee Abuse - Newspaper

Wed Dec 1, 2004 07:37 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A confidential U.S. Army report warned of abuse of Iraqi detainees by the CIA and other U.S. military forces in December 2003, more than a month before mistreatment at the Abu Ghraib prison was uncovered, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

The confidential report by retired Col. Stuart A. Herrington, obtained by the Post, warned that arrest and detention practices used by CIA and other soldiers could "technically" be illegal.

Herrington's report also found that members of an elite group that included CIA members abused detainees at a secret interrogation facility in Iraq to hide their activities, the paper reported.

The report shows that U.S. military officials in Iraq knew of prisoner abuse at least a month before they learned of the Abu Ghraib acts in January 2004, the article said.

Herrington declined to discuss his report with the Post.

Photographs of practices at the notorious Abu Ghraib near Baghdad, which included physical abuse and sexual humiliation, sparked worldwide condemnation of prisoner abuse there and at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Some detainees "have shown injuries that caused examining medical personnel to note that 'detainee shows signs of having been beaten,"' the Post said, quoting Herrington's report. The report later concluded that one military task force "needs to be reined in with respect to its treatment of detainees," the Post reported.

Small interrogation teams sometimes included Army Rangers, Delta Force, Navy SEALs and Special Forces units working with CIA agents, the article said, citing an unnamed military source.

According to the report, Herrington asked an officer at one detention center if the abuses had been reported to superiors, the article said. "Everyone knows about it," the officer replied, according to the article.

Top military officials including Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, who was then in charge of U.S. forces in Iraq, reported the abuses to the U.S. Central Command, an unnamed Pentagon official told the paper.

A top-level U.S. inquiry blamed the military chain of command for creating conditions that allowed the abuses to take place, but only seven lower ranking military police and an intelligence soldier have been indicted so far.

© Reuters 2004