A photo found posted on a commercial photo-sharing Web site operated by a woman who said her husband brought the photos from Iraq after his tour of duty appears to show a prisoner being held at gunpoint. The prisoner's face was obscured by the source. The Navy SEALs have launched a criminal investigation into photographs that appear to show commandos in Iraq sitting on hooded and handcuffed detainees, and photos of what appear to be bloodied prisoners, one with a gun to his head. (AP Photo)

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At least a dozen photos showing bloodied detainees were handed over to officials at the Naval Special Warfare Command at Coronado, California, by an Associated Press reporter who found them on a commercial photo-sharing website.

The photographs, posted by a woman who said her husband brought them home from Iraq, appear to show the aftermath of raids on civilian homes, the Associated Press reported.

The AP reported that Navy SEALs were seen sitting on hooded and bound detainees, holding a gun to a detainee's bloodied head, and placing a boot on the chest of a prone man.

Other photos showed grinning US personnel sitting or lying on top of three hooded prisoners in the back of a pick-up truck, the AP reported.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,11585468%255E1702,00.html

A photo found posted on a commercial photo-sharing Web site operated by a woman who said her husband brought the photos from Iraq (news - web sites) after his tour of duty appears to show prisoners in the back of a truck with a foot atop one of the detainees. The Navy SEALs have launched a criminal investigation into photographs that appear to show commandos in Iraq sitting on hooded and handcuffed detainees, and photos of what appear to be bloodied prisoners, one with a gun to his head. (AP Photo)

A photo found posted on a commercial photo-sharing Web site operated by a woman who said her husband brought the photos from Iraq after his tour of duty appears to show a member of the U.S. military in a truck with what appear to be Iraqi prisoners. The Navy SEALs have launched a criminal investigation into photographs that appear to show commandos in Iraq sitting on hooded and handcuffed detainees, and photos of what appear to be bloodied prisoners, one with a gun to his head. (AP Photo)

After this nice shining friendly smile of (another) dirty corrupted perverted murderer, a US soldier with liberated Iraqis (their heads are in bags for winning their minds, I guess), let me introduce this very interesting war news that I hope will let that smile, and other killers' smiles, fade.

http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com/

he US military has launched a criminal investigation into photographs that appear to show Navy Seals special forces in Iraq sitting on hooded and handcuffed detainees, and photos of what appear to be bloodied prisoners, one with a gun to his head.

Some of the photos have date stamps suggesting they were taken in May 2003, which could make them the earliest evidence of possible abuse of prisoners in Iraq.

The far more brutal practices photographed in Abu Ghraib prison occurred months later.

An Associated Press reporter found more than 40 of the pictures among hundreds in an album posted on a commercial photo-sharing website by a woman who said her husband brought them from Iraq after his tour of duty.

It is unclear who took the pictures, which the navy said it was investigating after the AP furnished copies to get comment for this story.

Raids on civilians

These and other photos found by the AP appear to show the immediate aftermath of raids on civilian homes. One man is lying on his back with a boot on his chest.

A mug shot shows a man with an automatic weapon pointed at his head and a gloved thumb jabbed into his throat. In many photos, faces have been blacked out.

"These photographs raise a number of important questions regarding the treatment of prisoners of war (POWs) and detainees," Navy Commander Jeff Bender, a spokesman for the Naval Special Warfare Command in Coronado, said in a written response to questions.

"I can assure you that the matter will be thoroughly investigated."

The photos were turned over to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which instructed the Seal command to determine whether they show any serious crimes, Bender said on Friday.

That investigation will determine the identities of the troops and what they were doing in the photos.

Charges

Some of the photos recall aspects of the images from Abu Ghraib, which led to charges against seven soldiers accused of humiliating and assaulting prisoners.

In several of the photos obtained by the AP, grinning men wearing US flags on their uniforms, and one with a tattoo of a Seal trident, take turns sitting or lying atop what appear to be three hooded and handcuffed men in the bed of a pickup truck.

A reporter found the photos, which have since been removed from public view, while researching the prosecution of a group of Seals who allegedly beat prisoners and photographed one of them in degrading positions.

Those photos, taken with a Seal's personal camera, haven't been publicly released.

Though they have alarmed Seal commanders, the photographs found by AP do not necessarily show anything illegal, according to experts in the laws of war who reviewed photos at AP's request.

Geneva Convention

Gary Solis, a former Marine Corps prosecutor and judge who teaches at the United States Military Academy, said the images showed "stupid" and "juvenile" behaviour - but not necessarily a crime.

John Hutson, a retired rear admiral who served as the Navy's Judge Advocate General from 1997 to 2000, said they suggested possible Geneva Convention violations. Those international laws prohibit souvenir photos of prisoners of war.

"It's pretty obvious that these pictures were taken largely as war trophies," Hutson said.

"Once you start allowing that kind of behaviour, the next step is to start posing the POWs in order to get even better pictures."

At a minimum, the pictures violate Navy regulations that prohibit photographing prisoners other than for intelligence or administrative purposes, according to Bender, the Seal's spokesman.

All Naval Special Warfare personnel were told that prior to deployment, he said, but "it is obvious from some of the photographs that this policy was not adhered to."

Website

The images were posted to the internet site Smugmug.com.

The woman who posted them said her husband has returned to Iraq. He does not appear in photos with any prisoners.

The Navy goes to great lengths to protect the identities and whereabouts of its 2400 Seals - which stands for Navy Sea, Air, Land - many of whom have classified counterterrorist missions around the globe.

"Some of these photos clearly depict faces and names of Naval Special Warfare personnel, which could put them or their families at risk," Bender said.

Agencies

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/0D7C956B-872D-451B-95BA-E2AB3B8D69F1.htm

A photo found posted on a commercial photo-sharing Web site operated by a woman who said her husband brought the photos from Iraq after his tour of duty appears to show a bloodied prisoner being held at gunpoint. The prisoner's face was obscured by the source.
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These and other photos found by the AP appear to show the immediate aftermath of raids on civilian homes. One man is lying on his back with a boot on his chest. A mug shot shows a man with an automatic weapon pointed at his head and a gloved thumb jabbed into his throat. In many photos, faces have been blacked out. What appears to be blood drips from the heads of some. A family huddles in a room in one photo and others show debris and upturned furniture.
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http://www.detnews.com/2004/nation/0412/04/nation-23756.htm

A photo found posted on a commercial photo-sharing Web site operated by a woman who said her husband brought the photos from Iraq after his tour of duty appears to show a subject constrained by U.S. military personnel. The Navy SEALs have launched a criminal investigation into photographs that appear to show commandos sitting on hooded and handcuffed detainees, and photos of what appear to be bloodied prisoners. (AP Photo)

A photo found posted on a commercial photo-sharing Web site operated by a woman who said her husband brought the photos from Iraq after his tour of duty appears to show a prisoner having his picture taken at gunpoint. The Navy SEALs have launched a criminal investigation into photographs that appear to show commandos in Iraq sitting on hooded and handcuffed detainees, and photos of what appear to be bloodied prisoners, one with a gun to his head. (AP Photo)