Mid-East Realities

TORTURE
As Made in US/UK/Israel, et. al.


Mid-East Realities - MER - http://www.MiddleEast.Org - 2 May 2004:
<http://www.middleeast.org>
Now why should we be so surprised really? The
Israelis have been using all kinds of torture
techniques for a very long time on the subjugated
Palestinians. And key American allies including
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and of course Iraq
of yesteryear when considered an important
up-and-coming U.S. 'client regime,' have been
using torture on their own. But there's
something about pictures rather than words...of
course that is it. And so the American
President, et. al., tell us now -- post public
pictures of course -- how 'disgusted' they are.
Yet the reality is that the CIA, the 'School of
the Americas,' and various arms of the Pentagon
have been notorious over the years for teaching
various kinds of torture techniques to others.
And the reality is that many of the secret police
trained by the U.S. over the years -- especially
in the Middle East and Latin America -- have been
routinely using torture techniques learned from
and with the Americans and then further enhanced
on their own. Indeed, as far back as 1979 the
publisher of MER, then one of the Editors of The
Middle East Magazine in London, published actual
'top secret' State Department documents prepared
for top officials in the Clinton Administration
detailing the torture of Palestinians by
Israelis. The story had to be published in
London because at the last minute even as the
presses were about to roll intense pressures
caused a U.S. newspaper to spike the story even
after it had been set in type as a cover story.
Indeed as well the U.S. government has been
covering up matters relating to torture for a
very long time now, just as they attempted to do
with the pictures finally released to world view
a few days ago. Indeed the Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon personally phoned
the President of CBS News 'urging' him not to go
with the story. Then, after holding it for
weeks, CBS finally went with it; but only after
it got word other news organizations were
preparing to do so. The pictures of American
troops torturing and grossly humiliating Iraqi
prisoners have now spread far and wide and will
be one of the lasting visual images of the
American invasion/occupation of Iraq. And then
yesterday, maybe as a result of the American
stories this time, pictures of British troops
doing much the same finally came out as well.
Despite all claims of 'shock' and 'disgust,'
until the US, British, and Israeli prisons are
opened to serious and ongoing international
inspection the assumption will now be that these
practices by the occupiers are not
uncommon...only that the clear revelation of them
is.



SHAME OF ABUSE BY BRIT TROOPS
By Paul Byrne

[The Daily Mirror - UK - 1 May 2004]

The shocking pictures [omitted from this forward]
were [provided to the Daily Mirror] by one of the
attackers and a colleague. We have agreed to
protect their identities as they fear reprisals.

Last night, their damning testimony was in the
hands of appalled ministers and Army chiefs who
pledged an urgent investigation.

Chief of the General Staff General Sir Michael
Jackson said: "If this is proven, the
perpetrators are not fit to wear the Queen's
uniform. They have besmirched the good name of
the Army and its honour."

No 10 said: "The Prime Minister fully endorses the general's statement."

The outrage, which emerged the day after US
troops were pictured torturing Iraqi prisoners of
war, makes a mockery of the Army's attempts to
win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people.

. . . .


Army chiefs believe it was an isolated incident
involving a few rogue troops. But, it is claimed,
officers turned a blind eye. One of the soldiers
said: "Basically this guy was dying as he
couldn't take any more. An officer came down. It
was 'Get rid of him - I haven't seen him'. The
paperwork gets ripped. So they threw him out,
still with a bag on his head."

. . . .

Soldier A told how the young victim was hauled in
suspected of stealing from the docks.

He said: "You pick on a man and go for him.
Straightaway he gets a beating, a couple of
punches and kicks to put him down. Then he was
dragged to the back of the vehicle."

Immediately a sandbag was placed over the man's
head and his hands tied behind his back.

Soldier A said:

As we took him back he was getting a beating. He
was hit with batons on the knees, fingers, toes,
elbows, and head.

You normally try to leave off the face until
you're in camp. If you pull up with black eyes
and bleeding faces you could be in s**t.

"So it's body shots - scaring him, saying 'We're
going to kill you'. A lot of them cry and p***
themselves.

Because it was so hot we put him in the back of a
four- tonner truck which has a canopy over it.
That's where the photos were taken. Lads were
taking turns giving him a right going over,
smashing him in the face with weapons and
stamping on him. We had him for about eight hours.

. . . .

"We took his mask off to give him some water and
let him have a rest for 10 minutes. He could only
speak a few words, pleading 'No, mister' . No,
mister'.

I did less than the others. But I joined in. Me
and my mate calmed down. Then two lads come on
and it starts again.

. . . .

The two infantrymen claim abuse has started
because Iraqi police are powerless to process
suspects.

Soldier B said: "There's no point taking them to
the police station because they're released
within 20 minutes. The coppers don't want any
comeback and let them go. All we do is teach them
a lesson our way.

"You're knackered and you don't want to be going
to a police station and doing statements, just
for them to be released. Give them a kicking,
then it's done and dusted.

"A lot of the younger ones are worse. It's as
though they've something to prove. You've got a
gun and you're the law. You can make people do
whatever you want."

Both men fear the situation is worsening , with
UK troops now seen as the enemy, rather than
liberators.

One said: "I can't believe it has taken the
Iraqis so long to fight back. If it had been me
or my family, I'd have retaliated straightaway.

"They've just got f****d around so much. You
can't go in now, and say 'Right, let's forget
about what has happened and start again'.

"We're struggling now. There are too many people against us."

The MoD confirmed eight cases of alleged
mistreatment of Iraqis by British personnel are
being investigated by the army's Special
Investigations Branch. A spokesman said: "All
allegations will be investigated - and every
soldier knows it."


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