The Most Curious Thing - Why are you smiling? - NY times

A must read article that will shake you to your soul


>>>>>>>>>>>> snip







The story behind the photograph starts on Oct. 27, 2003, a little over a week before it was taken. On that day, two Iraqi employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were killed in a bomb explosion outside the organization’s office in Baghdad.<3> Very early in the morning on Nov. 4, 2003, a group of Navy Seals (an acronym for Sea-Air-Land units) apprehended Manadel al-Jamadi, who was suspected of having provided explosives for the Oct. 27 bombing.

He wasn’t taken to Abu Ghraib immediately. First, he was brought to Camp Pozzi, an interrogation center adjacent to the Baghdad International Airport. Camp Pozzi was operated by the Seals but was also used by the C.I.A. Several hours later he was moved to Abu Ghraib – for some prisoners, an intermediate stop before rendition to Jordan.<4>

He was placed first in a holding cell on Tier 4B, interrogated, and then taken to the shower room on Tier 1B, adjacent to Tier 1A, the soon-to-be notorious hard site, where many of the prisoner-abuse photographs were taken. Certain details about what happened early that morning are well known from various investigations and reports. Here are two of them: (1) al-Jamadi walked into the shower room under his own power, and (2) one hour later al-Jamadi was dead.

What happened to him?


http://morris.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/19/the-most-curious-thing/?hp&reddit=yes

edited for the link again.

I started going into them but I had to take a break
it was too overwhelming.

I'll save this for later when I'm already in a shitty mood. But I'll K&R you just the same.

Thanks for the thread, Ichingcarpenter.

...the ones in charge should be held accountable, and not just the soldiers on the ground.

big k and r.

But do it on an empty stomach.

That's a great find; my head is still trying to get around it.

Chilling--I almost sympathize with Ms. Harman.

Unnerving. Wow.

K&R

Then indict the lawyers who wrote the memos justifying torture: Yoo, Haynes, Addington.

The military brass would be several levels down in that ladder of command responsibility.

I hope I see justice in my time.

Kinda like Nixon admitting he knew about Watergate and Gemstone in advance. Would've saved everyone a lot of time and hassle getting the facts straight.

Where is Sam Ervin when we really need him? Oh well, everyone who gets pardoned in December and January gets a subpoena to testify in March and April. They won't be able to claim 5th Amendment protections. If they refuse to testify, they can occupy the same cell in Alexandria jail that Judy Miller once had. If they lie to investigators or grand juries, they can be indicted for OOJ and perjury. If they try to leave the country, they can be issued a court order as material witnesses and be added to the No-Fly list.

Then, there are all the civil suits! I can't wait for those! Some of the White House perps will be so broke after those trials they might wish the People of the United States had given them three meals, a cot, and a stainless steel crapper for the rest of their miserable lives.

thanks for focusing on the MOST important issue - the integrity of our constitution!
kp

Thank you Iching!

A riveting article, thanks for this great find.

From the article:

Abu Ghraib is all about the blame game. M.P.’s blaming M.I. M.I. blaming the civilian contractors. And everyone blaming the “bad apples.” Harman didn’t murder al-Jamadi. She provides evidence of a crime, evidence that this was no heart attack victim. She took photographs to show that “the military is nothing but lies.” At the very least, to show that she had been lied to by her commanding officer. It is now our job to make sure that her photographs are used to prosecute the people truly responsible for al-Jamadi’s death.

.....

Thanks for a most important article, Ichingcarpenter. Perhaps we'll soon see the day when the federal penitentiaries are filled with Bush's henchmen.