who said the abuses at Abu Ghraib under U.S. control were torture:
Then:Abu Ghraib became synonymous with abuse after shocking pictures were published in 2004 showing prisoners being tortured and humiliated, galvanising opposition to the US presence in Iraq.
and now:
The witness said that even in the thieves' section prisoners were being treated badly. "Someone was shouting 'Please help us, we want the human rights officers, we want the Americans to come back'," he said.
Well, well, it seems that being led around on a leash and having panties on your head wasn't so bad after all. I said at the time- along with a lot of other people- that these were indeed abuses, but there ain't no way that comes in under the heading of 'torture'.
I'm not excusing this. I am pointing out that a: what happened at the prison when under U.S. control was not good, but wasn't anywhere near this and b: what did anyone think was going to happen to some of the terrorists- and unfortunately some accused of being terrorists- when someone who's had friends or family killed while at a store or applying for a job gets hold of them? In a culture that's been treated this way for a couple of generations?
Article here; I'd seen it the other day but lost the link, found it from Sondra K
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