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Prison Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan

By TChris, Section War on Terror
Posted on Wed Mar 16, 2005 at 12:36:26 PM EST
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by TChris

According to the AP, at least 108 people have died while held in U.S. custody in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Most deaths were violent and some 25% are being investigated as possible abuse by US personnel, the agency said.

At least 26 deaths have been investigated as homicides, a figure that calls into question the government's contention that only a few rogue soldiers are to blame for prisoner abuse.

The American Civil Liberties Union said it was "unacceptable" that no-one at the highest levels of government had been held accountable for the abuses.

Names of the dead and causes of death are reported here.

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    • Prison Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan | 18 comments (18 topical)
    Re: Prison Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan (none / 0) (#1)
    by Dadler on Wed Mar 16, 2005 at 12:49:50 PM EST
    ack, a hundred or so murders is nothing for bushco. they do more damage at wedding parties.

    Re: Prison Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan (none / 0) (#2)
    by scarshapedstar on Wed Mar 16, 2005 at 01:30:20 PM EST
    Hey, be honest, guys... who here would be fired if you killed 108 people die at work?

    Re: Prison Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Mar 16, 2005 at 01:37:11 PM EST
    zzzzzzzz let me get this straight. 108 people died in enemy prisons in a war. To say there's no story here is beyond an understatement. In fact, if I had to guess, compared to other wars over the same period of time, I'd bet that number is extremely low. Next story please.

    Re: Prison Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan (none / 0) (#4)
    by desertswine on Wed Mar 16, 2005 at 01:42:29 PM EST
    This is a continuing nightmare.

    Re: Prison Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan (none / 0) (#5)
    by pigwiggle on Wed Mar 16, 2005 at 01:54:29 PM EST
    Died during interrogation? Sounds to me like these folks were tortured to death. Nasty.

    Re: Prison Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan (none / 0) (#6)
    by soccerdad on Wed Mar 16, 2005 at 04:04:06 PM EST
    for the wing nuts
    [torture] "presupposes, it requires, it craves the abrogation of our capacity to imagine others' suffering, dehumanizing them so much that their pain is not our pain. It demands this of the torturer, placing the victim outside and beyond any form of compassion or empathy, but also demands of everyone else the same distancing, the same numbness..." from his new book "Torture: A Collection", Ariel Dorfman
    Re: Prison Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Mar 16, 2005 at 06:58:49 PM EST
    why not? "help"

    Re: Prison Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Mar 16, 2005 at 07:12:37 PM EST
    Pig Died during interrogation? Sounds to me like these folks were tortured to death. It would, if you haven't read the report in question. The BBC article states Some had died of natural causes, others had been victims of insurgent attacks on US detention facilities and some killed in violent prison uprisings, a spokesman told the BBC News website. "That said, each of these deaths is investigated to determine the circumstances and whether there is any accountability," he added. Torture in this story? Only in your head, Pig.

    Re: Prison Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Mar 16, 2005 at 07:36:40 PM EST
    Horse - your quote from the article is response by spokesman for the Pentagon. Sort of like asking Saddam if anyone was getting tortured or summarily executed under his leadership. Bet we would get about the same answer. But natural causes covers a lot of territory. What could be more natural in a war zone than a bullet? They never had it so good, I suppose.

    Re: Prison Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Mar 16, 2005 at 07:38:11 PM EST
    At least 26 have been investigated as criminal homicide involving the abuse of prisoners.

    Re: Prison Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan (none / 0) (#11)
    by john horse on Wed Mar 16, 2005 at 07:48:42 PM EST
    MB re:let me get this straight. 108 people died in enemy prisons in a war. "Enemy prisons"? They died in US custody while in US detention facilities. According to this article 25% of the deaths are being investigated as possible abuse by US personnel. Your use of the word "enemy" brings to mind the famous Pogo quote "we have met the enemy and he is us."

    Re: Prison Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan (none / 0) (#12)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 05:51:39 AM EST
    The Horse misses the point a tad. While it may be misleading to report a number of dead without stating the conditions of their demise, if just one death was caused by the handelers then a crime has been committed. Of course if one is to buy into the Shrub's illegal Propaganda Machine then all the deaths were, of course, self inflicted. Then again, if I remember correctly, didn't they state no one had died in custody at one point after proof had been established that this was a lie? That there was no torture while the entire world had already seen the photos? Yet an entire class of people refuse to come into the light and prefer to live with their heads up their own... You must also take into account that American Law Enforcement took a Canadian citizen, who was visiting New York, to the mideast for "interrogation". This man, after a year, was released and his first complaint was of torture! So do we tourture people overseas because the "stupid law" against it here in America has yet to be overturned? Our government took him because he was born in the middle east and, while he moved to Canada as a very young child and had never returned to the middle east, was still determined to be a risk to national security. (Shades of Nipponese and WWII) After a year of tourture they found nothing? Is this mans story reason enough for the world to look at America no longer as the light of freedom and bastion of truth, but more of a Totalitarian State propagated by lies and misdirection? For those that will disagree with the US being a Totalitarian State I offer this: "relating to or operating a centralized government system in which a single party without opposition rules over political, economic, social, and cultural life" Can anyone deny this reality is here? I could also add, Authoritarian, Faux-Theocracy, Autocratic, Despotic and Plutocracy. (Look them up if you are unfamilliar with them!) Just as Germany went totalitarian (Nazi) within a Democratic State, so too can we, as uninformed or misguided ditto-heads do the same thing here and vote them into office. After leaving the old world to find freedom in a new land, the old world has become more tollerant and we have become the oppressors! What goes around...

    Re: Prison Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan (none / 0) (#13)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 07:32:55 AM EST
    Well said, Dark Photon.

    Re: Prison Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan (none / 0) (#14)
    by pigwiggle on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 09:16:05 AM EST
    “Torture in this story? Only in your head, Pig” I did read the article. There are several cases that the investigating authorities have stated were open and shut cases of assault. These folks, as I said, ‘died during interrogation’. They weren’t being interrogated and then, unfortunately, were killed in a passing prison uprising. They weren’t being interrogated and then, unfortunately, were killed in a transient insurgent attack. And most obviously, they didn’t die of previously sustained wounds while being interrogated. You don’t interrogate dieing men, you heal them and then interrogate. Were all 108 beaten to death? Certainly not. Did all 108 die regrettable but unpreventable deaths while being protected by our military? As you said, ‘only in your head’.

    Re: Prison Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan (none / 0) (#15)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 10:30:37 AM EST
    Pig The article says nothing of interrogation. The fact that you assume abuse = interrogation is, in this case, unsubstantiated by the facts. As such, any speculation by you as to the interrogation or torture of these individuals is exactly that - speculation.

    Re: Prison Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan (none / 0) (#16)
    by Che's Lounge on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 10:42:25 AM EST
    " I dunno Sarge. His arms just kinda popped right outta their sockets!"

    Re: Prison Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan (none / 0) (#17)
    by pigwiggle on Thu Mar 17, 2005 at 12:01:14 PM EST
    Horse- “The article says nothing of interrogation. The fact that you assume abuse = interrogation is, in this case, unsubstantiated by the facts.” Right, the BBC article says nothing about the prisoners that died during interrogation. If you follow the second link above you’ll find the list that the AP obtained from the pentagon. For example; Manadel al-Jamadi, Abu Ghraib, Iraq, Nov. 4, 2003. Died during interrogation. Several Navy SEALs charged; and two CIA personnel under investigation.

    Re: Prison Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan (none / 0) (#18)
    by kdog on Fri Mar 18, 2005 at 07:11:16 AM EST
    Don't waste your words pig....some will excuse/ignore any behavior as long as SuperBush protects them from the terr'ists. I have semi-serious conversations with my fellow citizens everyday, and a third are in favor of nuking Iraq.

    Prison Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan | 18 comments (18 topical)