Friday, May 21, 2004

I gave you the Washington Post link below in haste last night. There's more -- a gallery with six newly obtained photos, some video of abuse, and a description of the video:

The video begins with three soldiers huddled around a naked detainee, his thin frame backed against a wall. With a snap of his wrist, one of the soldiers slaps the man across his left cheek so hard that the prisoner's knees buckle. Another detainee, handcuffed and on his back, is dragged across the prison floor.

Then, the human pyramid begins to take shape...


The article describes more violence than is shown in the online video:

In one video clip, five hooded and naked detainees stand against the wall in the darkness, each masturbating, with two other hooded detainees crouched at their feet. Another shows a prisoner handcuffed to the outside of a cell door. He repeatedly slams his head into the green metal, leaving streaks of blood before he ultimately collapses at the feet of a cameraman.

Unfortunately, we're no closer than we've been to getting to the bottom of this -- we can't seem to establish who's really responsible, and I worry that cover-up will continue to succeed.

This release of images may well reinforce the "few bad apples" message from the right. And these pictures aren't going to stop people on the right from talking about "frat hazing" -- the images are brutal, but once again the mainstream press declines to show us real blood. The words are worse, but it's the images that will have impact.

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