President Bush has spoken out against reports of abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. troops at the Abu Ghraib prison saying that he was “deeply disgusted” and that the perpetrators would be “taken care of.” The president’s statement came after photos of some of the abusive acts circulated on the internet and on Arab television. In one instance, an Iraqi prisoner was made to stand on a little box and wires were attached to his hands and a hood was placed over his head. He was told that he would be electrocuted if he fell off the box. Other incidents are far more serious, with allegations of humiliating sexual abuse.
Reuters
The photos showed U.S. troops smiling, posing, laughing or giving the thumbs-up sign as naked, male Iraqi prisoners were stacked in a pyramid or positioned to simulate sex acts with one another.Bush blamed a “few people” for the abuses and defended the conduct of U.S. occupation forces as the White House scrambled to head off a backlash in Iraq and across the Arab world.
“I shared a deep disgust that those prisoners were treated the way they were treated,” Bush said in the White House Rose Garden after talks with Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin.
“I didn’t like it one bit,” Bush added. “But I also want to remind people that those few people who did that do not reflect the nature of the men and women we’ve sent overseas. That’s not the way the people are. It’s not their character, that are serving our nation in the cause of freedom.”
“And there will be an investigation,” Bush said of the actions of the troops. “I think they’ll be taken care of.”
The photos, which appeared on television and in newspapers, showed U.S. troops abusing some of the Iraqis held at the Abu Ghraib prison, a notorious center of torture and executions under toppled President Saddam Hussein’s government.
There are no words to describe how disappointed I am in the soldiers who committed these acts. I certainly understand their reasons for doing so… they’ve spent over a year fighting these people, and they are angry. But something like this is never, ever okay.
Even more disturbing is the allegation of one of the accused that this behavior occurred as a result of a total lack of control by superiors in charge of the prison.
CBS News
“We had no support, no training whatsoever. And I kept asking my chain of command for certain things … like rules and regulations,” says Frederick. “And it just wasn’t happening.”