PENTAGON DENIES RAPE SHOWN IN IRAQ ABUSE PHOTOS -

Thu May 28, 2009 2:01 pm (PDT)

Major General Antonio Taguba, speaking
to the Daily Telegraph, has confirmed the
existence of graphic photographs depicting
the following:
-An American soldier apparently raping
a female prisoner.
-A male translator apparently raping a
male detainee.
-A female prisoner having her clothing
forcibly removed to expose her breasts.

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PENTAGON DENIES RAPE

SHOWN IN IRAQ ABUSE PHOTOS -

"These pictures show torture, abuse, rape and every indecency," Taguba told the Telegraph. "I am not sure what purpose their release would serve other than a legal one and the consequence would be to imperil our troops, the only protectors of our foreign policy, when we most need them, and British troops who are trying to build security in Afghanistan.

"The mere description of these pictures is horrendous enough, take my word for it," Taguba said.

Reuters reports:

"On Thursday afternoon a Pentagon spokesman denied that the pictures 'whose release U.S. President Barack Obama wants to block, include images of apparent rape and sexual abuse.'

"Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the Daily Telegraph newspaper had shown 'an inability to get the facts right'.

"'That news organization has completely mischaracterized the images,' Whitman told reporters. 'None of the photos in question depict the images that are described in that article.'

"Whitman said he did not know if the Telegraph had quoted Taguba accurately. But he said he was not aware that any such photographs had been uncovered as part of the investigation into Abu Ghraib or abuses at other prisons."

Pentagon denies rape shown in Iraq abuse photos - what are your comments?

Greg Dempsey
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SECULARHUMANIST
Voice of the People

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Unreleased abuse photos depict rape, sexual abuse: report
By Raw Story

Published: May 27, 2009
Updated 1 day ago

Update: Pentagon denies pics in question depict rapes

Unreleased photographs of alleged abuse by U.S. military personnel of prisoners at Iraqi prisons - which President Obama refused to release earlier this month - may include images of rape and sexual abuse, according to a new report.

Other photographs depict sexual assaults on prisoners with a truncheon, wire and a phosphorescent tube, according to the Telegraph story.

The still unreleased photos relate to abuse alleged to have taken place between 2001 and 2005 in Abu Ghraib and six other prisons. Taguba, now retired, supports Obama's decision to block the release of the photos, which Obama had previously said would be released according to a court ruling in support of a lawsuit filed by the ACLU.

The Telegraph reports:

It was thought the images were similar to those leaked five years ago, which showed naked and bloody prisoners being intimidated by dogs, dragged around on a leash, piled into a human pyramid and hooded and attached to wires.

Mr Obama seemed to reinforce that view by adding: "I want to emphasise that these photos that were requested in this case are not particularly sensational, especially when compared to the painful images that we remember from Abu Ghraib."