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U.S. Places Violent Iraqi Prisoners In Standing Coffins
The United States. Not China. Not Zimbabwe.
The U.S. military is segregating violent Iraqi prisoners in wooden crates that in some cases are not much bigger than the prisoners.
The military released three grainy black-and-white photos of what it calls the "segregation boxes" used in Iraq. They show the rudimentary structures of wood and mesh. Some of the boxes are as small as 3 feet by 3 feet by 6 feet tall, according to military officials. They did not release a picture of a box that size.
The military said the boxes are humane and are checked every 15 minutes. It said detainees, who stand in the boxes, are isolated for no more than 12 hours at a time.
Here's how the story was uncovered. You can see the photos at the link — they're like something out of the Great Escape.
I would like to hear the military definition of "Humane"....
Bill, I don't think you'd be able to hear it over the thundering road of bullsh*t.
Ugh. Disgusting. You know...I really would like to be proud of my country and to love it as much as people on the right appear to...but crap like this makes that really difficult. How can anyone say with a straight face that we're a great nation? We COULD be and we SHOULD be, but we're far from it if actions like this are deemed acceptable by our higher-ups.
In US prisons, violent prisoners are often locked into solitary confinement. It appears that these "prisoner boxes" are an attempt to create a kind of solitary confinement under field conditions. They incorporate many features of solitary confinement cells, including what appear to be slots on the door just large enough to admit a tray of food.
It doesn't look good, but I'm not exactly sure how this is any worse than what we see in domestic US prisons. The ventilation of the prisoner box is the most serious concern that I can think of. The first prisoner box seems to have pretty good ventilation, including a large vented area near the roof and vents around the floor. The others don't show any ventilation details.
Lea, I'm not sure people on the right do love their country. They love the flag and all the other symbols, they love making money, they love an idealized Mayberry where the town drunk is a harmless idiot and there are no gay people or uppity minorities or poor, and everybody dresses up for church. Mostly they're afraid, and I think it's because things aren't that way and they know they'll never be able to make them that way. I just took a long trip across America, and it's a wonderful land full of friendly people who are barely muddling along, but they treat you right. There's a lot to love here. But I came to bitch about these boxes. Twelve hours? Standing? I'm pretty sure that constitutes a severe stress position, no matter how well ventilated, in desert heat. And what's the definition of "violent?" Maybe resisting being stripped and ordered to jump on top of a pile of other naked men. One thing I do know. The boxes in the article are big enough to sit down in, and there's no way I would stand in one of the boxes pictured for twelve hours in that heat unless somebody was putting a cattle prod to me every fifteen minutes. So yeah there must be some boxes with standing room only, the 3x3s mentioned, somewhere.
When Congress reconvenes in September, each Senator and Congressman should arrive to find a box in the place of their comfortable leather chairs. The heater should be turned on to simulate the tropical climate of Cuba and they should be made to stand in these boxes for twelve hours.
Then they should tell me that treatment like that is not torture.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff should be made to endure the same, but they along with the Attorney General, Bush, Cheney and Rice should be left in there so long as Guantanamo remains open.
PODHORETZ NEO-CON BUSH, PUTTING VIOLENT IRAQI PRISONERS OF WAR IN SMALL WOODEN CRATES, IS STRIVING TO INCITE GREATER RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE, AND UNWITTING DISHONORS HIMSELF AND HIS COUNTRY.
Thanks for stopping by to shout at us, Jeugenen.