Darn those nutty Reservists

[FlaSoxxJim]

To take everyone's mind off of those ugly 'isolated events' at Abu Ghraib, let's instead tune in to see how Iraqi prisoners are supposed to be treated. Wait, maybe this one is not so pleasant either. Well, hopefully some of the other dozen or so Iraqi deaths at the hands of US interrogators now under investigation will convince me that this is just wacky reservist hijinks.

 

The newest Iraqi on ice is 52-year-old Nadem Sadoon Hatab. He was a former Baath Party official, so I guess that makes it alright. He may have known where Jessica Lynch's firearm was, so maybe that makes it alright - that is why the marine reservists were told to be extra brutal with him. Funny thing though, none of the "interrogators" spoke Arabic and nobody present for the "interrogation" did either. Kind of hard to gather information that way, I'd bet.

 

Abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Camp White Horse was allegedly carried out by U.S. Marine reservists. The accused reservists have told their lawyers they were given orders to "soften up" the men in their custody for interrogation by what were known as human exploitation teams from military intelligence.

 

After the prisoners were allegedly softened up, "the interrogations were conducted by these human exploitation teams that as far as we can tell didn't report to anybody in the normal chain of command," according to Don Rehkopf, an attorney for one of the accused reservists.

 

According to the military autopsy report obtained by ABCNEWS, Hatab's death was ruled a homicide, caused by strangulation, the result of a fracture of a bone in his throat. The medical examiner testified it took him hours to die.

 

"He was … covered in sweat and feces. It was a little hard to get a grip on him so he was moved by essentially hauling him backward by his jaw, kind of holding him onto his lower jar and upper part of his head," said Jane Siegel, attorney for the former officer in charge at Camp White Horse, against whom charges have been dismissed.

 

Here's the whole story if anybody cares:

 

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/World/I...h_040507-1.html