Page 1 of Appalling treatment of Iraqi POWs

Seeing those pictures on last night`s news and in today`s papers, it`s beyond belief. However can the U.S. hope to win over the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people ? And the pretty feeble excuses put by one soldier "I wasn`t given any training or guidance" or words to that effect. You don`t need guidance in how to observe common decency.

JohnF

I also think this is absolutely disturbing. The thing that disturbs me more than anything is that someone tried to defend their actions (although he would never openly admit it). He stated that the way the american `soldiers` acted was due to a psychological cause where if you put them in a position of authority, they will take advantage. To me this is just plain sick, and the way that the american soldiers posed, much like tourists in front of a feature was unnerving. Surely this was as bad as some of the things Saddam did? In that case what right do the americans think they have treating the pow`s as Saddam did (with anyone), when they went to war to remove him in the first place?! Surely, this is hypocritical!
I know that the Iraqi`s have also done awful things but if the americans are there to try and make everything orderly, then surely they can see that this behaviour is encouraging exactly the opposite to happen >:(
I would have liked to have seen the look on Tony Blair`s face when he saw them pictures....

Same Old Arsenal Always Winning

This item was edited on Friday, 30th April 2004, 16:48

And what, they wouldn`t do the same to our boys?

Not condoning these actions by the way before all you human rights protestors firebomb me house.

Badboybez

In Madness You Dwell

Quote:
And what, they wouldn`t do the same to our boys?Yes, they would have and indeed did do if you have read Andy McNab`s account of Bravo Two Zero. But you`re right in not condoning those incidents. War is a dirty business, but it`s no excuse not to treat POWs humanely.

JohnF

I think some of the US networks are not showing any of this story, for the usual reasons. :/

Whilst I think to a certain extent you can forgive such actions in the heat of war, the fact that this was an invasion (I don`t recall Iraq attacking the US) and the war is supposed to be over... :)

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"There has to be a balance between telling the truth and reassurance"
Home Secretary David Blunkett

There`s the Geneva convention, simple human decency and - considering one of the reasons to go to war (to rescue the Iraqi people from a dictator) - the moral high ground.
There`s no need to be savages just because other people are being (what Iraqis did to civillian contractors, for example).

The photos are a great recruiting ad for anti-Americanism and terrorism.

Anyone else reminded of the Stanford Experiment here?

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xfilesgurly,
Is that the experiment conducted by Zimmerman?

I just watched the news and it showed pictures of some British soldiers also urinating on pow`s.

In reply to badboybez, I am also not condoning their actions and yes, I think the Iraqi`s have already done some horrific things like mutilating the bodies of the American soldiers. However, if you want to restore order in a country, you will need the inhabitants to trust you. Stacking naked Iraqi prisoners and posing with them and putting a bag over a man`s head, putting him on a box whilst attaching wires to him and telling him if he falls off the box he will be electrocuted is a somewhat strange way to do this.

Same Old Arsenal Always Winning

F***ing stupid yanks doing their best to arse things up. I support America and believe they are our best mates in this world, but you have to treat prisoners of war the way you`d expect your own prisoners to be treated. This just looks incredibly bad.

Rich

This item was edited on Saturday, 1st May 2004, 00:33

His name was Zimbardo, but yep, that experiment.

In the prison experiment there was nothing (outside of the roles) seperating the "guards" from the "prisoners", it was just pretend - in the case of the soldiers there is power, fear, anger, hatred and revenge motivating them - no excuse, just not suprising either.

Would this be covered by the ICC, or is that reserved for governments? Oh wait, Bush refused to sign up for that. How handy.

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It gets worse doesn`t it ? It`s not just the U.S. Has anyone else seen the photos in this morning`s Daily Mirror ? Disgraceful.

JohnF