Abu Ghraib News Archives

Five years into the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, US President George Bush claims it's been worth the haul. via Arab News

Start the slide show As we mark the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the sad milestone of 4,000 American soldiers killed, the effects of the war are obvious and nuanced, quiet and loud. via Independent Weekly

“My son, Craig, who had been in the Army, called to tell me he was re-enlisting. Craig lived in Antigo and said he wanted to be a mentor, like Rachel, for the young soldiers in Iraq”

Mary Bosveld screamed as loud as she could. She screamed until she fell exhausted and could scream no more. via Fond du Lac Reporter

Five years, gone. Gone, as well, are nearly 4,000 U.S. soldiers; tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians; the infrastructure of the nation of Iraq; and global goodwill for the U.S. as the world's top power. via Statesman Journal

“I didn't see one enemy on that operation.”

While on tank patrol through the narrow streets of Abu Ghraib, just west of Baghdad, Pfc. via Poor Mojo Newswire

“They couldn't say that we broke the rules because there were no rules”

By Richard Cohen Tuesday, March 25, 2008; Page A15 You know him well. His nickname was Gilligan, and he was a prisoner at Abu Ghraib , Saddam Hussein 's vast prison transformed into a vast American one and then ... via The Washington Post

“Parts of this history have been told before - the invasion of Afghanistan, torture, flawed intelligence and the invasion of Iraq, failures in the American occupation, and the saber rattling over Iran”

Sept. 11 and Al Qaeda, Afghanistan and Iraq, weapons of mass destruction and the insurgency, Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, Fallujah, and the surge. via WGBH

A weeklong "Peace Week/Week of Reflection" is planned beginning Monday at the University of Iowa to commemorate the start of the sixth year of the war in Iraq. via Indianola Record-Herald

“We know the Americans are using us to do their dirty work and kill off the resistance for them and then we get nothing for it”

Sunni militias working with the U.S. military in Iraq have threatened to strike unless payments of $10 a day for their fighters are resumed. via Daily India

“It is important to understand that the MI units at Abu Ghraib were far from complete units”

Disclaimer: No clear chain of command existed at Abu Ghraib because so many individual members of various companies and brigades were thrown together there; the chaos and lack of accountability that ensued ... via MotherJones

“Five years after the outbreak of the war in Iraq, the humanitarian situation in most of the country remains among the most critical in the world”

EVER since the bombs started falling five years ago today, the Iraq war has been the focus of worldwide controversy. via Whittier Daily News

“Part of our response maybe should be attacking Iraq. It's an opportunity.”

Join 'Bush's War' in marking a dismal anniversary. This two-part 'Frontline' documentary begins with the attacks of 9/11. Then, step by step, it moves toward the Bush administration's shock-and-awe response. via CourierPostOnline

“I believe the American people will have the patience to see this through”

The memory of a burning Baghdad in the early hours of March 20, 2003 is still fresh, but most people could not have imagined that the Pandora's box would be opened at precisely the same moment as the American ... via People's Daily Online

“I'm saying that what we did happens in war. It just isn't documented”

U.S. Army Pfc. Lynndie R. England arrives for her Article 32 Investigation hearing in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal at Fort Hood, Texas, in this 2005 file photo. via Lubbock Avalanche

“These people will be our future terrorist”

Photographer wanted to expose 'what the military was allowing to happen' Some of the most iconic images of the Iraq war came not from photojournalists on the front lines, but US soldiers carrying ... via Raw Story

“They were really rushing, in large numbers, to get a job - ' because they are suffering!”

Namibia's independence war ended nearly 20 years ago, but the experience gained by many soldiers during the conflict has made the country a fertile hunting ground for private security companies seeking recruits ... via IRIN

“A significant victory in the war on terror”

Some key events in Iraq in the past five years: 2003: INVASION. -March 17: President Bush gives Saddam Hussein 48-hour deadline to give up power. via Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

About 150 people - those opposed to the Iraq War and those supporting it - gathered noisily outside the Tacoma Mall office building on Saturday as a protest marking the upcoming fifth anniversary of the ... via Seattle Post-Intelligencer

“Apart from transfers to Guantanamo, the CIA does not, as a rule, comment publicly on allegations of who may -- or who may not -- have been in its custody”

A Yemeni man says he was detained for nearly three years in secret CIA prisons without being charged, a report said Saturday. via The Post Chronicle

“When the infantry entered al-Kut most of my soldiers stopped fighting. They realised that the US Army was much more powerful than ours”

An Iraqi tells our correspondent of his long and violent journey to the side of the alliance forces April 8, 2004: Iraqi Sunni insurgents celebrate in front of a burning US convoy that they attacked near Abu ... via Free Republic

“That's what makes My Lai more important today than ever before.”

Monks pray for the victims of My Lai massacre during the 40 year anniversary in My Lai in Quang Ngai Province,Vietnam, Saturday, March 15, 2008. via Boston.com

“I'm from New York, the place you Arabs tried to destroy.”

Khaled al-Maqtari's nightmare began when American troops arrived at the al-Ghufran market in Fallujah in January 2004. via Irish Independent

“High Value Terrorist Detainee Program", Amnesty said: "The USA is interpreting its international obligations in a way that renders them meaningless.”

The running of secret CIA prisons for terrorism suspects makes a mockery of international law, Amnesty International said on Friday in a case study of a Yemeni man who was held incommunicado for more than 2-1/2 ... via Reuters

“Sudan government has never hesitated in adopting legal procedure against the persons who committed human rights violations in Darfur”

Sudan rejected U.S. criticism of its human rights record on Thursday, saying George W. Bush's administration was the biggest rights abuser in the world and had ignored big improvements made by Khartoum. via Reuters

“It might also be in their interest in overcoming the legacy of having been criticized so much for torture practices in Abu Ghraib and other detention facilities up to 2004”

The U.N. investigator on torture said on Tuesday the United States had denied his request to visit U.S.-run jails in Iraq and insisted a visit could help clear its legacy of the prison abuse scandal in Abu ... via WNED.org

“If Gary played a rapist in a movie, would anyone believe him to be an actual rapist? He is an actor, not a politician.”

Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign has dropped one of its big fundraisers, or "HillRaisers" -- Mehmet Celebi. via TheBlueSheet

“War was the event of my years.”

When you close your eyes and think of Iraq, what do you see in your mind's eye? Is it a picture of charred bodies hanging from a bridge over the Euphrates River in Fallujah? Is it a picture of a Marine climbing ... via San Jose Mercury News

“These are the times that try men's souls”

Some of them will be okay. They will live with the secrets. They can dissociate from what happened in combat because it was part of the job. via The Common Ills

“Any inhumane treatment -- including abusive practices, torture, or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment as defined in US law, including the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 -- is prohibited”

ISome five years ago, in the days leading up to our invasion of Iraq, a local peace advocate carried a sign outside Greenville's federal building asking "Are we what we say we are?" as a nation. via The Greenville News

“I was hardly getting any sleep myself.”

The prisons in Iraq stink. Ask any guard or interrogator and they'll tell you it's a smell they'll never forget: sweat, fear, and rot. via MotherJones

“The TED Prize was created to catalyze the TED community, their talents, and mindshare”

Comedian Robin Williams scrutinizes grim images of abuses perpetuated by US soldier guards at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. via Raw Story

Four years after photos of naked Abu Ghraib detainees starting appearing on the web, America is still letting out a collective yawn over our torture practices. via Mother Jones

A situation that inflames evil in some people can inspire heroism in others. Evil is more than words; it is ugly and has horrific consequences for humanity. via The Hindu