September 10, 2006
Abu Ghraib prisioners pleaded to stay American prisioners
You saw the headlines about the prisoner mistreatment at Abu Ghraib. You heard of the degradation and horror of American custody. When prisoners were safely under American capture even those prisoners would tell our press how horrid they were being treated. You would think they were anxious to be rid of these monsters and placed under the tender cares of their fellow Muslim brethren.
Some of the small number of prisoners who remained in the jail after the Americans left said they had pleaded to go with their departing captors, rather than be left in the hands of Iraqi guards.You would be wrong."The Americans were better than the Iraqis. They treated us better," said Khalid Alaani, who was held on suspicion of involvement in Sunni terrorism.
Access to the part of the prison containing terrorism suspects was denied, but from that block came the sound of screaming. The screaming continued for a long time.
The witness said that even in the thieves' section prisoners were being treated badly. "Someone was shouting 'Please help us, we want the human rights officers, we want the Americans to come back'," he said.Just another classic example of the western media getting a few small details right and the big picture wrong.
Posted by Sid at September 10, 2006 09:52 AM | Middle East
