Canadian Cynic

Seymour Hersh on the Iraqi torture atrocities

Star investigative journalist Seymour Hersh has weighed in on the recent Iraqi torture reports and, as with the online photos, you might want to steel yourself before reading it. Consider the following excerpt from a 53-page report written by Major General Antonio M. Taguba, and obtained by Hersh's The New Yorker; Taguba's report was not meant for public consumption and, given some of its contents, you can understand why as Taguba documents some of the abuse inflicted on Iraqi detainees:

Breaking chemical lights and pouring the phosphoric liquid on detainees; pouring cold water on naked detainees; beating detainees with a broom handle and a chair; threatening male detainees with rape; allowing a military police guard to stitch the wound of a detainee who was injured after being slammed against the wall in his cell; sodomizing a detainee with a chemical light and perhaps a broom stick, and using military working dogs to frighten and intimidate detainees with threats of attack, and in one instance actually biting a detainee.

Just read the article.