Swell anecdote: we kill an innocent detainee

[tristano's ghost]

"Our bad," I guess...

Even as the young Afghan man was dying before them, his American jailers continued to torment him.
The prisoner, a slight, 22-year-old taxi driver known only as Dilawar, was hauled from his cell at the detention center in Bagram, Afghanistan, at around 2 a.m. to answer questions about a rocket attack on an American base. When he arrived in the interrogation room, an interpreter who was present said, his legs were bouncing uncontrollably in the plastic chair and his hands were numb. He had been chained by the wrists to the top of his cell for much of the previous four days.

Dilawar was an Afghan farmer and taxi driver who died while in custody of American troops.

Mr. Dilawar asked for a drink of water, and one of the two interrogators, Specialist Joshua R. Claus, 21, picked up a large plastic bottle. But first he punched a hole in the bottom, the interpreter said, so as the prisoner fumbled weakly with the cap, the water poured out over his orange prison scrubs. The soldier then grabbed the bottle back and began squirting the water forcefully into Mr. Dilawar's face.

"Come on, drink!" the interpreter said Specialist Claus had shouted, as the prisoner gagged on the spray. "Drink!"

At the interrogators' behest, a guard tried to force the young man to his knees. But his legs, which had been pummeled by guards for several days, could no longer bend. An interrogator told Mr. Dilawar that he could see a doctor after they finished with him. When he was finally sent back to his cell, though, the guards were instructed only to chain the prisoner back to the ceiling.

"Leave him up," one of the guards quoted Specialist Claus as saying.

Several hours passed before an emergency room doctor finally saw Mr. Dilawar. By then he was dead, his body beginning to stiffen. It would be many months before Army investigators learned a final horrific detail: Most of the interrogators had believed Mr. Dilawar was an innocent man who simply drove his taxi past the American base at the wrong time.

Full story here in the NY Times. I certainly hope Defense Secretary Rumsfeld takes the necessary measures to make sure that this sort of story never sees the light of day again. If only we could eliminate this pesky free press...

[RainyDay]

Up.

[patricia]

The Bush Administration must be very proud of themselves. Their efficiency at rounding up "evil-doers" and "terrorists" rivals that of the Nazis in their attempt to re-configure the world. Let's just beat the Iraqis and anyone else in the world who doubts the superiority of the American culture and goals into submission.

The most obscene thing about this administration is their continuel pious statements that they "value every human life".
What total nonsense!!! Shame on them, far into the history books that our children and grandchildren will study in the future. Their place in infamy is assured.

[crawjo]

I'm speechless. His blood is on our hands.

Originally Posted by crawjo

His blood is on our hands.

Man, that shit is hard to clean off too.

What a passionate story.

Reactionaries-R-Us

[crawjo]

Originally Posted by Scott Dolan

Man, that shit is hard to clean off too.

What a passionate story.

Reactionaries-R-Us

Translate, please.

Well, think about it this way. when that dude kidnapped and killed that teenage girl in Sarasota last year, I said fry the motherfucker. I was being reactionary. You kept your emotions in check and awaited a fair trial.


I'm sure Mr. Golden's report is a real page turner, if not a little melodramatic from excerpts I've read, but your reaction to this story is just like mine was in the previous example. You pick and choose when and where to voice your outrage, just like we all do. That's cool. But it is a reactionary response none the less.

Although I do applaud TG for going with a story, unlike the whole gassing of Fallujah hooey, that has a named source this time around.

[crawjo]

I leave it for others to judge my reactions, but clearly a detainee was killed, and he's not the only prisoner to be murdered. This is not a secret. And I don't think anyone should be put to death for these crimes, I just find them particularly awful, and feel that part of the blame rebounds to those of us who supported this war in the first place.

[sonic1]

Well, I am reactionary when I say this: this story is just one. My brother told me many much worse stories. And my REACTION is that this is fucked up.

If you don't REACT to a story like this than you must be jaded.

Nope, sorry.


The last time I reacted emotionally to a tragic story I was quickly rebuked by crawjo and told that I should wait and get the full story before I rush to judgement.


So that's what I have decided to do here.

[Darryl G. Thomas]

Hearts and minds baby.

Maybe we can send Laura Bush over there to mend some fences.