| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"caquixote" |
| Date: |
11 May 2004 09:15:05 PM |
| Object: |
We did what we had to do, but it should never have got to that point |
Girman tells Rather that the MPs shot and killed a prisoner during another
riot. "...We did what we had to do, but it should never have got to that
point."
Girman and Canjar's families tried to bring attention to the problems at
Camp Bucca last year. They called Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's
office repeatedly and talked to his staff, but got no response. Their
letters to the White House and two senators were also unanswered.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/11/60II/main616849.shtml
Inside Iraq's U.S.-Run Prisons
May 12, 2004
Long before the pictures taken inside Abu Ghraib were broadcast on 60
Minutes II, there were warning signs that something had gone terribly wrong
with the U.S.-run prison system in Iraq.
60 Minutes II exclusively obtained an American soldier's home video from
Camp Bucca in Southern Iraq and Abu Ghraib in Baghdad, where American
soldiers have been accused of abusing Iraqi prisoners.
The video shows a young soldier's disdain for the Iraqi prisoners. She says:
"We've already had two prisoners die...but who cares? That's two less for me
to worry about."
Two other soldiers who were at Camp Bucca and are accused of abusing
prisoners there tell Correspondent Dan Rather that the problems began with
the chain of command -- the same chain of command that was in charge of Abu
Ghraib when the pictures of torture and abuse were taken.
Rather's report will be broadcast on 60 Minutes II, Wednesday, May 12 at 8
p.m. ET/PT.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
The home video obtained by 60 Minutes II shows what conditions were like at
both Camp Bucca and Abu Ghraib.
The videotaped comments of the soldier, whose name is not being revealed to
protect her identity, reflect her dislike for the prison camp and the
prisoners under her control.
"I hate it here," she says. "I want to come home. I want to be a civilian
again. We actually shot two prisoners today. One got shot in the chest for
swinging a pole against our people on the feed team. One got shot in the
arm. We don't know if the one we shot in the chest is dead yet."
Throughout the tape, the soldier records her anger at the thousands of Iraqi
prisoners under U.S. control at Camp Bucca. "They usually have three a week
that break out and, of course, every time that I'm working they never do
it," she says.
"It's 'cause they are scared of me. I actually got in trouble the other day
because I was throwing rocks at them."
In her video diary, she also catalogs the dangers in the camp. "This is a
sand viper," the soldier says. "One bite will kill you in six hours. We've
already had two prisoners die of it, but who cares? That's two less for me
to worry about."
Another danger at Camp Bucca was the ratio of guards to prisoners, says Tim
Canjar, one of the soldiers drummed out of the military for allegedly
abusing Iraqi prisoners.
Although he denies the charges, Canjar says the situation at Camp Bucca was
chaotic. "The Palm Sunday riot was probably the worst," Canjar tells Rather.
"...At one point, it was me and another soldier guarding. I was watching 535
prisoners on my side....The prisoners started hitting us...[fellow soldier
Lisa Girman] called all the orders. Our other chain of command was nowhere
in sight....We did not see them throughout the whole riot."
The chain of command did witness at least part of the Palm Sunday riot, says
Lisa Girman, another soldier who was discharged for allegedly abusing
prisoners at Camp Bucca.
She, too, denies those charges and also blames the chain of command for the
chaos at Camp Bucca. "Well, they were there in the beginning of the riot,"
Girman tells Rather. "...I talked to them. I said, 'We're gonna lose this
camp,' and they said, 'We gotta do something.'"
Girman says the chain of command ignored the problems at Camp Bucca. She
says, "The ignorance of the chain of command not to listen to the person who
was actually on the front line....They see and recognize what's going wrong
and then they tell me and then I tell the chain of command and they just
ignored me. They just said, 'OK, there's nothing we can do about that now.'"
Girman tells Rather that the MPs shot and killed a prisoner during another
riot. "...We did what we had to do, but it should never have got to that
point."
Girman and Canjar's families tried to bring attention to the problems at
Camp Bucca last year. They called Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's
office repeatedly and talked to his staff, but got no response. Their
letters to the White House and two senators were also unanswered.
.
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