skunk
May 14, 2004, 04:12 AM
From the BBC:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3713111.stm
Last Updated: Friday, 14 May, 2004, 01:11 GMT 02:11 UK
Britons tell Bush of 'US abuse'
Rights groups have demanded better conditions at Guantanamo Bay
Two Britons held at the US base at Guantanamo Bay have sent an open letter to President Bush detailing the alleged abuse they suffered there.
Shafiq Rasul and Asif Iqbal, held at the base for more than two years, said they were deliberately humiliated.
Guards used strobe lights, dogs and loud music - particularly from US rapper Eminem - to extract information, they allege.
US military officials at Guantanamo have denied the accusations.
"We have never applied any of those techniques," the Associated Press quoted a spokesman for the US mission at Guantanamo as saying.
Mr Rasul and Mr Iqbal said detainees often were forced to go naked as punishment for minor offences, even when female guards were present.
They also said they were forced to squat with their hands chained between their legs for hours during questioning.
"Soldiers told us 'We can do anything we want'," the men said in the open letter to Mr Bush and members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
They said they were driven to falsely confess they were two figures in an August 2000 videotape that also showed al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.
Mr Rasul and Mr Iqbal are among five Britons released from Guantanamo whom the British Government freed without charge after determining they were not a security threat.
Sounds very familiar...
US military officials at Guantanamo have denied the accusations.
"We have never applied any of those techniques," the Associated Press quoted a spokesman for the US mission at Guantanamo as saying.
Is it my imagination, or did that ghoul General Miller say specifically that these kind of things were perfectly acceptable?
This administration is running around like a headless chicken in a china shop (excuse the mixed metaphor!). Where's the leadership? Nobody seems to be in charge. You can't run a show like this with EVERYBODY avoiding responsibility. Seriously, they seem to have lost ALL direction: the troops must be really confused, which can't help. And the WH looks as if it is being run by the "war" instead of the other way round.
Last Updated: Friday, 14 May, 2004, 01:11 GMT 02:11 UK
Britons tell Bush of 'US abuse'
Rights groups have demanded better conditions at Guantanamo Bay
Two Britons held at the US base at Guantanamo Bay have sent an open letter to President Bush detailing the alleged abuse they suffered there.
Shafiq Rasul and Asif Iqbal, held at the base for more than two years, said they were deliberately humiliated.
Guards used strobe lights, dogs and loud music - particularly from US rapper Eminem - to extract information, they allege.
US military officials at Guantanamo have denied the accusations.
"We have never applied any of those techniques," the Associated Press quoted a spokesman for the US mission at Guantanamo as saying.
Mr Rasul and Mr Iqbal said detainees often were forced to go naked as punishment for minor offences, even when female guards were present.
They also said they were forced to squat with their hands chained between their legs for hours during questioning.
"Soldiers told us 'We can do anything we want'," the men said in the open letter to Mr Bush and members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
They said they were driven to falsely confess they were two figures in an August 2000 videotape that also showed al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.
Mr Rasul and Mr Iqbal are among five Britons released from Guantanamo whom the British Government freed without charge after determining they were not a security threat.
Sounds very familiar...
US military officials at Guantanamo have denied the accusations.
"We have never applied any of those techniques," the Associated Press quoted a spokesman for the US mission at Guantanamo as saying.
Is it my imagination, or did that ghoul General Miller say specifically that these kind of things were perfectly acceptable?
This administration is running around like a headless chicken in a china shop (excuse the mixed metaphor!). Where's the leadership? Nobody seems to be in charge. You can't run a show like this with EVERYBODY avoiding responsibility. Seriously, they seem to have lost ALL direction: the troops must be really confused, which can't help. And the WH looks as if it is being run by the "war" instead of the other way round.
