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Well, as we all know, our freckle-faced, star-spangled boys and girls are immune to the pressures of war, and would never ever mistreat a prisoner. Although if they did, it would be unfortunate, but surely not a matter for a tribunal or anything (couple of spaces):
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?
tmpl=story&cid=1520&e=6&u=/afp/20040105/pl_afp/us_iraq_priso
ners_040105223858
Three soldiers ordered discharged for abusing Iraqi prisoners Mon Jan 5, 5:38 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Three US Army soldiers have been found guilty of mistreating Iraqi detainees at a prisoner of war camp in Iraq and ordered discharged from the service, an army spokeswoman said.
The charges stemmed from an incident May 12 at Camp Bucca in Iraq in which at least one detainee was held down while soldiers beat and kicked him at the urging of their superior, Master Sergeant Lisa Girman.
Girman was found guilty of dereliction of duty and maltreatment of an Iraqi detainee "by knocking him to the ground, repeatedly kicking him in the groin, abdomen and head and encouraging her subordinate soldiers to do the same," an army statement said.
Girman was stripped to the rank of private, ordered out of the theater immediately and given an "other than honorable condition discharge," said the US 3rd Army, which commands US land forces in Iraq.
Also found guilty of the same charges were Staff Sergeant Scott McKenzie and Specialist Timothy Canjar, who also were found to have made false statements to investigators, the army said.
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McKenzie mistreated an Iraqi prisoner "by dragging him by his armpits across the ground and holding him down while others were allowed to kick him, and throwing an Iraqi detainee to the ground on his face and stepping on his previously injured arm," she said.
McKenzie held the detainee's legs apart, "encouraging others to kick him in the groin while other US soldiers kicked him in the abdomen and head," the army statement said.
Canjar also held a detainee's legs apart while others kicked him in the groin, and violently twisted a detainee's previously injured arm "causing him to scream in pain," according to the army statement.
It was unclear how many detainees were subjected to abuse.
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Note that this "incident" occurred on May 12, not even two months into the "war." But surely in the eight months since then, nothing more like this has happened. After all, we're talkin' about the 'Murikin fightin' soljers, who always shoot just the bad guys and never harm the neutrals, or the bystanders, or the reporters or the cameramen.
It's a damn shame no one could have foreseen this, or if they did, that they didn't warn the corrupt Bush administration.
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