UPDATE AT BOTTOM (I and II)
Not that this is a surprise, we knew much from Maj. General Taguba's report on Abu Ghraib. But the new development is (I am not sure just how new this is) that someone actually took photos of the rape and these are said to be the photos that Obama won't release:
"At least one picture shows an American soldier apparently raping a female prisoner while another is said to show a male translator raping a male detainee.
Further photographs are said to depict sexual assaults on prisoners with objects including a truncheon, wire and a phosphorescent tube."
I believe some of these photos have already been published. Salon published many of the sexual abuse in 2006 as did CBS. So if there are photos worse than the ones we have seen already, then God help us. Before I post a few of them, I want to cite some more of the above article:
"Another apparently shows a female prisoner having her clothing forcibly removed to expose her breasts.
Detail of the content emerged from Major General Antonio Taguba, the former army officer who conducted an inquiry into the Abu Ghraib jail in Iraq.
Allegations of rape and abuse were included in his 2004 report but the fact there were photographs was never revealed. He has now confirmed their existence in an interview with the Daily Telegraph.
The graphic nature of some of the images may explain the US President’s attempts to block the release of an estimated 2,000 photographs from prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan despite an earlier promise to allow them to be published.
Maj Gen Taguba, who retired in January 2007, said he supported the President’s decision, adding: “These pictures show torture, abuse, rape and every indecency.
“I am not sure what purpose their release would serve other than a legal one and the consequence would be to imperil our troops, the only protectors of our foreign policy, when we most need them, and British troops who are trying to build security in Afghanistan."
I am only going to post two of the ones I believe are being discussed. When Dick Cheney defends his policy of torture, remember, he is defending this. When you tell people they can cross the line into cruelty, you have given them permission to engage in what you are about to see. That is what happens when legal controls are taken off and that is why Dick Cheney and George W. Bush are directly responsible for these rapes.
The images are incredibly graphic. I am only posting two because I cannot stand to look through more of them to find the others. I had actually seen some of these several years back when I was contacted to do a story. I flew to the meeting. I sat through the meeting. I looked at the photos. I excused myself and went out the front door and vomited all over myself. I knew I did not have the strength to write this story. So I hope no one thinks, not even for a moment, that I am in any way taking the posting of these photos lightly. They are horrific. But they are the truth and they must be seen.
Again, be certain you are ready for this. It is incredibly graphic.
UPDATE:
The middle photo may be questionable, so until I am comfortable with it, I have removed it. The other two are absolutely not. For the full set of Salon photos, see this link. Again, all of these have been published in the past.
For the full set of CBS photos, see this link.
UDATE II:
Something I either blocked out or missed earlier, see here. These allegations are not new, as you will note. Hersh told us that there was video of that set of crimes as well - which again begs the question, what kind of person would video-tape, photograph crimes against kids?
(photos after the fold)
