Revealed: Pentagon's link to Iraqi torture centres

Revealed: Pentagon's link to Iraqi torture centres

www.guardian.co.uk

The Pentagon sent a US veteran of the "dirty wars" in Central America to oversee sectarian police commando units in Iraq that set up secret detention and torture centres to get information from insurgents. These units conducted some of the worst acts of torture during the US occupation and accelerated the country's descent into full-scale civil war.

(visit the link for the full news article)


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Hi everybody,
I waited yesterday for this story to pop up on ATS.
But it doesn't happen...afaik

This is big news in germany and the UK.
Some german news sources wrote up to 5 article on this topic yesterday.


The two main persons involveld in this scandal are Colonel Jim Steele and Colonel James H Coffman.

Colonel Jim Steele is a decorated war hero (Medal of Valor, Silver Star, the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, four Legions of Merit, three Bronze Stars, the Purple Heart, and various other service and campaign medals).
Jim Steele - Bio

Together with Coffman he's accused of establishing a network of torture centers in Iraq.

A general who worked with them said:

I never saw them apart in the 40 or 50 times I saw them inside the detention centres. They knew everything that was going on there ... the torture, the most horrible kinds of torture.

They reported direct to the now resigned General Petraeus.

Coffman reported to Petraeus and described himself in an interview with the US military newspaper Stars and Stripes as Petraeus's "eyes and ears out on the ground" in Iraq.

Much much more info in the Guardian links...

www.guardian.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

appaling as this is, it's no surprise at all - the whole war is built on lies, greed and hate.

and some westerners still think they are morally or culturally superior to those in the middle east

Trailer of the Guardian documentary:


Full version (51 min.) here:
www.guardian.co.uk...

reply to post by grobi77


That is deeply disturbing.

Many of the victims were so badly tortured, they could not be identified.

I posted it yesterday here: El Salvador to Iraq: Washington's man behind brutal police squads (w/video)

And frankly, was surprised by how little activity it got because this is one of the larger scoping "conspiracies", in my opinion dealing with the influence of the infamous "School of the Americas" and the training and backing of brutal dictatorships from latin America, Asia, Africa to the Middle East. (It's all in the other thread so I won't retype everything.)

Anyhow, I put it in the "Above Politics" forum, perhaps that is why not more people saw it... hopefully they will see it here because it is information that truly needs to be circulated!

the Billmeister

reply to post by skalla


Yet we accept it. Shocking really when you think about it.

It might be because many of the veterans here have known about this for a long, long time and don't see it as anything new.

It's good that it has broken into the mainstream news, but as far as ATS goes, the subject has been explored many times.

At least now people might stop calling us paranoid CT'ers for speaking about this now that it is in the public eye.

This thread and anything like it that highlights America's use of torture will be ignored or attacked as being "anti-American". It doesn't matter how heinous the war crimes committed by American forces in Iraq were, people in America just refuse to accept responsibility for it. S+F for the post, but let's face reality, this topic will soon be labeled by the usual gang of idiots as "anti-American"

Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld and Condoleezza Rice, VP Dick Cheney and former President Bush and all of their political wags need to be investigated for the lies and conspiracy to invoke war and unleashing goons like Col. Steel when things started to go badly.

reply to post by Blackmarketeer


Sad but true...
Same approach is used by the Israelis:


But I don't get it
When my government commit war crimes, I would always want that they are held accountable.
But maybe my patriotism is insufficient

The Pentagon would have to agree that the Nazis weren't all that bad, after all they learned a hell of a lot from them

ANTI-AMERICAN!!!! TRAITORS! This is just a lie to bring down our beautiful country!

reply to post by grobi77


Here is another source with info about this topic that adds pieces to the larger puzzle:

www.globalresearch.ca...

Originally posted by grobi77
Revealed: Pentagon's link to Iraqi torture centres
www.guardian.co.uk

The Pentagon sent a US veteran of the "dirty wars" in Central America to oversee sectarian police commando units in Iraq that set up secret detention and torture centres to get information from insurgents. These units conducted some of the worst acts of torture during the US occupation and accelerated the country's descent into full-scale civil war.

(visit the link for the full news article)

The problem is that young kids are being indoctrinated with ideas that they are actually serving their country and that they are true patriots, while in fact they are being misled and used for the enforcement of something so evil it's beyond words.

And these monsters that export death and torture have the nerve to call Chavez a dictator?

As others have already written I have no doubt there will be posters here that defend it.

Edit Star & Flagged BTW

To be honest I don't think this can be defended so it looks like it's being conveniently ignored instead.

But imagine if this was a thread criticizing Iran.

The people responsible for these acts are criminals.

Also it's not acceptable to just say that Steele happened to be present in detention facilities but he didn't take part in any torture. That doesn't make it all right. Are we honestly to believe that he didn't know what was going on? He was right at the heart of it all.

He looks a sinister fellow anyway.

Also I read a comment somewhere (can't remember where) saying this Steele guy was seen in a news report from Iran and was involved in anti-government protests there. It wouldn't surprise me if it was true!

reply to post by Kram09
How many inquires have we had into abuse and torture in Iraq? A few of the lower ranks go to prison and the real culprits walk free claiming to have had no recollection of these events.

The question is when our politicians said this was a war for the hearts and minds whose hearts and minds were they trying to deceive?

This is good news, that the crimes of Betrayus and others have at least been revealed. Whether they are prosecuted or not remains to be seen.

Makes me ashamed to be an american.

Originally posted by Salander
This is good news, that the crimes of Betrayus and others have at least been revealed. Whether they are prosecuted or not remains to be seen.

Makes me ashamed to be an American.

Nothing to do with being American, most Americans are good people. What we all should be ashamed of whatever our nation is how we allow our leaders to commit such crimes and get away with it in our name. That is our shame.

Edmund Burke is most famously noted for the popular saying, "All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing."

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