New Abu Grab-Ass Pictures

An overweight, drug addicted conservative talk show host once said that the torture at Abu Gharib was “pretty thoughtful,” “pretty effective,” a "fraternety prank," and a “brilliant maneuver.” Oh, and, one for the ladies, “I think the reaction to the stupid torture is an example of the feminization of this country.” Certainly the attitude you’d expect from someone thrice divorced.

(Click for audio: )

Take a look at some of these photos (or go to links on this page) and let me know if you think this was a thoughtful prank:

Now that new photos from 2003 have been released to the media in Australia, Limbaugh, along with other faux-conservative Bush supporters continue to point out two incredibly alarming myths:

1). What occurred in Abu-Gharib would not constitute as torture.
Unfortunately Rush, this is a lie. No oxycontin for you.

The mere fact that our Attorney General has authored documents legally allowing torture, our Secretary of Defense has authorized inhumane treatment of prisoners in a document, our government is exporting our prisoners to governments known for torture, we’ve been holding detainees without a right to legal council, high ranking military officials have claimed we’re covering up the abuse, and that President Bush himself issued a signing statement declaring he didn’t have to abide by the McCain anti-torture bill, should give you reason to not totally shut out the idea that our government might be torturing prisoners in a 3rd world nation (you can read the reaction from individual nations to the Abu-Gharib scandal here).

Bush-supporters aren’t into the whole “fact” thing however, so luckily for them we have other accounts, details, and photographic evidence of torture at the Iraqi prison – even by standards set by Alberto Gonzalas.

The new classified military documents offer a chilling picture of what happened at Abu Ghraib - including detailed reports that U.S. troops and translators sodomized and raped Iraqi prisoners. The abuses took place at the Hard Site, a two-story cinder-block unit at the sprawling prison that housed Iraqi criminals and insurgents, not members of Al Qaeda or other terrorist organizations.

In one sworn statement, Kasim Mehaddi Hilas, detainee number 151108, said he witnessed a translator referred to only as Abu Hamid raping a teenage boy. "I saw Abu Hamid, who was wearing the military uniform, putting his dick in the little kid's ass," Hilas testified. "The kid was hurting very bad." A female soldier took pictures of the rape, Hilas said. During the Muslim holy period of Ramadan, Hilas saw Spc. Charles Graner Jr. and an unnamed "helper" tie a detainee to a bed around midnight. "They . . . inserted the phosphoric light in his ass, and he was yelling for God's help," the prisoner testified. Again, the same female soldier photographed the torture.

Oh, and if rape with glowsticks doesn’t do it for you, feel free to read documented cases of prisoner death here, not just at Abu Ghraib, but at other Iraq/Afghanistan detention centers operated by U.S. military. Despite all of this, and despite calls from retired military brass, none of the abuse allegations have been independently investigated.


2). Even if we have evidence of torture, we’re using it on terrorists so it’s ok.

Approximately 90% of those incarcerated at Abu Gharib are entirely innocent, grabbed off of the street and released months later with no explanation or accusations against them, not just according to the Red Cross, but the Pentagon. The proof of this is that we released 75-90% of the prisoners at Abu Ghraib after the scandal initially broke.

However – news has surfaced today that might prove this theory wrong, much to the relief of the Bush supporters perpetuating the myth.

American commanders in Iraq are expressing grave concerns that the overcrowded Abu Ghraib prison has become a breeding ground for extremist leaders and a school for terrorist foot soldiers.

The reason is that the confinement allows detainees to forge relationships and exchange lessons of combat against the United States and the new Iraqi government. "Abu Ghraib is a graduate-level training ground for the insurgency," said an American commander in Iraq.

We are clearly concerned about the potential for extremists and insurgents to use our detention facilities as recruiting and networking centers and are aggressively taking actions to disrupt their efforts," Lt. Col. Guy Rudisill, a spokesman for General Gardner, wrote in an e-mail exchange…(read on here).