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["Melody O." <melody AT crecon.com>]

At 11:25 AM 2/10/05 EST, you wrote:
>In a message dated 2/10/2005 12:12:06 A.M. Central Standard Time,  
>melody AT crecon.com writes:
>
>News  From Inside Iraq
> 
>First of all, just what is an "Independent Reporter?"
> 
>
>You know, it seems to me that there are likely some exaggerations, at the  
>very least, and more likely, downright untruths in this story.   I  have
never 
>seen anything to verify this story, and with the liberal bias our  current 
>mainstream media has, this is the type of story they would jump on, and
milk for 
>all it was worth.
> 
>I have difficulty believing it... at least as reported.
> 
>Ray

Perhaps.  I don't know the independant reporter so I can't vouch for his
character.  If you look at the entire blog, you will see that he has
pictures of the devestation.  Though I am cynical in nature and always
question the validity of proclaimed truths, there is enough stories that
prove that terroristic activity from our troops are happening over there.
In fact, just take a look at this website.  It is laden full of abuse cases
http://archive.wn.com/2005/02/02/1400/abughraibnews/

I believe that the days of America being the "good guys" is over.  I see
that we are as blood thirst and savage as all the rest.

This is another article that simply proves what I am speaking about:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rights groups unveils more Iraqi torture claims

American Civil Liberties Union charges US Army failed to conduct full probe
into Iraqi torture claims.
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/iraq/?id=12506
WASHINGTON - The US Army has failed to aggressively probe claims of
detainee abuse in Iraq, including forced sodomy and severe physical
beatings, a top US free speech group charged Monday citing newly released
government files.

One case allegedly involved an elderly Iraqi woman sodomized with a stick,
according to documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

"The documents that the ACLU has obtained tell a damning story of
widespread torture reaching well beyond the walls of Abu Ghraib," the
US-run prison in Iraq which has been the focus of widespread detainee abuse
claims, it said.

The new allegations were discovered in Defense Department documents and
other government agency records obtained via a federal court order sought
by the ACLU and other groups under the Freedom of Information Act.

The other groups included the Center for Constitutional Rights, Physicians
for Human Rights, Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans for Peace.

Many of the documents implicated US special forces and suggested that the
Pentagon failed to aggressively investigate claims of detainee abuse even
though there were "serious allegations of torture including electric
shocks, forced sodomy and severe physical beatings," the ACLU said.

"Government investigations into allegations of torture and abuse have been
woefully inadequate," said ACLU executive director Anthony Romero. "Some of
the investigations have basically whitewashed the torture and abuse."

In one case, an "elderly Iraqi woman reported having been sodomized with a
stick" while in another instance, investigators found "there was probable
cause to believe" three soldiers committed the offenses of murder and
conspiracy.

No action was taken against a commander believed to have been an accessory
in the alleged murder and conspiracy case, where one implicated soldier was
only given a written reprimand, the ACLU said.

The incident involving the woman was "closed" on the basis of a "sanitized
copy" of an investigation which has yet to be released, the group said.

"These documents raise grave questions about how seriously the government
is investigating allegations of torture," said Amrit Singh, a staff
attorney with the ACLU Immigrants Rights Project.

In numerous cases, investigations were reportedly abandoned before relevant
witnesses were questioned, the group charged.

In some investigations where guilt was found, soldiers who engaged in
heinous crimes were sent back to their posts with what amounts to a slap on
the wrist, the ACLU said.

In other cases, Singh said, investigations were dropped because abusive
conduct was characterized as acceptable practice or as standard operating
procedure.

One set of documents released by the ACLU included multiple accounts of
abuse -- about 90 incidents - at a Baghdad detainee facility called
Al-Azimiyah Palace.

In sworn statements, private contractors reported having witnessed numerous
instances of abuse of male and female Iraqi detainees, including forced
sodomy, electric shocks, cigarette burns and beatings.

The US Justice Department has broadened its definition of torture under
national and international law after human rights groups slammed a narrower
definition backed by White House counsel Alberto Gonzales, now President
George W. Bush's nominee to become attorney general.