that sucks, we have this shame forever

this is horrible news and we will not stand.fo....ooh michael jackson is on the news! ooh jessica simpson is getting back together with her husband!

All the news bulletins in Ireland simply said 'U.S. to close Abu Gharib prison' but never mentioned the opening of a new military prison nearby.

Never let the truth get in the way of a good propaganda story.

Not to be a buzzkill, but they do have to keep the apprehended "insurgents" somewhere.

I just hope it's better regulated than the shit that went down in Abu Gharib.

Sadly, their instincts are probably right on this one. Move bad shit to a new location and it suddenly becomes good shit in the minds of the American People.

There are atrocities being committed in secret (and known) prisons all over the world. What made this one special was the pics and the occassional news coverage. Once that is gone, they will be free to act with impunity.

You're probably the only one.

Its no fair, no one told me torture specialist was a viable career. If I had know that back in high school I so would have choosen a different major in college. With the amount of "detainee camps" the U.S. is opening its probably one of the fastest growing fields out there. I wonder if you get dental coverage with the job?

why would you have to choose? there were up to 10,000 people tortured to death last year in baghdad alone. Sadam would have been proud.

funny thing...just drove by abu ghraib on wednesday...one other point why the military wants to move the prison is that it gets attacked alot by insurgents...and with it within BIAP and the rest of the FOBs around there it is a lot safer from motars and RPG attacks...

Here in the US, where we operate according the the Geneva Conventions, those folks are referred to as POW's - That's Prisoners Of War, in case none of your superior officers ever familiarized you with the concept.

Was that supposed to be a play on words regarding the prisoner uprisings? Otherwise I don't get it. He's describing attacks from people outside the prison. Insurgents is a pretty valid term in this case, isn't it?

Where the prisoners are concerned, there is room to argue whether many of the prisoners we take conducted "their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war", as per Art. 4 of the Geneva Conventions.

I can't speak for downingolsen's unit, but my command staff provided us with illuminating amounts of LOAC (Laws of Armed Conflict) and POW treatment training. I added this because, while I don't approve of torture or other "questionable" or "morally gray" method of dealing with prisoners of any stripe, I didn't think your jab at downingolsen was really called for. It's not like we're all going around kicking people to get our jollies in.

Fuck, final edit.

I can attest to the fact that, as early as early 2005, moving Abu Ghraib was near the top of MNF-I's agenda. Recurring attacks on the facility, which was and is relatively unprotected compared to other US installations, were a concern for the 4-star running things.

[Edited on Mar 11, 2006 by Phoebus]

Torture is still torture and it's still wrong no matter who is doing it and to what extent.

No, it was a misunderstanding of military jargon.

As to the status of people operating in the rules of military engagement, it is a moot point to me.

We call what we are doing there as the war on terror. That makes the people captured during the engagement prisoners of war. Unless of course the military is arresting people for civil offenses, in which case they are just plain prisoners.

To me, if we call what we are doing war, then the response of those we engage is immaterial. They are being warred upon.

We called those captured in Viet Nam (with a similar level of "insugency" - and interesting term to describe the fighting off of an invading force), POW's. I can't imagine why the folks in Iraq would be any different.

Because it's a lot more convenient if they aren't given any kind of official combat status. They can be kept in all kinds of legal gray areas. It's a dirty tactic.