Lawmakers disgusted
by abuse photosThe unpublished pictures
and video images are shown
to members of CongressWASHINGTON >> Unpublished photos and video images of U.S. soldiers mistreating Iraqi prisoners are worse than what’s been released to the public, U.S. lawmakers said.
“What we saw was appalling,” said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican. “It’s disgusting,” said Sen. Daniel Inouye, a Democrat from Hawaii. “There were some that were worse” than what’s been seen, said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Texas Republican.
U.S. senators and House members were allowed to view the images yesterday. Frist and John Warner, a Virginia Republican who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, urged they not be released to the public. It’s essential “to protect the integrity of the legal process,” Warner said.
A handful of photos in public circulation show smiling U.S. soldiers posing with naked and bound detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. Their publication sparked probes in the U.S. Congress and criticism of the Bush administration’s handling of the Iraq occupation.
Members of Congress were allowed to see hundreds of unpublished photos and video clips now held by the Defense Department. Warner said he knew the images probably would get out. “Nobody knows how many copies have been made,” he said.
Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, said, “it is unbelievable that such humiliation and abuse occurred at the hands of American personnel in a U.S. military facility.”
Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Urban Oahu, also got to see the unpublished photos and videos during yesterday’s House Armed Services Committee session.
“The pictures are sickening,” said Abercrombie. “The individuals who committed these acts discredited not just themselves, but hundreds of thousands of decent, honorable individuals in uniform who find them just as abhorrent as everyone else.”
Rep. Rahm Emanuel, an Illinois Democrat and a former communications director under President Bill Clinton, said the general content of the pictures — sexual degradation of prisoners — was similar to what has been released. Other lawmakers said there was more nudity.
One video depicted what appeared to be a prelude to a sexual act involving uniformed U.S. soldiers, said Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat who’s on the Senate Armed Services panel. Some images showed wounds, perhaps from dogs, he said.
Rep. Jane Harman, ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence panel said she was most shocked by a video of a prisoner, handcuffed, beating his own head against a wall, apparently trying to knock himself unconscious to escape some form of abuse. In another video clip, a group of men were masturbating, she said. “This material was on fire,” Harman said.
Nelson said one of the photos was a more comprehensive version of a previously published picture of naked detainees that showed more soldiers at the scene. The image contradicted the Army’s assertion that the abuses occurred at the hands of a few rogue soldiers, he said.
At least one photo shows “obviously inhumane treatment,” he said, declining to elaborate.
At least seven soldiers face criminal charges in connection with the abuse and six officers have received reprimands.
Akaka said the “disturbing images” raised more questions than answers, including, “who beyond those in the photographs is responsible for the complete breakdown in discipline and order that allowed this behavior to be considered acceptable.”
Nelson said the photos should be released because they’ll be leaked to the public anyway. “The best thing to do is to get them out,” he said.
The beheading of an American civilian in Iraq by a group with links to the al-Qaeda terrorist organization argues against releasing more images, said John Feehery, a spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican.
“They may use it as an excuse to execute our citizens,” he said. The group, which showed a recording of the execution on a Web site Wednesday, said it was retaliating for the prison abuses.
Lawmakers received a list of six warnings about protecting the privacy of those in the pictures. Lawmakers said images unrelated to prison treatment were mixed in with the photos on a computer compact disc.
Lawmakers are trying to understand the scope of the abuse, fix blame and help prescribe remedies. Democrats have blamed intelligence officers and direction from high command.
Star-Bulletin reporter Gregg K. Kakesako and the Bloomberg News contributed to this report