"We turned it into something like a resort not prison"
Leave it to the lyin' Zion press that brought you this monstrosity with the damnable lies it vomited on its front pages!!!
Then I guess, YOU wouldn't mind spending a FEW MONTHS (?) VACATION inside, 'eh, AP puke?
"Kindler, gentler Abu Ghraib back in action; Infamous prison reopens; Iraqis pledge reforms" by Kim Gamel, Associated Press | February 22, 2009
BAGHDAD - A gym, barbershop, and planters of plastic flowers: Welcome to the gentler face of the infamous Abu Ghraib prison.
The lockup where US military guards tortured and humiliated Iraqi prisoners west of Baghdad has reopened with fresh paint and a new name in a bid to shed its notorious reputation.
For more on the abominable atrocity of U.S. torture, go HERE and scroll down.
And why am I thinking Brubaker!?
Mohammed al-Zeidi, the assistant director of the Iraqi Rehabilitation Department, insisted that the new prison would be operated in accordance with international standards.
"All kinds of human rights violations took place in this prison. So we felt that it was our duty to rehabilitate the prison," he said yesterday during a press tour of the grounds. "We turned it into something like a resort not prison. The first step was to change the name."
Iraqi officials defended their decision to reopen the facility - now called the Baghdad Central Prison - saying they need the space as the US military has begun handing over the thousands of detainees in its custody under a new security agreement that took effect on Jan. 1.
"We have decided to reopen and renovate the prison because building a new one would take a long time and we already have crowded prisons," Deputy Justice Minister Busho Ibrahim said, adding that authorities also planned to build a larger prison north of Baghdad.
That's AmeriKan FREEDOM, all right!!!
The Iraqis also promised to treat prisoners in accordance with international standards as they face concerns by the United Nations and human rights groups about overcrowding and violations against inmates already in Iraqi custody.
The compound west of Baghdad became the center of a global scandal in 2004 after photos were released showing US soldiers sexually humiliating inmates. Outrage over the pictures fueled support for the insurgency as well as anti-American sentiment among Iraqis.
The 280-acre Abu Ghraib prison, which was already notorious as a torture center under Saddam Hussein, closed in 2006 after the US handed it over to the Iraqis.
And the AMERIKANS made it EVEN MORE NOTORIOUS, can you believe it?
As with the IRAQI DEATH TOLL, the U.S. TOPS HUSSEIN AGAIN!!
But the photos brought the prison to the world's attention, adding another serious stain to America's reputation after worldwide protests against the March 2003 invasion.
Yeah, how that is just FORGOTTEN, 'eh -- even as MORE OF US are OPPOSED EVEN MORE NOW!!!
They also discredited Washington's claims that it was trying to build a country based on rule of law and respect for human rights on the wreckage of dictatorship.
You can NOT DISRESPECT something when they had NO INTENTION of DOING THAT! This was about OIL and ISRAEL -- not necessarily in that order!
In all, 11 US soldiers were convicted of breaking military laws and five others were disciplined.
Screw the order-taking grunts! I want THESE WAR CRIMINALS HAULED IN!
"In addition to Bush, suspects in the alleged conspiracy include a who’s who of top officials in Bush’s first term, principally Dick Cheney, Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell, John Ashcroft, Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet and their aides, says ABC News."
American authorities implemented a series of policy changes in the aftermath of the Abu Ghraib scandal. More recently, concern has been raised about the Iraqis' ability to care for inmates. The New York-based group Human Rights Watch warned in a December report that defendants in Iraqi custody often are detained for long periods without judicial review and abuse in detention appeared common.
Coming from a nation that engages in rendition and has secret black site prisons and floating dungeons, I find it hard to point the finger at others.of that based on an damnable lie?
Iraqi officials said that would not be the case at Abu Ghraib, with each cell to hold eight prisoners, as opposed to 30 per cell under Hussein.
Yeah, except OUR PUPPETS have WAY MORE IRAQIS in PRISON than HUSSEIN EVER DID!
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Hey, Gamel, maybe you could GO TALK to THIS GUY (who no doubt has taken a few beatings)!!!!
"Uday al-Zaidi.... said he visited his brother Sunday and found him missing a tooth and with cigarette burns on his ears. He also said his brother told him that jailers doused him with cold water while he was naked.... "When I saw him yesterday, there were bruises on his face and body. He told me that they used an iron bar to hit him...."
"At hearing, shoe-thrower defends actions" by Washington Post | February 20, 2009
BAGHDAD - The Iraqi journalist who became a folk hero in the Arab world by throwing shoes at President George W. Bush defended his conduct yesterday in court.
"I did not mean to kill the leader of the occupation forces," Muntadar al-Zaidi said, speaking from a wooden cage before a packed courtroom. "I was expressing what's inside of me and what's inside the Iraqi people."
That's Amerikan liberation?
Throwing his shoes at the leader of the free world was not, Zaidi argued, a crime. Zaidi, 30, who is charged with assaulting a foreign head of state, posited that Bush's Dec. 14 trip to Baghdad was not an official visit by a foreign dignitary because he arrived in the country without prior notice and didn't leave the Green Zone, which was still under US control.
"I am charged now with attacking the prime minister's guest," he said, making his first public remarks since the incident. "We Arabs are famous for being generous with guests. But Bush and his soldiers have been here for six years. Guests should knock on the door. Those who come sneaking in are not guests."
You know, HE'S RIGHT!!!
Roughly an hour into the hearing, Presiding Judge Abdul Amir al-Rubaie announced that he would postpone the proceeding until March 12 to seek an opinion from the Iraqi government about whether Bush's swan song visit to Baghdad was, in fact, an "official" one.
More time to torture the poor guy! Where's Obama on this?
Some attendees left the courtroom crying. But the scene was largely jubilant, as women in black abayas ululated triumphantly, their high-pitched shrieks reverberating in the courthouse lobby.
I gotta tell you, readers, it is ONE of the MOST BEAUTIFUL SOUNDS in ALL the WORLD!!
Take that and stick it in your pipe and smoke it, joo!
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