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May 12, 2004

This is Damning

This story is not as dramatic as the torture pictures, but is in some ways more damning. The video diary of the soldier shows criminal callousness towards prisoners under her charge:

"We actually shot two prisoners today. One got shot in the chest for swinging a pole against our people on the feed team. One got shot in the arm. We don't know if the one we shot in the chest is dead yet."

"This is a sand viper," she said. "One bite will kill you in six hours. We've already had two prisoners die of it, but who cares? That's two less for me to worry about."

But the real damning part is that other soldiers involved in abuse of prisoners knew this was a fucked up attitude and recognized her own attitude and behavior was driven by having two few soldiers guarding too many prisoners, with little support from the top brass.

Fellow soldier Lisa Girman, who was discharged with Canjar, said commanders ignored the problems at Camp Bucca.

She complained of "the ignorance of the chain of command not to listen to the person who was actually on the front line."

Girman's and Canjar's families tried to draw attention to the problems at Camp Bucca last year. They called Rumsfeld's office repeatedly and talked to his staff, but got no response, CBS said. Their letters to the White House and two senators were also unanswered.

Sure, these folks are trying to justify their own behavior, but so is Rumsfeld and the top command who let it all happen.

Posted by Nathan at May 12, 2004 07:03 PM