The US Armed Forces:
Monsters in uniform

Basahin ang artikulong ito sa Pilipino

In a reprise of US troops� brutal treatment of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, the US has set up Camp Xray in its military base in Guantanamo, Cuba as an international prison where more than 600 suspected �terrorists� from 40 countries have been detained without charges for over two years.

Worse, the soldiers have had no qualms about baring their brutality, publishing pictures of their acts on the internet to brag to their friends and family.

There were pictures of a newly captured Iraqi being kicked by an American soldier and being urinated upon by another. In another group, the Iraqi prisoners were hooded, stripped naked and piled one on top of the other in pyramid-like formation. Some pictures showed a number of US Navy SEALS sitting on top of Iraqi prisoners who were stripped naked and masked. Other scenes showed soldiers hitting an Iraqi�s bloodied head with a rifle butt and pressing their boots on another captive�s chest. Video footage exposed sexual abuse on entire groups and a female prisoner being ordered to expose her breasts.

Particularly gruesome details have come from the sworn testimonies of other soldiers. Inserting lighted cigarettes into the prisoners� ears is a common occurrence. The prisoners are tied to posts, shot with rubber bullets and left under the hot sun until they lose consciousness. Reports compiled by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said that prisoners were chained hand and foot and made to stay in a fetal position from 18 to 24 hours. In some instances, they were deliberately irritated with loud music and subjected to blinding white light. An agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) witnessed the strangulation, whipping and incarceration of prisoners in cold cells. A US Marine electrocuted a prisoner with the cord of an electric transformer.

The Islamic faith is desecrated to further shame the prisoners and make them suffer. Witnesses have testified that boisterously laughing and whistling soldiers forced Muslim prisoners to eat pork, drink liquor and thank Jesus Christ that they were still alive. Throwing the detainees� Korans into the toilet, the soldiers force the prisoners to renounce their faith. A general even took the lead in shaving the prisoners� beards, which is forbidden by certain Muslim sects. Prisoners� bodies are wrapped with Israeli flags which symbolize the Jews.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has also confirmed the US military�s deliberate use of psychological and physical torture on prisoners in various places. Under severe torture, prisoners are usually forced to admit to the charges against them (usually involving supposed involvement in al Qaeda) even if they are innocent. Many prisoners subjected to such abuse have died.

In an attempt to deny the systematic maltreatment of civilians and prisoners, the Bush government has blamed the crimes on a small group of soldiers. The names of generals and other officers involved in the cases have already been stricken off the reports. Camp Xray commander Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, for instance, has not been punished and has instead been quietly reassigned.

Even before these cases of abuse had been disclosed, Bush had established an illegal group of special operatives under a �special access programme.� Not bound by international law, the clandestine group is tasked with capturing or assassinating identified al Qaeda members anywhere in the world. The �special access programme� also calls for the establishment of secret interrogation centers where the cruel treatment of prisoners is permitted.

One of the US� latest means of forcing the Iraqi people to their knees was the assault and destruction of Fallujah, an Iraqi fighters� bastion. The so-called second �shock and awe� attack has claimed the lives of over 6,000 people, wounded thousands and forced over 250,000 people to flee the bloody imperialist assault. The US Armed Forces ransacked homes and rounded up all the menfolk. Markets, hospitals, mosques, streets and other information and communication infrastructure were leveled. Sources of water and electricity were the principal targets. The US tried to impose a media blackout to conceal its reprehensible operation in Fallujah from the world.

The US practically used its entire arsenal, including F-16s, C-130s, Abrams tanks and Apache helicopters. Soldiers shot at ambulances and American snipers targeted even children. The Pentagon admitted to the use of napalm (an incendiary chemical) against entire communities.

The soldiers were calm and collected as they snuffed out the people�s lives, reported a journalist who witnessed these events. In one incident, soldiers did not even batt an eyelash while firing at a wounded victim who was already writhing in pain on the ground.

US imperialism has obliterated tens of thousands of people in its greed-driven and desperate war. Not a few US soldiers have grown demoralized, lost their minds or sought means of escaping from the brutal imperialist mission to invade, harass and kill. More and more soldiers have opted to leave the military.

Meanwhile, the imperialist armed forces face the Iraqi people�s just, ever-expanding and ever-intensifying anger and struggle.

21 January 2005
English Edition

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