Month: April 2004

British military officials confirmed Friday that they are investigating new allegations that their soldiers abused a prisoner in Iraq.

From a Sky News report:

Photographs in the Daily Mirror show an Iraqi being battered with rifle butts, threatened with execution, and urinated on by British troops.

During his eight-hour ordeal, the suspected thief had his jaw broken and teeth smashed, the Mirror reported.

The news follows the publication of images showing US troops humiliating and torturing Iraqi prisoners.

The Mirror told how the suspect was later driven away from the Army camp, still hooded, and thrown off the back of a moving wagon.

British soldiers from the Queens Lancashire Regiment handed the photos to the paper to show why Coalition forces were encountering such hostility.

They stressed that the abuse by UK forces has been carried out by rogue elements.

“We are not helping ourselves out there. We are never going to get them on our side. We are fighting a losing war,” one of the soldiers told the paper.

France struggles with the fruits of its imperial past and welfare state present.

Or, two more reasons why I’ve lost interest in the LCpl. Boudreaux case.

* Justin interprets the lighthearted hijinks at Abu Ghraib.

* That infamous hate-America rag Stars & Stripes reports on business as usual in Okinawa.

Marines sentenced for mugging of Okinawa man

NAHA, Okinawa — Two Marines found guilty of mugging a 20-year-old Okinawan man in Ginowan last October were sentenced Tuesday in Naha District Court. …

The incident took place Oct. 23 at about 5:55 a.m. following a long night of drinking, according to testimony at previous hearings. [Lance Cpl. Joshua M.] Major testified he was out looking for a fight that morning and picked on the man they saw in a supermarket in the Oyama district of Ginowan, near the base.

He admitted punching the man in the face after Mundell grabbed him from behind. …

Chief Judge Nobuyuki Yokota said there was no doubt both Marines were responsible for the attack.

“While [Cpl. Paul E.] Mundell grabbed the Japanese man from behind, Major punched him in the face for several times,” Yokota said. “Even after knocking the victim down to the ground, Major continued assaulting the man.” …

Yokota said the evidence showed Mundell, Major and another Marine, who was with them but not charged, started drinking beer at their barracks room on Oct. 22 to celebrate completing training at a range. At about 11:40 p.m., they went to a pool hall near the air station, where they stayed until 5 a.m. The trio then stopped by a nearby 24-hour supermarket.

“In the store, they saw the victim, who left after buying a boxed meal,” the judge said in his explanation for finding the two men guilty. “After they left the store, they looked for the victim and followed him for 15 minutes after spotting him again on a street.”

Then, they attacked.

“Using the money they stole, they hailed a taxi to go to Okinawa City, only to find that the bar they were planning to go [to] was closed,” Yokota said. “They then spent some more of the money on boxed meals, which they ate in a taxi on their way back to the air station.”

Imagine the fear of being beaten and robbed by foreign thugs every time you go to the supermarket, and you’ll have some idea why most Iraqis want the U.S. out now.

Bush Administration whines to Qatar about Al Jazeera

“I am not responsible (for) al-Jazeera,” Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim said of the Qatar-based station funded by the Gulf ally’s ruler.

“But we will take this concern back to al Jazeera and they have to review (it), because we need al Jazeera to be professional and we don’t want anybody to send lies or to send (the) wrong information,” he said after talks at the White House with Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Hamad said he also discussed plans to sharply increase liquefied natural gas sales to the United States. He told reporters, “There is some agreement to send more gas, around 20 million tons of gas to the United States … by the year 2010.”

I’m sure this deal has NUTHINK to do with al Jazeera….

The Bush administration has warned Qatar its relations with the United States were clouded by what it called “inflammatory” coverage of Iraq by Jazeera, whose satellite broadcasts have a wide Arab audience.

The Bush administration says its Middle East policies promote freedom.

The freedom to be liberated from your property and life….

Here’s the Bush Administration desperately needing a shred of credibility with the Arab world and everything they do alienates them further.

The Bushies–sorry, Iraqi Governing Council–got caught with their pants down on the new Iraqi flag, so they have now changed it. Kind of.

Via Atrios, we learn that Sinclair TV has announced a boycott of Ted Koppel’s Nightline show in which he intends to read the names and show a picture of all the Americans killed in combat in Iraq.

Apparently, Sinclair is only interested in good news from Iraq. This is from a story in the Baltimore Sun dated February 18, 2004:

Sinclair Broadcast Group’s Jon Leiberman and Mark Hyman are in Iraq to report the positive, “untold stories” that we’re not getting from the liberal media. Hyman tells David Folkenflik: “Hopefully, what we’ve done is given our viewers more of a sense of what’s happening, beyond ‘There was a car-bombing today.’ …What’s really fascinating to me is the optimism that so many Iraqis have.”

Mmmmkay. Oddly, googling either “Jon Lieberman” or “Mark Hyman” produces no stories with their byline. Maybe they’re still tracking down that good news.

Via Poynter Online:

STATEMENT OF THE SINCLAIR BROADCAST GROUP

The ABC Television network announced on Tuesday that the Friday, April 30th edition of “Nightline” will consist entirely of Ted Koppel reading aloud the names of U.S. servicemen and women killed in action in Iraq. Despite the denials by a spokeswoman for the show the action appears to be motivated by a political agenda designed to undermine the efforts of the United States in Iraq.

While the Sinclair Broadcast Group honors the memory of the brave members of the military who have sacrificed their lives in the service of our country, we do not believe such political statements should be disguised as news content. As a result, we have decided to preempt the broadcast of “Nightline” this Friday on each of our stations which air ABC programming.

We understand that our decision in this matter may be questioned by some. Before you judge our decision, however, we would ask that you first question Mr. Koppel as to why he chose to read the names of the 523 troops killed in combat in Iraq, rather than the names of the thousands of private citizens killed in terrorists attacks since and including the events of September 11, 2001. In his answer, you will find the real motivation behind his action scheduled for this Friday.

ABC NEWS STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO SINCLAIR

We respectfully disagree with Sinclair’s decision to pre-empt “Nightline’s” tribute to America’s fallen soldiers which will air this Friday, April 30. The Nightline broadcast is an expression of respect which simply seeks to honor those who have laid down their lives for this country. ABC News is dedicated to thoughtful and balanced coverage and reports on the events shaping our world with neither fear nor favor — as our audience expects, deserves, and rightly demands. Contrary to the statement issued by Sinclair, which takes issue with our level of coverage of the effects of terrorism on our citizens, ABC News and all of our broadcasts, including “Nightline,” have reported hundreds of stories on 9-11. Indeed, on the first anniversary of 9-11, ABC News broadcast the names of the victims of that horrific attack.

In sum, we are particularly proud of the journalism and award winning coverage ABC News has produced since September 11, 2001. ABC News will continue to report on all facets of the war in Iraq and the War on Terrorism in a manner consistent with the standards which ABC News has set for decades.