This Might Hurt a Bit

Your Right Hand Thief posted this morning on this topic, and here's more from the Internation Herald Tribune:

U.S. Army doctors working at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq helped design abusive interrogation methods and failed to report deaths of Iraqis caused by beatings, according to a study in the Lancet medical journal.

Citing government documents that included testimony of detainees and troops, the medical journal outlined failures by doctors to safeguard the prisoners' human rights.

It said that the failures in some instances constituted serious breaches of international law, providing a further embarrassment for the U.S. military, which is now investigating documented abuses of Iraqi prisoners by its troops at the prison.

The study said: "Medical personnel evaluated detainees for interrogation, and monitored coercive interrogation, allowed interrogators to use medical records to develop interrogation approaches, falsified medical records and death certificates and failed to provide basic health care."

It gave as an example the collapse of a prisoner who apparently was unconscious after a beating.

Medical staff members revived the detainee and left, and the abuse resumed.

Gee--makes Dr. Kevorkian seem pretty humane in comparison...

Meanwhile, a report on the Abu Ghraib matter indicates that top-brass failed to provide the leadership that might have put a stop to prisoner abuse. Of course, this is an oblique way of saying "yeah, they condoned it;" however, no charges are expected to be filed against officers in charge. Boy, that ought to do wonders for troop morale.

Otherwise, in Iraq, it looks like who controls or doesn't control the Imam Ali shrine seems to finally be settled: Sadr's militia does. Iyad Allawi backed off a threat to storm the shrine, perhaps realizing that he's a lot happier being a possible target of assassination than a guaranteed target.

And if you'd like to read a perspective on the situation in Najaf from INSIDE the holy building, then check out this (subscription or ad required) Salon article. Philip Robertson spent three days holed up there, and has some things to say. You can read more of his features here.

Long hard slog--meet cluster fuck.