http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/ande...oper.360/blog/
Quote:
U.S. filmmaker describes Iraq imprisonment
Cyrus Kar, an Iranian-American, traveled to Iraq in the middle of the war to shoot a documentary about Cyrus the Great, the Persian conqueror. But the Los Angeles-based filmmaker came back from Iraq with a very different story than the one he set out to tell.
A few days after arriving in Iraq, Kar got into a taxicab that was later stopped at a checkpoint and searched. Iraqi police found three dozen washing machine timers. Those, as you know, are widely used in Iraq to trigger IEDs or roadside bombs. Kar says he didn't know the timers were in the cab and that he has no idea how they got there. He says the cab driver later admitted they were his.
Kar was arrested by Iraqi Security Forces and then handed over to U.S. troops. Even though Kar showed his U.S. passport and his Navy veteran's card to the U.S. troops, he was still taken to the notorious Abu Ghraib prison and then to Camp Cropper, where he was thrown into solitary confinement for nearly two months. (Camp Cropper, by the way, that's the same prison where Saddam Hussein is being held) Kar told me American troops referred to him as the "American Terrorist" and nearly suffocated him by putting a hood over his head. Also, he says he was left to bake for hours in a cage in 120 degree heat.
Here is Kar's question: Why did it take the U.S. government and the FBI 55 days (53 of them in solitary) to figure out Kar was innocent? He is now suing U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other high-ranking military officials for violating his civil rights. It's the first case of its kind.
The Pentagon says Kar was "treated fairly and humanely in accord with the Geneva Convention." Kar begs to differ.
|
First of all, I hope he wins. Torture and "humane" treatment are bullshit. Truly humane treatment doesn't encompass this kind of behavior. Frankly, I'll be in a situation where I can say this with utmost authority soon, but even if torturing someone meant gaining intel that saved my life... I still don't believe in it. This guy wasn't even guilty. This guy was a US citizen. There was no due process. Why not?! Even in a foreign country, if a US entity is going to detain a US citizen, how is due process not invoked?
Argh! I really hate our current administration. I think Rumsfeld, Rove, Bush, et al should be shoved in solitary for 53 days so they can see why it's inhumane!