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A year ago, the president exulted and the war in Iraq appeared to have been an easy victory

Today, the U.S. Army stands accused of abusing suspects in a prison once run by Saddam

THE MORAL CORRUPTION OF WAR
U.S. casualties are reaching unprecedented levels in Iraq, but it is the news that the U.S. engaged in torture and humiliation of Iraqi detainees that now threatens the administration's dream of using Iraq to introduce American-style democracy and "freedom" to the region. Photographs of American abuse of Iraqi victims have been circulating throughout the Middle East and Europe for the last several days. The U.S. command has tried to present the abuse--some of it sexually depraved, including electric shocks to genitals--as the behavior of a few soldiers acting on their own, but Seymour Hersh's account in the New Yorker suggests that the abuse may have been deliberate and carried out at the request of interrogators who wanted to soften prisoners up. The abuse should provide material for reflection concerning the U.S. Supreme Court's deliberations concerning denial of legal rights to suspects being held at Guantanamo. Reports suggest that intelligence officers from Guantanamo asked the U.S. Army in Iraq to increase the pressure on prisoners.

•FULL TEXT OF THE TAGUBA REPORT
(via MSNBC, Tuesday May 4)
•TAGUBA REPORT (Global Security.org)
•DONALD RUMSFELD'S BRIEFING ON ABU GHRAIB PRISON (Defense Dept. Tuesday, May 4)
•PBS' Margaret Warner talks with Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, and Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama. Both attended Rumsfeld's briefing to the closed door briefing the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, May 4.
•Seymour Hersh's report in the New Yorker
•Photographs via the New Yorker online
•Additional photographs (including Donald Rumsfeld inspecting the prison with Brigadier General Janis Karpinsky, and the body of a prisoner apparently killed during interrogation)
•An Iraqi blogger's memory of Abu Ghraib
"They may be just a few soldiers, it may be an isolated case, but what's the difference? The effect has been done, and the Hearts and Minds campaign is a joke that isn't funny any more...."(Zeyad, May 5, 2004)

General Janis Karpinsky and Donald Rumsfeld briefed on prison operations. Areas where torture was conducted were kept off limits.

Iraqi prisoner dies after U.S. interrogation

U.S. soldiers force Iraqi prisoners into compromising nude poses--Washington Post

WASHINGTON POST PUBLISHES NEW SERIES OF PHOTOGRAPHS
The photographs were on CD-Roms that were circulating among GIs in the Military Police battalion. Lawyers suggest that the most incriminating images may have been used by U.S. military intelligence officers in order to intimidate new prisoners. (Washington Post, May 6, 2004)
•Shahin Cole on the impact of the images
•Human Rights minister in Iraq's Provisional Governing Authority resigns after saying that he had warned Bremer about violations last November. (Gulf News)
•Cover up included misleading International Red Cross and U.S. commanding general (The Guardian, May 3, 2004)
•Juan Cole on reactions in Iraq (Informed Comment, May 4, 2004)
•Investigation now centers on intelligence and private contract-hire intelligence corporations (Washington Post, May 2, 2004)
•REPORT IN BRITAIN'S INDEPENDENT
•AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: THIS WAS NOT AN ISOLATED CASE
•General Richard Meyers interviewed on Fox News
Meyers insisted that he had not read the report on prisoner mistreatment, and that he was still waiting for it to move up the chain of command to his level.
•U.S. Discharged soldiers in earlier abuse case

IS COLIN POWELL A CASUALTY OF WAR?
Wil Hylton's profile of Colin Powell in the June issue of GQ Magazine has caught attention mostly because of comments from Powell's Chief of Staff, Larry Wilkerson. In addition to noting that Powell is physically and mentally tired these days, Wilkerson describes Paul Wolfowitz and the assorted neocons influencing U.S. policy in Iraq as "utopians." Says Wilkerson: "I call them utopians. I don't care whether utopians are Vladimir Lenin on a sealed train to Moscow or Paul Wolfowitz. Utopians, I don't like. You're never going to bring utopia, and you're going to hurt a lot of people in the process of trying to do it." (Wil Hylton, GQ Magazine, June issue preview)

BRITISH TROOPS ALSO ACCUSED OF ATROCITIES AGAINST IRAQI PRISONERS
The Daily Mirror in London published photographs of British troops allegedly abusing Iraqi detainees. The photographs have already triggered a serious investigation. There have been suggestions that the rifle and uniform hat of the British soldier are not used by the regiment which is accused of carrying out the abuse. However, the Mirror stands by its story, and claims that it obtained the photographs directly from British soldiers. One commentator noted that it really doesn't matter if the photos are real or not. In the current climate they will be believed. The editors of the Mirror say they will publish more serious allegations shortly.(The Mirror, May 1, 2004) •Mirror photo slide show
•Punched, kicked and left to die (The Guardian, May 1, 2004)

DISNEY BLOCKS MICHAEL MOORE FILM DETAILING BUSH FINANCIAL CONNECTIONS TO SAUDI ROYAL FAMILY
Moore who previously produced Bowling for Columbine, plans to present the film at the Cannes Film Festival. Moore's agent thinks that Disney wanted the film stopped because it is concerned that it may lose tax advantages in Florida, where Bush's brother is governor. Disney denies those charges, and insists instead that it is worried about alienating viewers with a politically controversial topic. (Jim Rutenberg, New York Times, May 5, 2004)

ISRAEL'S SHARON WILL PUSH ON WITH GAZA PULLOUT DESPITE LOSING HIS OWN LIKUD PARTY'S SUPPORT
Despite losing the vote for his withdrawal plan from Gaza in his own Likud Party's referendum Sunday night, Ariel Sharon says he plans to put the issue to a vote in the Knesset, where he believes he has enough votes to win. (Haaretz, May 2, 2004)

THE EUROPEAN UNION EXPANDS FROM 15 TO 25 COUNTRIES
10 new countries joined the European Union at midnight last Friday, turning the E.U. into the largest single market in the world with a population of nearly 450 million people. The expansion of Europe may eventually turn the continent into a dynamic power house that could become wealthier than the United States. But the greater clout is also likely to create problems as well. It will take a number of years for Europe to fully digest the difference in culture among its many members. The World Economic Forum devoted its annual European summit held in Warsaw, Poland, last week to analyzing what to expect in the new Europe. Summaries of the major discussions at the summit along with key links are available on line.
•World Economic Forum summaries of sessions during last weekend's summit in Warsaw, Poland
•Collected reports in the Guardian

IN IRAQ, A BATTLE FOR CONTROL BETWEEN LAKHDAR IBRAHIMI AND AHMAD CHALABI
"Of all the vicious battles being fought in Iraq that between Lakhdar Al Ibrahimi and Ahmad Chalabi could be decisive for the future of the country. The two men are deadly enemies, but theirs is not only a trial of strength between individuals. Powerful forces are ranged behind them, and it would be rash, in today's highly fluid military and political situation, to hazard a guess as to who will emerge the victor..." (Patrick Seale in Dar al Hayat, April 29, 2004)
•Inability to secure a political transition leaves Iraq's future on a knife edge (International Crisis Group, April 27, 2004)

HALLIBURTON'S PROFITS UP 80% IN FIRST THREE MONTHS OF 2004
Support work to US military operations and US-funded reconstruction projects made up $2.1 billion out of the company's $5.5 billion of revenue in the first quarter, the Houston-based group said in a statement on Wednesday. (AFP via Al Jazeera, May 3, 2004)

JAPAN CENSORS NEWS ON IRAQ
Media Law professor Takaaki Hattori notes that the Japanese government has openly asked publications not to print news about the more than 1,000 Japanese self defense forces now in Iraq.
(Japan Media Review, April 29, 2004)

MEDIA FORUM IN KAZAKHSTAN QUESTIONS U.S. SECURITY AGENDA
Several Kazakhstani participants intimated that the American anti-terrorism struggle in Central Asia was being guided by shaky analysis. The Bush administration has tended to view the global terrorist threat as rooted in Islam, thus recasting what is essentially a clash of ideas (i.e. democratic principles vs. anti-democratic concepts) into a modern-day religious war. Kazakhstani authorities appear to believe the US analysis to be simplistic, and potentially capable of doing more to fan upheaval than to foster stability.
"When highly educated people find an enemy in Islam ... they define themselves as fundamentalists of one or another religion, and not as modern, secular people," Marat Tazhin, an aide to President Nursultan Nazarbayev, said during one conference session. "If religious identity, including in this part of the globe, becomes a major distinguishing mark, then the world will turn into a very uncomfortable place to live in." (EurasiaNet, May 2, 2004)

NOT SEEING THE DEAD When Paul Wolfowitz demonstrated to Congress that he had lost track of how many Americans are actually dying in Iraq these days, it was only the latest in a series of administration efforts to ignore the obvious. The president had spent one of the bloodiest weeks in the war on vacation at his farm in Texas. Maureen Dowd notes in the New York Times: " This administration is the opposite of "The Sixth Sense." They don't see any dead people. Beyond the president's glaring absence at military funerals; beyond the Pentagon's self-serving ban on photographing the returning flag-draped coffins at Dover; beyond playing down the thousands of wounded and maimed American troops and the thousands of hurt and dead Iraqi civilians, now comes the cruel arithmetic of Paul Wolfowitz. What can you say about a deputy defense secretary so eager to invade Iraq he was nicknamed Wolfowitz of Arabia, so bullish to remold the Middle East he froze the State Department out of the occupation and then mangled it, who doesn't bother to keep track of the young Americans who died for his delusion? Those troops were killed while they were still trying to fathom the treacherous tribal and religious beehive they were never prepared for, since they thought they'd be helping build schools and hospitals for grateful Iraqis. Asked during a Congressional budget hearing on Thursday how many American troops had been killed in Iraq, Mr. Wolfowitz missed by more than 30 percent. "It's approximately 500, of which — I can get the exact numbers — approximately 350 are combat deaths," he said. As of Thursday, there were 722 deaths, 521 in combat. The No. 2 man at the Pentagon was oblivious in the bloodiest month of the war, with the number of Americans killed in April overtaking those killed in the six-week siege of Baghdad last year..." (Maureen Dowd, The New York Times, May 2, 2004) (read more...) ALSO, MAUREEN DOWD ON THE RELAXED ATMOSPHERE AT THE RECENT WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT'S DINNER ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS •Iraq Abuse •British Troops accused of mistreating prisoners •Sharon and Likud •European Union expands •Battle for control in Iraq •Japan's Iraq censorship •Central Asian security criticism •Photographing coffins THE PROCESS THAT LED TO PUBLISHING PHOTOGRAPHS OF RETURNING U.S. WAR DEAD Poynter on line columnist Kenneth Irby notes that the breaking of the Pentagon's ban on publishing photographs of returning U.S. war dead resulted from an unexpected chain of events. Tami Silicio, who photographed U.S. coffins being loaded in planes, emailed the pictures to her friend Amy Katz in Seattle. Katz called the photo editor of the Seattle Times who then agonized over whether to publish them. (Kenneth Irby, Poynter on line, May 2, 2004)

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