Day 560: Life in the Korean Army

Part 2 of the Military Service series from Ask A Korean, focusing on the Infantry, where combat-fit Korean men get allocated to. Most probably the remaining 3 members I would think… The subject is pretty heavy, but I think The Korean’s little funny references make it very readable
You can read his original article HERE. Part 3 has yet to be released, but I’ll update once that’s out…
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NOTE FROM ME : This is about the Korean ARMY, not the MARINE CORPS. Just a clarification, since too many people confuse the "army" to be synonymous with "military service".

Vast majority of Korean men spend their time during their service as a regular ground infantry, only differing in their base location and job description. So what do these men go through?

Which Eric and Dongwan had already gone through, and what the other 3 are about to go through…

Training Center/Boot Camp
First comes the 5-week stint at the training center/boot camp. In the first three days, new recruits receive their supplies. These supplies include everything, including uniform, boots, and underwear. Strictly speaking, no soldier in the training center is allowed to have any private item – everything is provided by the military. In practice, soldiers in the training center are generally allowed to have a spare pair of glasses, a watch, a small amount of cash, etc. There is more leeway with respect to personal items once the men are assigned to their bases.

(Picture of the training center at Nonsan)
The recruits’ personal items – usually the clothes in which they come into the boot camp – are packed up and sent back to their parents. It is the quintessential Korean mother’s experience to cry over her son’s dusty clothes mailed back to her after she sent her son away for his military service.
New recruits are then given a physical. Although it is extremely rare to be sent home at this stage, there are a few whose health has significantly deteriorated below draft eligibility between the time when they received the initial physical and the time when they report to the training center. These men are sent home.
Then the new recruits receive an exam that would determine their specialty as a soldier. This is based on their college major, career background, etc. However, this is far from a scientific process; more like a rough guess. For example, many math majors are assigned to artillery because firing a cannon requires a quick number-crunching ability. But it is not as if these men are tested as to how fast they can actually calculate things.
Once the specialties are assigned, the new recruits are trained to be soldiers. They receive their weapons, learn how to shoot rifles and throw grenades, learn how to march and patrol, etc. It is more or less the training you might see in a movie – they go through marches with full gear (around 55 to 60 pounds) during the day and at night, learn how to fight with bayonet, train how to use their hazmat masks and sit through tear gas, learn how to dig trenches and encamp, learn first aid, etc. After five weeks of this, the soldiers are assigned to their bases.

Ok…the following will apply as long as they are not public service officers…

At the Base
The long haul begins at the bases. The life at the bases can differ vastly depending on where the base is, and what your specialty is. The unanimous worst placement is the bases in the mountainous range in eastern Korea, along the Armistice Line. Staring directly into North Korea, these soldiers must constantly patrol in the blistering cold, often in minefields. In comparison, soldiers assigned to a supply center base in the southern parts of Korea have an easier time. Training continues to happen at the base, but the intensity of such training is vastly different depending on the specialty. However, at least once a year, every soldier goes through a pretty intense combat training.
Amenities differ significantly from base to base as well. The luckiest few bases sometimes have karaoke, Internet café, arcade, etc, as well as indoor plumbing and shower facilities. The unlucky ones will have outdoor plumbing, no hot water, and only a dirt field that doubles as a soccer pitch. Generally each squad shares a single room to sleep in, and the room tends to have a television. Of course, the channel showing on that television is entirely up to the sergeant, who is usually the highest-ranking officer in a squad.
A little more explanation on soccer in the base is warranted, because it is such a universal part of the military experience. The soccer experience is called “Gundaesliga”, a parody of “Bundesliga” or the Federal League in Germany. (“Gundae” is Korean for “military”.) Because soccer is popular in Korea, and also because the game can entertain 22 men with a single ball, playing soccer is nearly a ubiquitous experience for all Korean men who served in the military. Each squad would usually play as a team, sometimes with each sergeant of the squad betting snacks or drinks. Long discipline process such as running several miles, etc. usually awaits the losing team. It is said that for a gifted soccer player, life in the military comes easily. Because inter-squad soccer games factor so much into the military life, the ranking soldiers take it a little easy on the star players.

(A parody, popular among Korean websites, showing “Gundaesliga” created from the Winning Eleven, a soccer video game.)
When it comes right down to it, daily life at the base is rather boring. Assignments range from serious (patrolling) to petty (cleaning the base), but they generally end by 5 p.m. After 5 p.m., soldiers play soccer, read, study, or generally do anything to kill time.
Soldiers enter the base as a private, and gradually move up the rank up to sergeant over time. Sergeants, since they are closing in on finishing their duties, are known to be lazier and more slovenly in their uniforms.

The following explains why Hyesung sometimes gets to hang out with Kangta even though Kangta’s serving out his duty right now… LOL

Furloughs are permitted intermittently throughout the soldier’s career. It starts with the “100 day furlough” – time outside, usually for 4-5 days, given after 100 days of military service. After that, soldiers get the total of 10 furlough days for the rest of their time in the military. In addition, there are special furlough days given out as a reward for a variety of things – ranging from something important like good marksmanship to something trivial like being the crowd favorite in the battalion talent show. A squad mate of the Korean’s friend won a furlough day for randomly saluting at a helicopter flying nearby, which happened to carry a general who saw the salute. Soldiers are also given furloughs for personal circumstances, e.g. death in the family.
Soldiers can have visitors, but usually they need to ask for permission ahead of time. Soldiers can also receive packages. But keep in mind that all packages will be searched, and soldiers are expected to share any food coming from outside with their squad mates. If you are sending food, send plenty and in small packets.
Also, soldiers get paid in nominal amounts. Privates receive around $55 a month, and sergeants receive around $80 a month or so.

Life at the Base, and Aftermath
So, now we know what the nitty-gritties are in the Korean military, but what is it really like? Obviously, this answer strongly depends on the particular assignment and the superiors, but some common elements exist – emphasis on hierarchy, working as an organization, and learning to tolerate loads and loads of bullshit.
After all, these soldiers are in the military. And military does not function without the willingness of lower-ranking soldiers to follow the directions of higher-ranking soldiers. Therefore, in a regular squad, sergeants are kings. They control everything good in the squad, e.g. the first cut of the chocolate that a private’s girlfriend sent from outside the base, what channel the squad television would show, etc.
At one point, indiscriminate beating was commonplace in the military. Although (at least nominally) beating is not allowed Korean military anymore, there are plenty of ways in which the ranking officer can make a soldier’s life miserable. Other types of physical discipline such as running laps or Wonsan Pokgyeok are plenty available, and there is virtually no limit to insults and condescension.

(The Wonsan pok-gyeok, which translates to “bombing of Wonsan.” Wonsan is a port city in North Korea. This punishment is applied liberally for various causes, such as being slow in marching, losing a soccer game, or overcooking your seargeant’s ramen.)
Another thing to keep in mind is that Korean army is a place with a ton of manpower, but little money. Therefore, even the most menial task – such as cleaning the pool of the general’s house – falls on the soldiers. Also, like other parts of Korean bureaucracy, professionalism is missing at times and rules are frequently bent in the Korean military.
This often results in many hilarious situations. For example, the Korean has a friend who spent his military years in the eastern mountain range in Korea. One day, the general decided that he would have fresh sashimi for his guest. The Korean’s friend and his squad mate drove in a truck for two hours to the shore, and managed to acquire fresh, live fish. But how to bring them home fresh and alive?
A normal person’s answer would be, “Rent a truck with equipped with a tank and an air compressor, the kind that would deliver live fish to sushi restaurants.” But remember, this is the Korean military. It does not have the money to rent such a truck, but it does have the manpower of two soldiers.
So what did the Korean’s friend do? He sat in the back of the truck, churning the water in the tub so that air would go in and the fish would be kept alive. (His squad mate got to drive the truck because he joined the military a few months ahead of the Korean’s friend, therefore outranking him.) This was in the middle of winter, and the truck bed was exposed to the freezing wind as the truck drove into the mountains. The Korean’s friend nearly froze to death, but the fish were alive until they were served on a plate that evening.
Stories of this type, coming out of Korean military, are dime a dozen. A brother of the Korean’s friend was in the Special Forces, and he recalls his platoon carving out a side of a mountain to build a swimming pool using only the tiny field spades. The Korean Uncle, a doctor specializing in internal medicine, routinely performed appendectomy as a medic in the military because, in his words, “I wanted to practice.”
For some of today’s Korean young men, who have gone soft since the days of their fathers, military experience can be unbearable. Physical exercise is grueling, the superiors can be arbitrary and insulting, and your squad mates could shun you if you are responsible for putting the whole squad in trouble. Given that these guys, just like any other soldiers in Korea, can access guns and grenades, it should be no surprise that recently there has been a string of incidents in which a draftee shoots up his squad or toss a grenade in the squad room, killing many.

However, most Korean men go through with the service without a huge incident. Few Korean men truly love their military experience. (Those who do have the option to stay in the military and continue their service as career soldiers.) But Korean men generally tolerate it and find life lessons to be learned from the experience, mostly because it is something that everyone has to go through.
And there are definitely good life lessons to be learned from the experience, although it may be debatable whether learning those lessons is a good use of 2 to 3 years of young men in their prime. To put it bluntly, the military experience builds Korean men’s tolerance for all the life’s bullshit. As the Korean described so far, there is no shortage of bullshit – some of them perhaps the worst to be encountered in life – in the military. Exhausting physical training, insults and condescension from the superiors, and wasting time on arbitrary and trivial errands are all part of the experience. For young Korean men in the military, there is no choice but to simply grin and bear them. Once they finish bearing it, they know that most difficulties in life would be easier than what they already went through. The combination of such tolerance and insight, some may call it maturity – because, as anyone who has had a regular job can tell you, life as an adult has a lot of crap that we must simply grin and bear.

Day 538: How to Fight

How to Fight

(http://www.violentacres.com)

The summer I turned 6 years old, some of the neighborhood boys started bullying me. Back then, I owned a pair of cabbage patch kid roller-skates and my favorite activity was skating around the block singing nursery rhymes at the top of my lungs. One day, a few boys in the 8-10 range thought it would be pretty humorous to push me around and watch me flail. I tried to run from them, but I couldn’t skate faster than they could run. They taunted me for a while and then knocked me down. Angry, humiliated, and with two freshly skinned knees, I did what any 6 year old girl would do in my position.

I went home and told my Dad.

My Father was an ex marine and always preached the benefits of learning self defense. Unlike most parents, he had no interest in calling the parents of my bullies to ‘open up a dialogue’ or some other such tripe. Instead, he planned to teach me to kick a little ass.

My Mother balked at this idea. She didn’t think little girls should be fighting. Little girls were supposed to have tea parties and then play dress up. Fighting was for little boys.

“What if someday a vicious serial killer kidnaps her?” my Father asked, “Do you want her to die weeping and begging for her life? Or would you rather she have the courage to wrench the knife from the killer’s hand and stab him in the throat?”

He paused, mid tirade, and said to me, “If that ever happens, V, stab and twist. Stab and twist.”

With my Mother temporarily mollified, My Father took me into the back yard to teach me how to fight.

Nervously, I explained to my Father that not only was I outnumbered by the boys, but they were bigger and stronger than I was. There was no way that I could beat them. My Father merely brushed my fears aside. He said that while they had the advantage of size and strength on their side, I could develop my own advantages. Here are some tips that he gave me:

1. Always Respond to Threats with Complete Confidence
Sometimes all it takes to make a bully re-think pounding you into a pulp is to make it very clear to him exactly how unafraid you are of a physical confrontation. When a bully threatens you, he is trying to invoke in you some fear in which he can feed off of. If you respond to his threats with confidence, even eagerness, it will give him a pause. If he doesn’t chicken out right then and there, he will enter the fight with a slight feeling of unease. His apprehension is your advantage.

2. Fighting Dirty is Fighting Smart
A fist fight isn’t the same as a karate tournament with judges and points. Your opponent is trying to hurt you, so don’t let some silly moral argument prevent you from kicking the little bastard in the nuts. Throw sand in his eyes, kick him in the back of the knees, bite him, or punch him in the stomach hard enough to knock the wind out of him. If he’s got you pinned down and you happen to see a rock out of the corner of your eye? Don’t be afraid to grab that rock and smash his face with it. There is no shiny trophy waiting for you at the end of this fight, so everything goes.

3. Talk Some Shit
Nothing will rattle your opponent faster than you screaming a steady stream of shit at him while you’re engaged in combat. The crazier you sound the better. If you can’t think of anything tough to yell, yell nonsense like, “I’m going to eat your eyes!” If you can’t think of any nonsense to yell, just plain scream. The second your opponent suspects that you’re a freaking lunatic he’s going to get scared. Fear causes people to make mistakes.

4. When You Lose, Claim It Didn’t Hurt
Sometimes you’re just outmatched. But even losing a fight can be used to your advantage. When it’s over, feel free to spit blood in his face and tell him that it ‘didn’t hurt.’ Laugh when he walks away. You might have just gotten your ass kicked six ways from Sunday, but I guarantee you that anyone watching that fight will think twice about ever messing with you in the future. No one wants to fuck with the crazy kid who feels no pain.

Armed with my new tips and tricks, I laced up my skates and headed out to face the jungle that is childhood. When the boys confronted me again, I dared them to mess with me. One ballsy kid lunged towards me with the intent of pushing me down. Quickly, I kicked that kid squarely between the legs with my skate. He crumpled to the ground as I hysterically screamed at his friends, “I’LL EAT YOUR EYES! I’LL EAT ALL OF YOUR EYES!” Terrified, those boys got up and ran like Hell. I’ve never felt so empowered in my entire life.

In retrospect, I think my Father was just trying to teach me a little something about fear and courage. Back then, and even more so today, it became quite popular to advise your children to: Run. Hide. Look away. Go get someone bigger. Be afraid. As a result, modern children and adults alike are easily paralyzed by fear and have no idea how to defend themselves.

After reading certain articles on my website, I’ve even seen people comment, “What is she going to do if she says the wrong thing to the wrong person? She’s going to end up getting hurt or killed.”

I feel sorry for those people. So paralyzed by fear of what might happen, that they lack the courage to stand up for themselves or for someone weaker. I refuse to live my life afraid to say what I feel or do what is right because there might be some mysterious villain lurking in the shadows who is bigger and stronger. Better to be dead, than to live your life afraid.

Besides, I could just as easily spend my life acting meek and compliant only to still end up with a bullet in my head. However, because my Father taught me courage, it’s not likely that I’d go down without a fight. Who knows? I may even end up wrenching a knife from some psycho’s hands and stabbing him in the throat with it.

Of course, I’ll remember to stab and twist.

Day 537.5: ROK Marines Admission I

Hey friends. It's 2:01 AM in Bangkok right as you're reading this very sentence, and here I am listening to Chopin while writing this very message to you in a desperate attempt to dispel the anxiety that holds me.


In 5 hours, I will get to know whether I will be in the ROK Marines or not.


As you may or may not know, depending on whether there was an opportunity do so, all male x citizens are required to go through physical/mental examinations and serve some national duty. Upon applying to the Marines division, I entered a competitive admissions process in mid-June, where I had to be examined, interviewed and screened (I can tell you more about this process later!).


I applied to the Marines because I want to change - for better or worse - and grow before I resume my studies back in Vermont. Now, I don't know whether I will mature/grow in the military, but what I do know is that time will help me to see things differently - again, for better or worse, but I'm just banking on better.


I also applied to the military now because I wanted to take a break from school. No, nothing is wrong with college-level education, but I just hate the people there. Or is it? Maybe I hate the majority of Americans, but it's probably because I'm unconsciously comparing them to you Kyle, Moki and Joel. Or maybe I hate the actual social structure and the way things are in the real world. Or maybe that's the result of forced transitioning out from the "fantastic" bubble we grew up in during high school. Or maybe I'm just having a hard time waking up from being so disillusioned? I really don't like how I ended up here; I want to blame something or someone, but what will I get from it? How will I benefit? Am I only debilitating myself by pointing a finger?


I don't know the answer, but I will only give an indifferent shrug. What's happened has happened, and here I am to get up and go. Even though a lot of people have advised me against it, I want to go into the Marines.


Okay thanks for reading! Got that off my chest.

Day 537: Do you belong there?

Where would I be?

(http://educationceo.wordpress.com)

As I read through emails, tweets, blogs, and Facebook statuses this morning, I came across one from @HalonaBlack that really made me stop and evaluate some things. Her post, which you better should read, discusses how some first-generation college students arrive on campus with the short-sighted goal of choosing a major that will help them earn money, in the shortest amount of time possible. Well, as soon as I retweeted it my college roommate posted the following comment on my page:

Roomie: “I can relate to this on so many levels. My Dad (even though he didn’t raise me he thought he had a voice in this) basically told me no “BS” majors (e.g. Communications,journalism, etc). I needed a “real” major so right off I felt limited in my choices. And even going to law school, it shocked me how prepared some of the well to do students were. They had outlines, knew the inside tricks, etc. Always vowed my kid would never start that far behind and would have the ability to pursue whatever she wanted.”

Whew! That hit so close to home it stopped me in my tracks. Now when I chose which college I would attend, no one in my family weighed in on majors, etc. Honestly, the only advice/words of wisdom I received came from my grandfather as he was driving me home from work one day (as we passed the University of Notre Dame):

“Don’t you let anyone tell you or make you feel like you don’t belong there, because you do. You have as much right to be there as they do.” Anyone who knows anything about Notre Dame, or any predominantly White college/university, can guess to whom he referred; it’s not rocket science. But that was the way we were raised: We were never taught that we were inferior to anyone. We are all as comfortable, if not more so, in a room where we are the only minority versus being in a room where we are in the majority. (Oh lord I get so sidetracked!) BTW: That’s not me in the pic. It’s Katie Odette Washington, Notre Dame’s first Black Valedictorian. 

Day 503: Today's Lesson - How to Kill a Child's Self-Esteem

Today’s Lesson: How to kill a kid’s self-esteem
(http://educationceo.wordpress.com)

Students in Gwinnett County Schools are down to the last 3 days and End-of-Year celebrations are in full-swing. I just returned from attending the celebration for my 3rd grader. On my way out of the building, I asked the Kindergarten teacher if I missed the note or email about their celebration. She informed me that their designated time was between breakfast and lunch last Friday, with lunch being served at 10:30 a.m. Needless to say, the Kindergarten team decided against over-loading kids on food that day, and I do not blame them one bit. The kids were treated to a ‘Game Day’ instead and based on the reports I received from my Kindergarten student, it was pretty fun. But that’s not why I felt compelled to rush home and get this blog written so let me get back on track…

So I am helping the long-term substitute with today’s celebration, i.e., serving the kids, cleaning-up messes, etc. (pretty much the same thing I do at home) when the awards ‘ceremony’ begins. Students received awards for successfully participating in the school-wide Reading program, Perfect Attendance, Testing Achievement, Honor Roll, and Principal’s Honor Roll. Several kids, including my 3rd grader (shameless shout-out), received multiple awards. I will admit that I was a little disappointed deeply offended by the fact that the principal only signed the Principal’s Honor Roll awards. My child and the others who maintained A’s and B’s during the last 9-week grading period worked just as hard as those who made the other list. Before you say,”Well, she probably had a lot of awards to sign,” my response is “Get a damn signature stamp then.’ Besides, the old adage is true: Excuses are like butt holes. Everybody has one and most of them stink. I can remember every award I ever received having the signature of at least one principal on them.

The celebration (partaking of the food) continues and the teacher walks over to me and tells me that one of the students was crying because he didn’t receive any awards. I’m not sure if the parent or common-sense teacher in me took over, but I became really livid at that point. I sat there thinking about this kid, who I had seen struggle with Math during the year, and his disappointment. Then all the research and data began going through my mind, especially because this kid is African American, he’s in 3rd grade, and just took a high-stakes test a few weeks ago. For those of you who don’t know, research shows that states develop their prison plans based on 3rd grade Reading achievement data…interesting. My motherly instinct kicked-in and I went over to him, bent down, and asked:

“Why are you crying?”

Sobbing and wiping tears, he answered “Because I never win anything.”

“It’s o.k. I understand why you are upset and I agree with you. You should be recognized for your efforts. Trust me, you are going to be o.k. Your *teacher knows that you try really hard and she also knows that you have improved this year.”

His parents entered the room a few minutes later and I am sure his dad had the same conversation with him. At least I hope he did. Now I will spend the rest of the afternoon in prayer, asking for some guidance/wisdom/financial blessing so I can give some of these kids what they need most: An opportunity to feel successful. Then I am off to Office Depot to print awards and beg area businesses to donate some certificates for the students.

*The classroom teacher has been gone 2 weeks due to a death in the family. I have no doubt in my mind that she would have given some type of award to every student.

Day 487: Inspiration from Bruce Lee

An excerpt from The Art of Expressing the Human Body by Bruce Lee & John Little:

Bruce had me up to three miles a day, really at a good pace. We'd run the three miles in twenty one or twenty-two minutes. Just under eight minutes a mile [Note: when runing on his own in 1968, Lee would get his time down to six-and-a-half minutes per mile]. So this morning he said to me "We're going to go five." I said, "Bruce, I can't go five. I'm a helluva lot older than you are, and I can't do five." He said, When we get to three, we'll shift gears and it's only two more and you'll do it." I said "Okay, hell, I'll go for it." So we get to three, we go into the fourth mile and I'm okay for three or fout minutes, and then I really begin to give out. I'm tired, my heart's pounding, I can't go any more and so I say to him, "Bruce if I run any more,"-and we're still running-"if I run any more I'm liable to have a heart attack and die."

He said, "Then die." It made me so mad that I went the full five miles. Afterward I went to the shower and then I wanted to talk to him about it. I said, you know; "Why did you say that?" He said, "Because you might as well be dead. Seriously, if you always put limits on what you can do, physical or anything else, it'll spread over into the rest of your life. It'll spread into your work, into your morality, into your entire being. There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level."

Day 484: Parental Guidance

Author: Nancy Gibbs (TIMES Essayist); May 17, 2010

Cancer hands you red-hot shoes and makes you dance with death every day for the rest of your life. So the question is, Who gets to lead? And what can the rest of us learn from watching?

Bruce Feiler is a writer with diverse interests and an adventurous spirit. His best seller Walking the Bible, about his 10,000-mile trek through the Holy Lands, became a hit PBS series; he wrote a book about his year as a circus clown and one on Abraham--nine books total, but none like his latest, The Council of Dads. It was basically born the day doctors told him there was a malignant, aggressive 7-in. tumor in his femur, a cancer so rare fewer than 100 adults get it a year. He was 43 years old, lying on his bed, wrapped in sudden uncertainty, when his 3-year-old twin daughters raced in, twirling and laughing. "I crumbled," he recalls. "I kept imagining all the walks I might not take with them, the ballet recitals I might not see ... the boyfriends I might not scowl at, the aisles I might not walk down."
(See the Landscape of Cancer Treatment.)

From that dark place came the need; a few days later came the notion, when he began making a list of men who represented, in concentrated form, all the qualities and memories he most wanted his girls to encounter, which they might not get the chance to absorb from him. One of those men he had known since the sandbox, one had been a camp counselor, another a college roommate, another a business partner, six of them in all. My girls have a great mom and a loving family, he told them. "But they may not have me. Will you help be their dad?"

And thus was born the Council of Dads, the friends he hoped would teach the lessons, send the signals, say the things he would have when his daughters fail a test, win a prize, fall in love. Proposing membership, Feiler recalls, felt like proposing marriage. The conversations defy the image of awkward men allergic to sentiment. Cancer was "a passport to intimacy"; it drove him to tell his friends why they mattered, ask them to be more involved in his life and particularly in his daughters'.

You could say that he reversed the normal arc: having close friends and having children is like trying to play hopscotch and knit at the same time--theoretically possible but requiring more dexterity than most of us can manage. During our prime parenting years, juggling work and home is hard enough; few of us are so emotionally double-jointed that we can manage much more than a book group, a chat with the other parents in the bleachers, intimacy on the run.

Reading The Council of Dads made me wonder at the great opportunity we miss. Sometime after you have kids, you are told to make a will, name some guardians, and on that occasion you wave, politely and formally, to your mortality as you carefully cross to the other side of the street. It's natural to avoid thinking about what your children would do without you. But being a parent involves planned obsolescence. We actually want children, as they grow, to expand emotionally, explore independently. Teenagers especially need advice from women who are not their mother, guidance from men who are not their dad.

This was once the province of godparents: in Renaissance-era Florence, a child could have a dozen of them--an extended family of providers and protectors. But since then, the role has evolved from spiritual mentor to social fixer. In some ZIP codes, preschool admissions officers find they get a lot of requests to serve, and Hallmark now makes a couple dozen Christmas-card designs for godparents to send, which is a sure sign the relationship has lost much of its meaning. "Always a godfather, never a god," lamented the much recruited author Gore Vidal.

Hillary Clinton said it takes a village, and she was mocked, but she was right. Is there any greater gift we can give our children than to be loved and lifted by as many adults as possible, beyond immediate family? Single and divorced parents do this informally all the time. Feiler, whose latest tests show him to be, for now, cancer-free, is working with the National Fatherhood Initiative, which has kiosks in 1,500 military bases around the world. The plan is to distribute literature about The Council of Dads and invite soldiers to convene their own; these are men and women who live with mortality and separation.

But maybe it's an exercise for everyone, not just in parenting, but in friendship and self-discovery. I'd like my daughters to have a Council of Dads, a Council of Moms--not, God willing, to replace my husband or me, but to remind us which values we value most, and help us make sure we transmit them.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1987596-2,00.html#ixzz0pZByapVS

Day 207: Shameful Financial Aid Letter

Feeling like a shamed, poor man

Listening to Kewlaid - Wild Berries

It's half past one in the morning

 

Autumn is just around the corner! My weather sense has been tingling for the past week, though I think it is arriving too soon. I really don't like taking ice cold showers in the morning. Ew.

Just now, I wrote this request letter for financial aid in this 2-week reading skill enhancement course that's being offered in Middlebury College this September. I just got to the information letter (in an envelope) just a moment ago, so I had no choice except to get on my hands and knees and literally beg in the format of an e-mail of the Center for Teaching, Learning and Research (Midd lingo - C.T.L.R.) department coordinator, JoAnn Brewer, for consideration.

So, I just want to share with you what I wrote. It's pretty shameful, I know, but I did enjoy the funny five minutes that I spent on crafting it. Ugh. I really need this aid! To be honest, it really sucks having to beg for help all the time. Feels like being a beggar begging for expensive things, like college education. Totally senseless.

Hello JoAnn,

I hope you're having a fine day!
My name is -----, Midd class of '12.5, and I'm writing to you about requesting much-needed financial aid for the Reading and Study Skills course that is offered this coming September.

Yes! I am fully aware that it is past the deadline, but I shamefully admit that I *now* just got to read the letter. It's a bummer, but I would like to go ahead and ask of you anyway. I want to tell you how badly I want to take part in this, but I don't quite think I can enroll without financial aid from the school! So, please, if you can consider this plea just for a second or two - be it yea or nay - I will be thankful.

Thank you for your time and consideration!

Much sincerely,
-------

Preparing for More than a Quiz

These are crazy parents. As always, Korean moms have crazy expectations. Wait, lemme rephrase that - not crazy, but unrealistic. I mean, there can only be a select few that are in the top x percentile. Not every kid can be the best, idiots! 

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Preparing for More Than a Quiz
Korean-Inspired 'Cram Schools' Still Pile On Tests But Also Help Young Students Navigate U.S. Lifestyle


By Michael Alison Chandler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, July 5, 2009

When Aran Park directed a tutoring center in South Korea, her workday ended at 3 a.m. That's when her last class let out. "We have a saying in Korea: If you sleep three hours, you succeed; if you sleep four hours, you fail," she said. 

Park opened another tutoring center in the corner of a Centreville office building last year. At the Living Stone Academy, she runs a strict program with daily quizzes and lots of homework, but on a distinctly American schedule that ends by 4 p.m. "It is summer vacation," she said, laughing. "I don't want to take away all the fun they deserve." 

Many Koreans who move to the United States are relieved to be rid of the expensive and energy-sapping cram schools where, driven by intense competition to get into top universities, students spend most of their waking hours after the school day ends. 

But a new and gentler version of cram school is emerging in the United States. Over the past 15 years, scores of Korean-run academies have opened in strip malls and office buildings in such immigrant enclaves as Ellicott City and Annandale. Names such as Elite Academy and Einstein Academy reflect the educational goals that brought families halfway around the world. 

This summer, thousands of Korean American students, along with an increasing number of non-Koreans, will attend them to prepare for next year's math classes, SAT tests or the entrance exam for Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. 

The schools are designed to give students a competitive edge, but many offer far more than academic support. They help newcomers adjust to a new culture, new expectations and a dramatically different public school system. For some families, they are a lifeline between the old world and the new. 

"It's not all academics in America. You have to get involved in other things," said Matthew Lee, who emigrated from Korea as a teenager and established Best Academy in 1994. It has campuses in Springfield, Sterling and Columbia. 

Getting involved can be a difficult concept for students who for years have been pushed to make academics their primary focus. So Lee, a guidance counselor in Fairfax County schools, offers academic classes in the morning and fills the afternoon with extracurricular activities that many public schools offer and American colleges expect to see on applications. He also counsels parents who are unfamiliar with American education traditions. 

Best Academy charges $1,100 for an eight-week enrichment program for elementary and middle school students. Many academies' rates are far higher. In the fall, students go once or twice a week after the regular school day. 

This summer, they are taking art classes, going on field trips and volunteering on political campaigns. They go to the pool, and they watch movies. The school offers clubs for origami, journalism and mental math. 

On a sunny afternoon this week, two dozen third- and fourth-graders in art class concentrated on a blank page. Their task, the teacher said, was to draw a jar and fill it with something large and "outside the ordinary." With colored pencils, they filled the space with a dragon, a candy store, a beach and a man. 

Lee tries to introduce newcomers to American public school traditions. "Spirit days," such as Funny Hat Day or Pajama Day, are commonplace in American schools but baffling to students accustomed to regimens and uniforms. He lets them practice the goofy tradition at his academy first, "where they feel more safe," he said. 

Mira Chae, a Korean-born parent whose three children have attended the Best Academy, said the school helped her children feel more comfortable and less shy at the private and public schools they attended. It also helped bridge the cultural gap between her and her American-born children. "Report cards are not everything," she said.
Fewer Korean families seek out cram schools in the United States than in Korea, said Kyeyoung Park, associate professor of anthropology and Asian American studies at the University of California at Los Angeles. But the cram school industry is still booming, with families' needs changing. 

More families rely on two incomes here and need a safe place for day care, Park said. Some are hoping to replicate the intensity of Korea's schools, and others are interested in the golf lessons or taekwondo some schools offer. 

Einstein Academy, tucked next to a Korean church in a Fairfax City office building, markets to middle and high school students and maintains an academic focus. The school advertises a high pass rate for students on the Thomas Jefferson High School entrance exam and a heavy homework load. 

But it tailors its academic courses to American expectations, said Executive Director Don Shim, with creative teaching techniques and different types of classes. This summer, the academy is offering a debate class to bolster students' communication skills. "Many students know the answer, but they don't know how to explain it," Shim said. "They just mumble." 

For some parents, the American-style cram schools are not rigorous enough. Several of Shim's students are returning to Korea this summer for more-intense programs, he said. 

One of those students is Fred Jin, 16, a rising sophomore at Paul VI Catholic High School in Fairfax City. He will spend four weeks at a kind of academic boot camp near Seoul, where study sessions begin at 7:30 a.m. and end at 11:30 p.m. 

"Most important thing," said his mother, Youna Jin, with one finger raised in the air. "No computer." That means no cellphone, no Facebook, no MP3s. 

She brought her two sons to the United States four years ago, leaving her husband behind, because she thought they would find better schools and have a better chance at getting into a prestigious college. America, she has found, is lonely for her and full of distractions for her sons, particularly online distractions. Given tight competition for Ivy League schools, she is worried her sons are wasting too much time. 

Recently, she has taken to putting a mirror behind them when they are doing homework on their laptops so she can monitor their Facebook use. Five thousand dollars for four weeks, plus airfare, seems a fair price to limit that access. 

Fred Jin, who prefers tennis to academics, said he expects the boot camp to be "tiring." But when it comes time to take the SAT, he said, he expects he "will get results from it."

Night 189: At the Edge of This Mountain

Listening to Mango & Aqua Diva
Feeling like a happy, n00b swing dancer!

I saw your smile
When you first two met
Then all your troubles faded

You knew from the start
Where this all would fly
Falling down to nowhere
Yeah

But being careless,
You know you do not want to hear me
I know you truly want to stay here
Lingering in the clouds

And somewhere in the deepest part of your dreams
At the edge of this mountain
You close your eyes and weep

Oh somewhere in the deepest part of those clouds
Just close your eyes and dream

I heard you cry
For a distant love
Who will never come back

I saw your face
In a flood of tears
Your eyes so empty

But now hear me
You know I never want to hurt you
I know you can't resist it
In your dreams you taste their lips

Hear me, heal me
Sweetness, feelings, love and since so many blames and stories

And somewhere in the deepest part of your dreams
At the edge of this mountain
We just close our eyes and breathe

Oh somewhere in the deepest part of my dreams
At the edge of this mountain
We close our eyes and forget

Oh somewhere in the deepest part of our dreams
At the edge of this mountain
We close our eyes and repeat

Day 188: Wait, sir.

Following is a quote by MLK. I found it difficult to keep a tear from forming. Have you ever stopped and wondered how lucky your people must be to not have ever endured through so much pain and agony?

"Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, "Wait." But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five year old son who is asking: "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?"; when you take a cross county drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading "white" and "colored"; when your first name becomes "nigger," your middle name becomes "boy" (however old you are) and your last name becomes "John," and your wife and mother are never given the respected title "Mrs."; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of "nobodiness"--then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait."

-MLK

Night 187: Freak on a Trip

The second and last time I'd smoke marijuana during my freshman year of college, I decided to visit an upperclassman friend that I know of in another dorm one night. I didn't think that I would be getting high in under 2 minutes, but for sure I was proved wrong.I jogged the last 50 yard stretch before the back door of the dorm building. I passed by a student under the orange light of the street lamp, looked back, and something told me that this guy was following me. I tried not to think of it. "Just be normal, and get to the door," I told myself.
During the next five seconds, I passed by a couple that was walking towards the same direction. I looked back, and I was sure for a fact that they were following me. I panic, turn my attention to the door that's in front of me, and decide to run for it. I look back, and their shadowy figures in the darkness become so menacing that I slam my ID to the card scanner, open the door, and hurry inside the building.
I watch the building door close behind me, and turn to the stairs, just to realize that there is another dark figure waiting for me right beside the stairwell (of course, this is just another innocent person about to go outside). I snap and run past him and up the stairs to the third floor.
Getting to the right floor, I sprint until I'm at my friend's room, and furiously knock on her door. I hear her reply, but I can't make it out, so I knock again, this time stronger, and not stopping until she opens the door.
The instant the door opens, I kick open the door, and tell her, "Help. Help. Help. Help. Someone's ... someone's.... there's someone.." but my mouth fails to iterate the words that my mind is freaking over to get out. With my whole body shaking, I crumple into a ball on one side of her room, and rock myself forward and back. I remember myself repeatedly muttering, "People... following... people... following... they're outside. They're outside. They're outside!" until she just waits for me to calm down.
I move to a corner of the room, and decide that I should just sit and not move. She tells me that I really should try making friends at school, and that it's okay for me to tell her about my problems.
I snarl back, denying her claim about me having problems. This is when the weed hits me again, and I keep stuttering to her, "I don't have any problems. I don't have any problems. I really don't, really. Really," over and over again, until I realize that she's not buying it. So, I guess it becomes apparent to myself that I am really having problems, and I am having a hard time finding friends at school. I feel an overwhelming urge to cry, but I'm hit one more time. There I am, looking up at the ceiling, trying my absolute hardest to muffle my sniffles and not let a single drop of tear come out of my eyes for about a cold, long and hard five minutes.
I feel that she's looking at me, but something tells me that she's not. I breathe long and deep a few times, apologize for being so messed up, run back home, and sleep.
Did anyone else have trips like these?

Day 187: Haters Anonymous Pt II

So it might seem to you that this love/hate relationship between Middlebury College and I is kinda overdramatic. Well, then .. you can go screw yourself. Press the red X on the top right corner of the browser =)

As I write this, I'm having to fight back these tears that are just begging to be let out, but I can't - my roommate is here in the room, 2 in the morning. Who do you think I am, some crybaby?

First of all, I just don't know myself anymore. I used to think I did, but I don't anymore. Why, I don't know. Coming into Middlebury College as a freshman feb was a really jolly, exciting time for me, but that's something of the past now. It's almost second semester already, and I'm going through a turb..

Nevermind. It's no use.

I've said I won't care anymore, but my mind just can't do it. DAMN it. It's almost there, but just caring about things doesn't make me so tough against what the world throws at me.

I can close my eyes, think back to my mom's cooking, and cry for over an hour, but that's all I can do to let loose whatever I had within me. But for a moment, trading emotional hurt for physical pain doesn't seem so bad right now. It seems like a very good trade, actually.

Just think of Spencer. Think of that person who doesn't seem to have any emotional wants or needs, and can just be that nice guy. No hurts, no pain, nothing. Good.

Damn. Middlebury College.

I think I need help.

Day 186: Those Aren't Fighting Words, My Dear

By LAURA A. MUNSON

Published: July 31, 2009

LET’S say you have what you believe to be a healthy marriage. You’re still friends and lovers after spending more than half of your lives together. The dreams you set out to achieve in your 20s — gazing into each other’s eyes in candlelit city bistros when you were single and skinny — have for the most part come true.

Two decades later you have the 20 acres of land, the farmhouse, the children, the dogs and horses. You’re the parents you said you would be, full of love and guidance. You’ve done it all: Disneyland, camping, Hawaii, Mexico, city living, stargazing.

Sure, you have your marital issues, but on the whole you feel so self-satisfied about how things have worked out that you would never, in your wildest nightmares, think you would hear these words from your husband one fine summer day: “I don’t love you anymore. I’m not sure I ever did. I’m moving out. The kids will understand. They’ll want me to be happy.”

But wait. This isn’t the divorce story you think it is. Neither is it a begging-him-to-stay story. It’s a story about hearing your husband say “I don’t love you anymore” and deciding not to believe him. And what can happen as a result.

Here’s a visual: Child throws a temper tantrum. Tries to hit his mother. But the mother doesn’t hit back, lecture or punish. Instead, she ducks. Then she tries to go about her business as if the tantrum isn’t happening. She doesn’t “reward” the tantrum. She simply doesn’t take the tantrum personally because, after all, it’s not about her.

Let me be clear: I’m not saying my husband was throwing a child’s tantrum. No. He was in the grip of something else — a profound and far more troubling meltdown that comes not in childhood but in midlife, when we perceive that our personal trajectory is no longer arcing reliably upward as it once did. But I decided to respond the same way I’d responded to my children’s tantrums. And I kept responding to it that way. For four months.

“I don’t love you anymore. I’m not sure I ever did.”

His words came at me like a speeding fist, like a sucker punch, yet somehow in that moment I was able to duck. And once I recovered and composed myself, I managed to say, “I don’t buy it.” Because I didn’t.

He drew back in surprise. Apparently he’d expected me to burst into tears, to rage at him, to threaten him with a custody battle. Or beg him to change his mind.

So he turned mean. “I don’t like what you’ve become.”

Gut-wrenching pause. How could he say such a thing? That’s when I really wanted to fight. To rage. To cry. But I didn’t.

Instead, a shroud of calm enveloped me, and I repeated those words: “I don’t buy it.”

You see, I’d recently committed to a non-negotiable understanding with myself. I’d committed to “The End of Suffering.” I’d finally managed to exile the voices in my head that told me my personal happiness was only as good as my outward success, rooted in things that were often outside my control. I’d seen the insanity of that equation and decided to take responsibility for my own happiness. And I mean all of it.

My husband hadn’t yet come to this understanding with himself. He had enjoyed many years of hard work, and its rewards had supported our family of four all along. But his new endeavor hadn’t been going so well, and his ability to be the breadwinner was in rapid decline. He’d been miserable about this, felt useless, was losing himself emotionally and letting himself go physically. And now he wanted out of our marriage; to be done with our family.

But I wasn’t buying it.

I said: “It’s not age-appropriate to expect children to be concerned with their parents’ happiness. Not unless you want to create co-dependents who’ll spend their lives in bad relationships and therapy. There are times in every relationship when the parties involved need a break. What can we do to give you the distance you need, without hurting the family?”

“Huh?” he said.

“Go trekking in Nepal. Build a yurt in the back meadow. Turn the garage studio into a man-cave. Get that drum set you’ve always wanted. Anything but hurting the children and me with a reckless move like the one you’re talking about.”

Then I repeated my line, “What can we do to give you the distance you need, without hurting the family?”

“Huh?”

“How can we have a responsible distance?”

“I don’t want distance,” he said. “I want to move out.”

My mind raced. Was it another woman? Drugs? Unconscionable secrets? But I stopped myself. I would not suffer.

Instead, I went to my desk, Googled “responsible separation” and came up with a list. It included things like: Who’s allowed to use what credit cards? Who are the children allowed to see you with in town? Who’s allowed keys to what?

I looked through the list and passed it on to him.

His response: “Keys? We don’t even have keys to our house.”

I remained stoic. I could see pain in his eyes. Pain I recognized.

“Oh, I see what you’re doing,” he said. “You’re going to make me go into therapy. You’re not going to let me move out. You’re going to use the kids against me.”

“I never said that. I just asked: What can we do to give you the distance you need ... ”

“Stop saying that!”

Well, he didn’t move out.

Instead, he spent the summer being unreliable. He stopped coming home at his usual six o’clock. He would stay out late and not call. He blew off our entire Fourth of July — the parade, the barbecue, the fireworks — to go to someone else’s party. When he was at home, he was distant. He wouldn’t look me in the eye. He didn’t even wish me “Happy Birthday.”

But I didn’t play into it. I walked my line. I told the kids: “Daddy’s having a hard time as adults often do. But we’re a family, no matter what.” I was not going to suffer. And neither were they.

MY trusted friends were irate on my behalf. “How can you just stand by and accept this behavior? Kick him out! Get a lawyer!”

I walked my line with them, too. This man was hurting, yet his problem wasn’t mine to solve. In fact, I needed to get out of his way so he could solve it.

I know what you’re thinking: I’m a pushover. I’m weak and scared and would put up with anything to keep the family together. I’m probably one of those women who would endure physical abuse. But I can assure you, I’m not. I load 1,500-pound horses into trailers and gallop through the high country of Montana all summer. I went through Pitocin-induced natural childbirth. And a Caesarean section without follow-up drugs. I am handy with a chain saw.

I simply had come to understand that I was not at the root of my husband’s problem. He was. If he could turn his problem into a marital fight, he could make it about us. I needed to get out of the way so that wouldn’t happen.

Privately, I decided to give him time. Six months.

I had good days, and I had bad days. On the good days, I took the high road. I ignored his lashing out, his merciless jabs. On bad days, I would fester in the August sun while the kids ran through sprinklers, raging at him in my mind. But I never wavered. Although it may sound ridiculous to say “Don’t take it personally” when your husband tells you he no longer loves you, sometimes that’s exactly what you have to do.

Instead of issuing ultimatums, yelling, crying or begging, I presented him with options. I created a summer of fun for our family and welcomed him to share in it, or not — it was up to him. If he chose not to come along, we would miss him, but we would be just fine, thank you very much. And we were.

And, yeah, you can bet I wanted to sit him down and persuade him to stay. To love me. To fight for what we’ve created. You can bet I wanted to.

But I didn’t.

I barbecued. Made lemonade. Set the table for four. Loved him from afar.

And one day, there he was, home from work early, mowing the lawn. A man doesn’t mow his lawn if he’s going to leave it. Not this man. Then he fixed a door that had been broken for eight years. He made a comment about our front porch needing paint. Our front porch. He mentioned needing wood for next winter. The future. Little by little, he started talking about the future.

It was Thanksgiving dinner that sealed it. My husband bowed his head humbly and said, “I’m thankful for my family.”

He was back.

And I saw what had been missing: pride. He’d lost pride in himself. Maybe that’s what happens when our egos take a hit in midlife and we realize we’re not as young and golden anymore.

When life’s knocked us around. And our childhood myths reveal themselves to be just that. The truth feels like the biggest sucker-punch of them all: it’s not a spouse or land or a job or money that brings us happiness. Those achievements, those relationships, can enhance our happiness, yes, but happiness has to start from within. Relying on any other equation can be lethal.

My husband had become lost in the myth. But he found his way out. We’ve since had the hard conversations. In fact, he encouraged me to write about our ordeal. To help other couples who arrive at this juncture in life. People who feel scared and stuck. Who believe their temporary feelings are permanent. Who see an easy out, and think they can escape.

My husband tried to strike a deal. Blame me for his pain. Unload his feelings of personal disgrace onto me.

But I ducked. And I waited. And it worked.

Laura A. Munson is a writer who lives in Whitefish, Mont.

Laws of Infernal Dynamics, Murphy's Way

The laws of infernal dynamics are an adage about the cursedness of the universe. Attributed to Science fiction author David Gerrold, the laws are as follows:

1. An object in motion will be moving in the wrong direction.
2. An object at rest will be in the wrong place.
3. The energy required to move an object in the correct direction, or put it in the right place, will be more than you wish to expend but not so much as to make the task impossible.

The laws are a parody on the first and second of Newton's laws of motion in the spirit of Murphy's law. Newton's first law of motion has here been split into two parts, the first two laws. Newton's third law of motion is left unparodied, though a separate adage states that "for every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism."

• Law of conservation of misery: Misery is never created or destroyed, just transferred.

Murphy's law is sometimes strengthened, as Finagle's law. The comparative of Murphy's law then is: If anything can go even worse, it will go even worse. Or more comprehensive, as: "Whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time, in the worst possible way."

Day 182: Haters Anonymous Pt I

I don't know how else to put it. I'm not happy. I don't like it here. I don't like the majority of the people, and the small, but handful of people that I can actually look at and smile is not enough to overpower the feelings I have toward this place.

Sometimes I look at and tell myself that I'm just being overdramatic. Oh, fuck. Are you kidding me? Do you think I'm making all this shit up just so that I can have another reason to be in this fucking mood for the whole day? Just so that I can be like this for one more day?

"The pain of life overrides the joy to the point that joy does not exist." -Kevin Carter, Pulitzer Prize recipient

Damn you, Middlebury College. I didn't even want to come here in the first place.

Monologing Reminescence

Day 174: And You Still Call Me Colored?

An African kid wrote the following poem, and the UN declared it the best poem of 2006.

When I born, I black

When I grow up, I black

When I go in Sun, I black

When I scared, I black

When I sick, I black

And when I die, I still black

And you white fellow

When you born, you pink

When you grow up, you white

When you go in sun, you red

When you cold, you blue

When you scared, you yellow

When you sick, you green

And when you die, you gray

And you calling me colored??

Day 170.5: Open Your Eyes, United States!

Photos of US Torture of Iraqi Prisoners At The Abu Ghraib Prison In Iraq

by sources
Friday Apr 30th, 2004 5:06 PM

Graphic photographs showing the torture and sexual abuse of Iraqi prisoners in a US-run prison outside Baghdad emerged yesterday from a military inquiry which has left six soldiers facing a possible court martial and a general under investigation.
The scandal has also brought to light the growing and largely unregulated role of private contractors in the interrogation of detainees.

iraq_torture_a.jpg

According to lawyers for some of the soldiers, they claimed to be acting in part under the instruction of mercenary interrogators hired by the Pentagon.
US military investigators discovered the photographs, which include images of a hooded prisoner with wires fixed to his body, and nude inmates piled in a human pyramid.
The pictures, which were obtained by an American TV network, also show a dog attacking a prisoner and other inmates being forced to simulate sex with each other. It is thought the abuses took place in November and December last year.
...
Lawyers for the soldiers argue they are being made scapegoats for a rogue military prison system in which mercenaries give orders without legal accountability.
A military report into the Abu Ghraib case - parts of which were made available to the Guardian - makes it clear that private contractors were supervising interrogations in the prison, which was notorious for torture and executions under Saddam Hussein.
One civilian contractor was accused of raping a young male prisoner but has not been charged because military law has no jurisdiction over him.
Hired guns from a wide array of private security firms are playing a central role in the US-led occupation of Iraq.
The killing of four private contractors in Falluja on March 31 led to the current siege of the city.
But this is the first time the privatisation of interrogation and intelligence-gathering has come to light. The investigation names two US contractors, CACI International Inc and the Titan Corporation, for their involvement in Abu Ghraib.
Titan, based in San Diego, describes itself as a "a leading provider of comprehensive information and communications products, solutions and services for national security". It recently won a big contract for providing translation services to the US army.
CACI, which has headquarters in Virginia, claims on its website to "help America's intelligence community collect, analyse and share global information in the war on terrorism".
Neither responded to calls for comment yesterday.
According to the military report on Abu Ghraib, both played an important role at the prison.
...
Colonel Jill Morgenthaler, speaking for central command, told the Guardian: "One contractor was originally included with six soldiers, accused for his treatment of the prisoners, but we had no jurisdiction over him. It was left up to the contractor on how to deal with him."
She did not specify the accusation facing the contractor, but according to several sources with detailed knowledge of the case, he raped an Iraqi inmate in his mid-teens.

Read More
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1206725,00.html

Full Text Of Taguba Report
http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/05/1679599.php
Full Text Of ICRC Report
http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/05/1680479.php
Photos From The New Yorker
http://www.newyorker.com/online/slideshows/pop/?040510onslpo_prison
Seymour Hersh's Story In The New Yorker
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?040510fa_fact
60 Minutes II Report:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/27/60II/main614063.shtml
Video from 60 Minutes II:
http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/04/1678870.php
More Pictures From The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5623-2004May5.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/flash/photo/world/2004-05-03_prisonabuse/movie.htm

More On Indybay's Iraq Page:
http://www.indybay.org/iraq

US military in torture scandal

by sources Friday Apr 30th, 2004 5:06 PM

iraq_torture_b.jpg

Lots of similar scenes are still hidden... What we have seen today is just a sample

Mustafa Rageh
Yemeni human rights activist
---
"Savage" images showing US troops abusing Iraqi prisoners have been denounced by Arab media and observers.
The pictures, aired by CBS, apparently show naked prisoners being forced to simulate sex acts and standing with wires attached to their genitals.
Shock has not characterised all responses. Some commentators professed to be unsurprised.
Qatar-based TV channel Al-Jazeera said the images showed the "unethical and inhuman" conduct of American soldiers.
Al-Arabiya TV condemned the "humiliating" pictures, which demonstrated the soldiers' "savagery".
Both TV stations have been running old footage of examples of heavy-handed conduct by US soldiers in Iraq.
Read More
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3674795.stm

US military in torture scandal

by sources Friday Apr 30th, 2004 5:06 PM

iraq_torture_c.jpg

What will happen to this handful of soldiers who were caught? Brigadier General Janice Karpinsky who ran the Abu Ghraib prison for the Army has been suspended and six soldiers face court martial in Iraq and possible prison time. Yeah right. In others words – a slap on the wrist maybe. “A full investigation” means the matter will disappear from the public eye and disappear through the bureaucratic slight of hand.

The real facts are that there is report after report of US abuses; on the internet, in the back pages of our newspapers, in personal accounts that with a little luck will now make their way to mainstream press. This is not an isolated few – this is business as usual for the US military and their collaborating band of thugs in Iraq. Is it any wonder that bodies of US soldiers who fall into Iraqi hands are mutilated and displayed?

The pictures of US soldiers dishonoring Iraqi detainees came as no surprise to JUS. We have been reporting alleged abuses since shortly after the fall of Baghdad. We received several reports over the past months of US soldiers raping Iraqi woman, only to find these photos posted to US porn sites. While these photos and reports were put down to “loose” Iraqi women (which shows a fundamental understanding of Iraq’s religion and culture) we discovered later that those who were detained, some at Abu Ghraib prison, who refused to provide US officials with intelligence where given a prod to garner “cooperation” by rounding up the female relatives, forcing then into sexual acts that were filmed and then shown to their husbands, fathers and brothers and to the general public through porn sites. Now the CBS 60 Minutes II report legitimizes the incidents we have been reporting all along.

Read More
http://www.jihadunspun.com/intheatre_internal.php?article=2811&list=/home.php&

US military in torture scandal

by sources Friday Apr 30th, 2004 5:06 PM

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"There must be a fully independent, impartial and public investigation into all allegations of torture. Nothing less will suffice. If Iraq is to have a sustainable and peaceful future, human rights must be a central component of the way forward. The message must be sent loud and clear that those who abuse human rights will be held accountable.
-Amnesty International

Read More
http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/04/1679003.php

US military in torture scandal

by sources Friday Apr 30th, 2004 5:06 PM

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A US general responsible for four jails in Iraq has been suspended pending an investigation into alleged abuse of her prisoners.
Brigadier General Janis Karpinski is among seven officers facing charges that soldiers under their command mistreated detainees.
The suspension follows shocking US television images of US soldiers stacking prisoners on top of each other and even applying electrodes to one at Abu Ghuraib prison near Baghdad.
http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/04/1678868.php

US military in torture scandal

by sources Friday Apr 30th, 2004 5:06 PM

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Another reservist, Lynndie R. England, 21, told her mother in January about potential problems at the Iraq prison.

England grew up in a trailer down a dirt road behind a saloon and a sheep farm in Fort Ashby, W.Va., a one-stoplight town about 13 miles south of Cumberland.

Yesterday afternoon, her mother, Terrie England, pressed her fingers to her lips when a reporter showed her a newspaper photo of her daughter smiling in front of what a caption said were nude Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.

"Oh, my God," she said, her body stiffening as she sat on a cooler on the trailer's small stoop.

"I can't get over this," she said, taking a drag on her cigarette.

Lynndie England, a railroad worker's daughter who made honor roll at the high school near here, had enlisted in the 372nd for college money and the chance to widen her small-town horizons. In January, however, she gave her family the first inkling that something had gone woefully wrong.

"I just want you to know that there might be some trouble," she warned her mother in a phone call from Baghdad. "But I don't want you to worry."

Lynndie England said she was under orders to say no more. The military has told the family nothing; all the Englands know is that she has been detained, apparently in connection with the unit's alleged misconduct at the prison.

"Whether she's charged or not, I don't know," Terrie England said.

This was not supposed to be the fate of a girl who grew up hunting turkey or killing time with her sister at the local Dairy Dip, making wisecracks about the cars whizzing past.

"She wanted to see the world and go to college," said Terrie England, whose T-shirt bore a design of heart-shaped American flags. "Now the government turned their back on her, and everything's a big joke."

She held photos of her daughter in khakis, smiling atop a camel in Iraq.

At most, the 372nd's alleged abuses of prisoners were "stupid, kid things - pranks," Terrie England said, her voice growing bitter. "And what the [Iraqis] do to our men and women are just? The rules of the Geneva Convention, does that apply to everybody or just us?"

Everyone had been proud of Lynndie England. A Wal-Mart in nearby LaVale displays her photo on its Wall of Honor. The Mineral County courthouse in Keyser, W.Va., posts her photograph and those of other local soldiers under a banner that says: "We're hometown proud."

Lynndie England had found purpose, and love, in the Army. She got engaged last year to a fellow member of the 372nd, Charles Graner, who appears with his arm around her in the newspaper photo.

Now, Lynndie England is detained on a U.S. base - her family declined to say where - and is barred from leaving for anything besides her job. She has been demoted from the rank of specialist to private first class. And when she calls home, she says frustratingly little.

Destiny Goin said the Army had trained her sister Lynndie for an administrative job, "a paper pusher." Instead, she wound up helping to guard 900 Iraqi prisoners of war in a sprawling, squalid compound near Baghdad.

Read More
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bal-te.md.soldier30apr30,0,7339983.story?coll=bal-home-headlines

US military in torture scandal

by sources Friday Apr 30th, 2004 5:06 PM

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"60 Minutes II" identified one of the implicated soldiers as Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Ivan "Chip" Frederick, who described to Rather what he saw in the Iraqi prison. "We had no support, no training whatsoever, and I kept asking my chain of command for certain things, rules and regulations, and it just wasn't happening," Frederick said.

Frederick is a member of the 372nd Military Police Company based in Cumberland, Md., said Maj. Greg Yesko, public affairs officer for the 99th regional readiness command. The 800th brigade includes the 372nd company, Yesko said.

Frederick was a correctional officer at Buckingham Correctional Center before being called up for active duty, Department of Corrections spokesman Larry Traylor said.

"60 Minutes II" reported Frederick will plead not guilty to charges including maltreatment and assault, claiming the way the Army operated the prison led to the abuse of prisoners. He also said he did not see a copy of the Geneva Convention rules for handling prisoners of war until after he was charged, the show reported.

The show also quoted from an e-mail which Frederick reportedly sent to his family in which he said of Iraqi prisoners: "We've had a very high rate with our styles of getting them to break; they usually end up breaking within hours."

Former Iraqi prisoners told The Associated Press last November of mistreatment in detention, including beatings and punishments that included hours of lying bound in the sun.

Amnesty International, the London human rights group, said in March that many former detainees in Iraq claimed to have been tortured and ill-treated by coalition troops during interrogation.

Methods often reported, it said, included prolonged sleep deprivation, beatings, exposure to loud music and prolonged periods of being covered by a hood.

Meanwhile, the lawyer for the accused Virginig soldier said he has been treated unfairly by the Army.

"They're trying to portray him as a monster," William Lawson said of Frederick, his nephew. "He's just the guy they put in charge of the prison."

Lawson, of Newburg, W.Va., and Frederick's wife, Martha, of Buckingham, Va., said Frederick was being made a scapegoat for commanders who gave him no guidance on managing hundreds of Iraqi prisoners with just a handful of poorly equipped soldiers.

"It's sort of like he's taking the full brunt," Martha Frederick said.

A 37-year-old 10-year veteran of the reserves, Frederick is "a very passive person," Lawson said. "If nothing else, he, in this situation, was very naive." Frederick's civilian lawyer, Washington-based Gary Myers, said he has urged the commanding general in Iraq to treat the case as an administrative matter, like those of seven officers who were also investigated.

"I can assure you Chip Frederick had no idea how to humiliate an Arab until he met up" with higher-ranking people who told him how, Myers said.

Lawson, acting as a family spokesman, said Frederick and the other MPs were ordered to "loosen up the prisoners" for interrogation by others. Lawson speculated that the MPs took the photographs to show to other prisoners to get them to talk.
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=69656&ran=149617

US military in torture scandal

by sources Friday Apr 30th, 2004 5:06 PM

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Now British army is in the dock as Allies outrage world opinion
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
01 May 2004


As pictures of American soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners caused outrage across the world yesterday, human rights rights campaigners warned that they were just the tip of the iceberg.

The international rights group Amnesty International claimed it had received numerous accounts of torture and illegal detention by troops.

Read More
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=517052

US military in torture scandal

by sources Friday Apr 30th, 2004 5:06 PM

iraq_torture_i.jpg

Prison Where Saddam's Victims Died in Their Thousands

By Ju-Lin Tan, PA News


Abu Ghraib prison, where Iraqi detainees were pictured being tortured and abused by United States soldiers, was one of the country’s most notorious jails under Saddam Hussein’s regime.

Executions and torture were known to have taken place regularly at the sprawling detention centre, which lies some 18 miles west of Baghdad.

It is believed thousands of inmates were shot, hanged or electrocuted there during Saddam’s 23 years in power.

Read More
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2862926

US military in torture scandal

by sources Friday Apr 30th, 2004 5:06 PM

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Torture pictures blow US cause
London, April 30 (Reuters): Photos of US soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners drew international condemnation today, prompting the stark conclusion that the American campaign to win the hearts and minds of Iraqis is a lost cause.

“This is the straw that broke the camel’s back for America,” said Abdel-Bari Atwan, editor of the Arab newspaper Al Quds Al Arabi. “The liberators are worse than the dictators. They have not just lost the hearts and minds of Iraqis but all the Third World and the Arab countries,” he said.

Read More
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040501/asp/foreign/story_3194889.asp

US military in torture scandal

by sources Friday Apr 30th, 2004 5:06 PM

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At the same time, the fact that US soldiers are employing methods similar to those used by the Nazis in World War II is indicative of a deep-seated state of demoralization and degradation that the occupation has bred within the US military. Finding themselves in a hostile environment with the vast majority of Iraqis opposing the occupation, many American soldiers have come to see the country’s entire population as the enemy. Fed lies about the colonial intervention in Iraq being part of a global “war on terrorism,” some have also assumed a license to torture and humiliate their helpless captives.

Contrary to Kimmitt’s claims—slavishly echoed by the corporate media—this is the logic and modus operandi of imperialist conquest and colonial occupation. The pictures of torture, brutality and sexual sadism are representative of the entire criminal operation being conducted in Iraq.

Read More
http://wsws.org/articles/2004/apr2004/tort-a30.shtml

US military in torture scandal

by sources Friday Apr 30th, 2004 5:06 PM

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Rahul Mahajan :

April 29, 12:30 pm EST. This morning I was on MSNBC News in a "debate" about the shocking (but not surprising if you had been talking to Iraqis) degradation and abuse of Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison committed by U.S. personnel.

This included taking numerous pictures of American soldiers posing with naked Iraqi prisoners placed in degrading postures, an Iraqi prisoner with a hood over his head and wires attached to him (see above; thanks to Unfairwitness), and much more. If you missed the 60 Minutes II segment last night, when you click on the link above, you'll see a link to streaming video of part of the segment, including some pictures. You have to see it for yourselves.

The official reaction is clear. Here's the reaction from Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, the same guy who said "95 percent" of the Iraqi casualties in Fallujah were fighters without going to a hospital or looking at a cemetery in the town:
"So what would I tell the people of Iraq? This is wrong. This is reprehensible. But this is not representative of the 150,000 soldiers that are over here," adds Kimmitt. "I'd say the same thing to the American people... Don't judge your army based on the actions of a few."
Iraqis, who have seen for themselves the conduct of American soldiers, will never believe this.

One of the abusive soldiers, Chip Frederick, sent home these messages over the months that he was posted at Abu Ghraib:
"Military intelligence has encouraged and told us 'Great job.' "

"They usually don't allow others to watch them interrogate. But since they like the way I run the prison, they have made an exception."

"We help getting them to talk with the way we handle them. ... We've had a very high rate with our style of getting them to break. They usually end up breaking within hours."
This suggests pretty clearly that torture and degrading punishment are part of standard policy, because they help to make prisoners break under interrogation.

The debate was framed as one over whether the soldiers should be punished. This shows something seriously wrong with the political culture to start with. There's obviously no excuse for these acts, even if the soldiers were ordered to perform them. The question should simply be how high up the chain of command the investigation goes and how broadly in other prison facilities.

Read More
http://www.empirenotes.org/april04.html#29apr041

US military in torture scandal

by sources Friday Apr 30th, 2004 5:06 PM

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30 April 2004 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is "deeply disturbed" by images appearing in the media of Iraqi prisoners being mistreated and humiliated by United States prison guards, his spokesman said today.

The Secretary-General "hopes that this was an isolated incident and welcomes what appears to be a clear determination on the part of the US military to bring those responsible to justice, and to prevent such abuses in the future," spokesman Fred Eckhard said.
...
When asked by reporters yesterday about the programme, Mr. Eckhard said, "The kinds of things discussed there, the abuse of prisoners, could be the kind of thing that would be investigated or would be included in a report on human rights in Iraq that the Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights [Bertrand Ramcharan] said last Friday he intended to produce."

Mr. Ramcharan's remarks came at the closing session of the Commission on Human Rights, when he said he would initiate a report on rights and armed conflict in Iraq after the Commission had puzzlingly excluded it in its decisions.

"It is a perplexing and troubling omission. There must be accountability in warfare. At this point in time there is no international monitoring of the human rights situation in Iraq, whether it be in respect of terrorism or in respect of the use of force and the treatment of civilians," he said.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=10579&Cr=iraq&Cr1=

US military in torture scandal

by sources Friday Apr 30th, 2004 5:06 PM

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Pictures showing abuse of Iraqi prisoners have sparked shock among officials and triggered condemnation of US foreign policy.



The office of Prime Minister Tony Blair, the US strongest ally in its war in Iraq, condemned the abuses.

His comments on Friday came after an American television network broadcast images of Iraqis stripped naked, hooded and being tormented by their captors.

Read More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/98692C2F-8950-4298-A2D0-354B11BBC470.htm

Britain is Also Accused Of Torture

by sources Friday Apr 30th, 2004 5:06 PM

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The Ministry of Defence has launched an investigation into allegations that British soldiers have been pictured torturing an Iraqi prisoner.
The photographs, obtained by the Daily Mirror newspaper, show a suspected thief being beaten and urinated on.
Read More

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3675215.stm

More pictures and coverage of torture by British troops:
http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/04/1679001.php#1679081

General Suggests Abuses at Iraq Jail Were Encouraged

by nyt Saturday May 1st, 2004 3:47 PM

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WASHINGTON, May 1 — The Army Reserve general whose military police officers were photographed as they mistreated Iraqi prisoners said Saturday that she had been "sickened" by the pictures and had known nothing about the sexual humiliation and other abuse until weeks later.
But the officer, Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski of the 800th Military Police Brigade, said the special high-security cellblock at the Abu Ghraib prison, west of Baghdad, where the abuses took place had been under the tight control of a separate group of military intelligence officers who had so far avoided any public blame.
In her first public comments about the brutality — which drew wide attention and condemnation after photographs documenting it were broadcast Wednesday night by CBS News — General Karpinski said that while the reservists involved were "bad people" and deserved punishment, she suspected they were acting with the encouragement, if not at the direction, of military intelligence units that ran the special cellblock used for interrogation.
Speaking in a telephone interview from her home in South Carolina, the general said military commanders in Iraq were trying to shift the blame exclusively to her and the reservists.
...
She said that the floor space of the two-story cellblock was only about 40 feet by 20 feet, and that military intelligence officers were in and out of the cellblock "24 hours a day."
"They were in there at 2 in the morning, they were at 4 in the afternoon," said General Karpinski, who arrived in Iraq last June and who was the only woman to hold a command in the war zone. "This was no 9-to-5 job."
Read More
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/02/international/middleeast/02ABUS.html

more pictures emerge

by wpost Thursday May 6th, 2004 9:53 AM

chainedwomanunderwear.jpe

The collection of photographs begins like a travelogue from Iraq. Here are U.S. soldiers posing in front of a mosque. Here is a soldier riding a camel in the desert. And then: a soldier holding a leash tied around a man's neck in an Iraqi prison. He is naked, grimacing and lying on the floor.

More Pictures And Story From The W Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5623-2004May5.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/flash/photo/world/2004-05-03_prisonabuse/movie.htm

How this happened

by pic Thursday May 6th, 2004 12:26 PM

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A phrase reading in Arabic, 'I am the law', is written on the helmet of a US soldier as he secures the site of a car bomb explosion at a checkpoint on a bridge at the entrance of the Coalition Provisional Authority headquarters in Baghdad.(AFP/Karim Sahib)

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&amp...

Another 60 Min II pic

by pic Thursday May 6th, 2004 10:39 PM

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Many of the prisoners abused at the Abu Ghraib prison were innocent Iraqis, picked up at random by US troops and incarcerated by underqualified intelligence officers, a former US interrogator from the jail told the Guardian.

...

He claimed many of the detainees are "innocent of any acts against the coalition".

"One case in point is a detainee whom I recommended for release and months later was still sitting in the same tent with no change in his status."

Mr Nelson said that the same systemic problems were also responsible for large numbers of Afghans being mistakenly swept into Guantánamo Bay. He estimated that a third or more of the inmates at the controversial prison camp had no connection to terrorism.

"There are people who should never have been sent over there. I was involved in the process of reviewing people for possible release and I can say definitely that they should have been released and released a lot sooner," he said.

Such allegations have been made before by victims' families and human rights groups, but Mr Nelson's story represents the first insider's account by a US interrogator. It amounts to an indictment of a system gone awry, and contradicts claims by the White House and the Pentagon that Abu Ghraib does not represent a systemic problem.

...

"A unit goes out on a raid and they have a target and the target is not available; they just grab anybody because that was their job," Mr Nelson said, referring to counter-insurgency operations in Iraq. "The troops are under a lot of stress and they don't know one guy from the next. They're not cultural experts. All they want is to count down the days and hopefully go home.

"I've read reports from capturing units where the capturing unit wrote, 'the target was not at home. The neighbour came out to see what was going on and we grabbed him'," he said.

According to Mr Nelson's account, the victims' very innocence made them more likely to be abused, because the interrogators refused to believe they could have been picked up on such arbitrary grounds. Interrogators "weren't interested in going through the less glamorous work of sifting through the chaff to get to the kernels of truth from the willing detainees; they were interested in 'breaking' tough targets", he said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1211374,00.html

Seymour Hersh: Chain Of Comman

by New Yorker Sunday May 9th, 2004 9:48 AM

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One of the new photographs shows a young soldier, wearing a dark jacket over his uniform and smiling into the camera, in the corridor of the jail. In the background are two Army dog handlers, in full camouflage combat gear, restraining two German shepherds. The dogs are barking at a man who is partly obscured from the camera’s view by the smiling soldier. Another image shows that the man, an Iraqi prisoner, is naked. His hands are clasped behind his neck and he is leaning against the door to a cell, contorted with terror, as the dogs bark a few feet away. Other photographs show the dogs straining at their leashes and snarling at the prisoner. In another, taken a few minutes later, the Iraqi is lying on the ground, writhing in pain, with a soldier sitting on top of him, knee pressed to his back. Blood is streaming from the inmate’s leg. Another photograph is a closeup of the naked prisoner, from his waist to his ankles, lying on the floor. On his right thigh is what appears to be a bite or a deep scratch. There is another, larger wound on his left leg, covered in blood.

READ MORE
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?040517fa_fact2

New Pictures

by pic Thursday May 20th, 2004 11:05 AM

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Spc. Charles Graner of the 372nd Military Police Company smiles as he poses by the body of Manadel al-Jamadi, an Iraqi who died in U.S. custody at Abu Ghraib prison.

(ABCNEWS.com)

New pictures

by pic Thursday May 20th, 2004 11:06 AM

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Spc. Sabrina Harman, also of the 372nd Military Police Company, gives a thumbs-up sign by the body of Iraqi detainee Manadel al-Jamadi.
WARNING: The following graphic depictions include nudity. Viewer discretion is advised.

(ABCNEWS.com)

new pics

by new pics Friday May 21st, 2004 11:42 PM

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In this undated still photo, a naked Iraqi detainee appears to be cuffed at the ankles and covered with an unknown brownish substance under the guard of a baton-weilding U.S. soldier, inside the Abu Ghraib Prison, west of Baghdad. Hundreds of unreleased photographs and short digital videos depict U.S. soldiers using a wide variety of abusive techniques at Iraq 's Abu Ghraib prison and appearing to enjoy the mistreatment, The Washington Post reported on May 21, 2004. The new pictures and videos, which the newspaper said amplified the picture of violence in the prison and go beyond the photos previously shown in the media. Photos and videos from Abu Ghraib were presented to Army investigators in January. The images began surfacing publicly last month, severely damaging the United States' reputation in the Arab world.

new pic

by pic Friday May 21st, 2004 11:44 PM

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In this undated still photo, a hooded Iraqi detainee appears to be cuffed at the ankle and chained to a door handle, inside the Abu Ghraib Prison, west of Baghdad.

new pic

by pic Friday May 21st, 2004 11:45 PM

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In this undated still photo, a hooded Iraqi detainee appears to be cuffed at both wrists and collapsed over a rail inside the Abu Ghraib Prison, west of Baghdad.

new pic

by pic Friday May 21st, 2004 11:46 PM

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This undated still photo provided by The Washington Post on Friday, May 21, 2004, shows an unidentified U.S. soldier poised to punch a detainee at Abu Ghraib prison on the outskirts of Baghdad, as other hooded detainees lay bound at the hands.

new pic

by new pic Friday May 21st, 2004 11:48 PM

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This undated still photo made available by The Washington Post on Friday May 21, 2004, shows a U.S. soldier holding a dog in front an Iraqi detainee at Abu Ghraib prison on the outskirts of Baghdad.

another picture

by more Thursday Feb 10th, 2005 9:18 AM

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http://hammeroftruth.com/2004/06/12/dogs-authorized-at-abu-ghraib-additional-photos/

more

by another picture Thursday Feb 10th, 2005 9:20 AM

324-torture_3.jpg

http://hammeroftruth.com/2004/06/12/dogs-authorized-at-abu-ghraib-additional-photos/
or
http://www.antiwar.com/news/?articleid=2444