MP SHAME
By Judd McIlvain, Broadcast Journalist & former Military Police Staff Sgt.

Shame!� Where were the U.S Army Officers running the Iraqi Abu Ghraib Prison??

The world has now seen the pictures of Iraqi prisoners being tortured, and humiliated in U.S. custody.� The pictures show U.S. Military Police showing off naked piles of Iraqi prisoners.
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� A woman MP is seen in many of the photos giving thumbs up to the genital areas of the naked male prisoners.� She and her fellow MP's seem to be having fun posing the naked prisoners in sex act positions. One prisoner has a black hood over his head and electric wires hooked to his fingers.� He is standing on a box.� He was told if he fell off the box he would be electrocuted.� Other naked prisoners had dogs turned on them.

The US Military Police were so open about their torture and humiliation of prisoners that they even sent pictures of their torture crimes to other soldiers and even family members.� The pictures were proudly shown to other soldiers.� Remember these prisoners were Iraqi men picked up by police at checkpoints or other arrests.� These were not Iraqi soldiers, these prisoners were everyday citizens that we are now told that the CIA used torture methods to try and get information on other residents.

Six Military Police Officers are charged with "mishandling" (torturing) the prisoners.� The Sergeant (NonCom) who was in charged of the prison said he was never trained by the Military on how to handle prisoners.� He was in the National Guard and what was his civilian job?� Was he a baker, or a truck driver, NO, he was a prison guard at a civilian prison.� Now we know where he got his training.� The other five Military Police Officers also say they were given no training on how to handle prisoners.� I was a Military Police Sgt. in the 175th Military Police Bt. and I can't remember anyone training me not to pose prisoners naked in sex acts, but guess what, I did not do it because I knew it was wrong and you don't treat prisoners like that.� So where did they get the idea it was OK to torture them?� The picture evidence is clear, it did happen and we can see the torturers in the pictures with the naked prisoners.

If this abuse (torture) was so wide open at the prison that MP's passed out picture post cards of the naked prisoners then why didn't the officers do something to stop it.� Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski and her staff was seen on a CBS News report earlier this year walking around the Abu Ghraib Prison and the Military Police Guards never showed the pictures of the "funny" naked prisoners to the news reporters.� I wonder why, if it was such a Big Joke, why not share it with the world.
It appears that the Army wants to hang this torture on the Sgt. in charge and say the Brig. General did not know what was going on.�� Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski should be demoted to a Lt. Grade, because we now know she either condoned the torture or didn't have a clue what was going on in her own prison.� She and her staff should be the permanent KP (kitchen patrol) detail for the officers mess as they all serve their prison time.

This incident has brought total Shame on the US Military, not just in the Arab World but in the entire World and here in the U.S.�
All the fine works that US Military Personnel have done in Iraq are now over shadowed by these torturous acts.� The US Service People who have given their lives to save the people of Iraq, now have their service tarnish.� The Military should take immediate action the prosecute ALL the MP's who were involved, no matter how high a rank.


Written by Broadcast Journalist Judd McIlvain, who served seven years active and National Guard time in the US Army 175th Military Police Bt. He left the Military Police at the rank of Staff Sgt. in 1967.
Filed May 2004.