Abu Gharib abuse and photos of Saddam in underpants leaked to British tabloid show indiscipline and mental sickness in American military
Sonia Joshi
May 20, 2005

It is a violation of Article 13 of Geneva Convention. The British tabloid said to Bloomberg Radio that they paid big money to some one in American military to get these pictures. President Bush came out and said these pictures will not affect insurgency in Iraq.

The pictures of Saddam in underpants is not surprising after what we saw in Abu Gharib prison of Iraq last year. This just shows that some personnel in the organization who is doing these things against Geneva conventions is not only irresponsible, is also adequately indisciplined and probably metally sick. That also brings in the question of real combat readiness. These kinds of behavior were never seen from Americans before. What really happened?

Did Bush Administration order some one to take these photos or engage Iraqi prisoners to perform homosexual acts in front of lady American personnel? Probably not as that is just outright stupid. The pictures of Saddam in underpants are not surprising after what we saw in Abu Gharib.

So what went wrong? The real fact lies with real indiscipline among some of the American soldiers. The effect is more widespread than the military. Otherwise, Newsweek magazine will not lie and spread propaganda of desecration of Koran. Neither will an American major newspaper depict Pakistan as a dog. These are signs of not only indiscipline but also mental sickness. These military personnel should not have guns in their hand. They really need psychiatric help.

U.S. military officials are condemning the release of photographs -- published in a popular British tabloid -- showing Saddam Hussein in prison, promising an aggressive investigation and steps to assure the breach never happens again.

The Sun trumpeted the pictures of the former Iraqi leader's life in captivity, with a cover photo that showed the ousted Iraqi leader wearing only his underwear with the headline "The Tyrant's in his pants."

In a statement released Friday by U.S. military officials in Baghdad, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) condemned the release of the images. "These photos were taken in clear violation of DoD directives and possibly Geneva Convention guidelines for the humane treatment of detained individuals," a Defense Department statement said.

"Multi-National Forces-Iraq is disappointed at the possibility that someone responsible for the security, welfare, and detention of Saddam would take and provide these photos for public release."

According to The Sun, U.S. "military sources said they handed over the photos in the hope of dealing a body blow to the resistance in Iraq." CNN was not able to independently confirm how the pictures were obtained, but the Defense Department said, "It is believed the photos were taken over a year ago."

"This was not an official release and we are aggressively investigating to find out what happened and why it happened," Lt. Col. Steve Boylan, director of the Combined Press Information Center in Baghdad.

Saddam has been under the guard of U.S. troops since his capture in December 2003, though legal custody was transferred to Iraq's fledgling government in June 2004.

The Sun said at least one of the pictures came from a security camera at the prison where Saddam is being held. The tabloid is Britain's top-selling daily with a circulation of about 3 million. Saddam spent eight months as a fugitive after his government collapsed ahead of a U.S.-led invasion in 2003. The 68-year-old former dictator has appeared in public only once since his capture, in July 2004, to face preliminary war crimes charges before an Iraqi judge in Baghdad.

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