WikiLeaks docs raise questions of Obama policies

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By RAPHAEL G. SATTER and PAISLEY DODDS

LONDON (AP) - President Barack Obama stepped into the White House pledging to end George W. Bush's gloves-off approach to interrogations and detention - but a flood of leaked documents suggests that some old habits were hard to break.

Field reports from the Iraq war published by WikiLeaks show that, despite Obama's public commitment to eschew torture, U.S. forces turned detainees over to Iraqi forces even after signs of abuse.

Documents also show that U.S. interrogators continued to question Iraqi detainees, some of whom were still recovering from injuries or whose wounds were still visible after being held by Iraqi security forces.

"We have not turned a blind eye," U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Monday, noting that one of the reasons why U.S. troops
were still in Iraq was to carry out human rights training with Iraqi security forces. "Our troops were obligated to report abuses to appropriate authorities and to follow up, and they did so in Iraq."

Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20101025/D9J30QH00.html

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President Barack Obama speaks at a Get Out the Vote Rally for Minnesota's Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Mark Dayton, at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)