'Man In The Hood' Tells Of His Tale In Abu Ghraib (**warning graphic**)

[sabra]

http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=245382

'Man In The Hood' Tells Of His Tale In Abu Ghraib

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 6 (Bernama) -- Ali Shalah, popularly known as 'the man in the hood' in a famous photograph depicting the torture suffered by Iraqis at the American-run Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, today spilled the beans on the inhumane treatment he received at the detention centre.

...

"After one month, I was called up and my hands were tied, a hood put over my head and transferred to a cell. At the cell they asked me to strip but when I refused they tore my clothes and tied me up again. They then dragged me up a flight of stairs and when I could not move, they beat me repeatedly.

"When I reached the top of the stairs, they tied me up to some steel bars. They then hurled me human waste and urinated on me. Then they put a gun to my head and said that they would execute me there. Another soldier used a megaphone to shout abuses at me and this went on the whole night," Ali further recalled.

...

"As the electric current entered my whole body, I felt as if my eyes were being forced out and sparks were flying out. My teeth were clattering violently and my legs shaking violently as well. My whole body was shaking. I was electrocuted on three separate sessions," he said to pin-drop silence in the hall.

Throughout the torture, he said the interrogators would take photographs of him.

He said he was then left alone in the cell for 49 days, and during this period the torture stopped.

...

"I was released in the beginning of March, 2004. I was put into a truck and taken to a highway and then thrown out. A passing car stopped and took me home," he ended his tale.

To a question from the floor after his talk, he said only God kept him alive during his ordeal but the suffering he went through was only "a drop in the ocean".

[The Blue Flower]

1. Another heart turned

to the gentle goodness of freedom.

[TroglodyteScholar]

2. Only a drop in the ocean...

Someone give this man a book deal.

[brazos121200]

3. This war has got to stop immediately. Total power corrupts totally.

Does anyone think these soldiers who engaged in this torture of what turned out to be innocent civilians will just be able to forget what they did or what happened in Iraq? These soldiers will have psychological problems at one level or another for the rest of their lives, not to mention the Iraqui victims. Not only this, by our actions we are producing another generation of terrorists who will reap vengeance on us for many years to come. Bush's legacy will not end when his term expires, the full extent of the damage he has done may not be known for decades.

[CoffeeCat]

4. This is sick and sad on so many levels...

...because perverse stuff like this has probably not stopped. IF anything, it has
most likely worsened, because nothing major was done when it first happened. A few
low-levels took the heat, but the psychopaths running the show escaped accountability.

I'm aghast that this stuff is being done in our name. How DARE any member of the US
military or government engage in these horrific acts--while they represent our country.
It makes me sick.

The majority of Americans find this stuff revolting, and it is this majority who will
pay for the evil deeds of a Fascist minority. I can tell you--if someone invaded my
country and tortured me like that--I'd sign up to destroy them all. Any American would.

So the question is....why is George Bush and his ilk working so hard to fuel terrorism
and to increase the number of people who hate Americans and our country?

[haymark]

5. Horrible

This guy has been traumatized. We are so sure he is being honest, that he is indeed the guy in the picture, not just someone wanting to get a little attention and maybe some money.

[sabra]

6. from the article:

<snip>

Ali, who now heads an organisation representing tortured victims in Iraq, captivated some 2,000 people with his story at the three-day War Crimes Conference at the Putra World Trade Centre, organised by the Perdana Global Peace Organisation headed by former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

[haymark]

7. Fakers can form organizations

Just because he formed an organization and apppears at a conference doesn't prove he is who he says he is. It just shows that he is a good faker and there are rewards to being a fraud.

[eShirl]

8. it doesn't prove he's faking either

you're just as ready to believe he's a "good faker" as the people you criticize are ready to believe he's who he says he is

[magellan]

9. There certainly are

Just look at Bush**.

I'll trust alleged torture victims before proven habitual liars any day of the week.