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March 09, 2005

Tell the Truth, Get Sent to a Shrink

Yahoo! news reports:

An army sergeant was given a psychiatric examination and sent out of Iraq after he reported that members of his counter-intelligence team in Samarra were abusing prisoners, according to army investigation documents. . . .

The sergeant said that soon after being assigned to a four-member counter-intelligence team in Samarra in mid April, 2003 he noticed that his team members' use of force was escalating.

"I noticed more physical contact, striking, hair pulling, being forced in forced air positions," he said, adding that on four occasions he had to intervene medically to revive prisoners.

He said he also observed "staged executions" in which a two other sergeants used M-16 rifles or 9mm pistols.

On one occasion he found team members putting their full weight on a detainees sternum above the heart, he said. . . .

The sergeant said he asked to be relieved from the position, and upon returning to his battalion's base at Balad, Iraq asked his company commander to investigate the abuses he witnessed.

Instead, the company commander accused him of lying, and threatened to have him examined by a psychiatrist if he did not withdraw the request in 30 seconds, he said.

When he refused withdraw the request, the company commander confiscated his weapon, withdrew his security clearance, placed him under 24 hour surveillance, and had him examined by the psychiatrist, the sergeant told investigators.

Hmm . . . Tell the truth about government misdeeds, and they accuse you of lying and send you to a shrink before shipping you out of the country. Thank goodness we're the good guys in this fight, or I might think that our government was fighting against freedom, like, oh, Communists or Nazis.

(Link courtesy Antiwar.com.)

Posted by Mike Tennant at March 9, 2005 02:31 PM

Comments

I wish I could've sent some of the guys in my platoon to a shrink, before they enlisted. Sheesh.
Ali

Posted by: Ali_Massoud [TypeKey Profile Page] at March 10, 2005 12:53 PM

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