IRAQ: “New Details of Prison Abuse Emerge“: “Previously secret sworn statements by detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq describe in raw detail abuse that goes well beyond what has been made public, adding allegations of prisoners being ridden like animals, sexually fondled by female soldiers and forced to retrieve their food from toilets. [This sentence, believe it or not, significantly prettifies the allegations.–Eve] …

“‘Do you believe in anything?’ he said the soldier asked. ‘I said to him, “I believe in Allah.” So he said, ‘But I believe in torture and I will torture you.'”

more–via Hit & Run

“Brutal interrogation in Iraq: Five detainees’ deaths probed“: Brutal interrogation techniques by U.S. military personnel are being investigated in connection with the deaths of at least five Iraqi prisoners in war-zone detention camps, Pentagon documents obtained by The Denver Post show.

The deaths include the killing in November of a high-level Iraqi general who was shoved into a sleeping bag and suffocated, according to the Pentagon report. The documents contradict an earlier Defense Department statement that said the general died “of natural causes” during an interrogation. Pentagon officials declined to comment on the new disclosure.

Another Iraqi military officer, records show, was asphyxiated after being gagged, his hands tied to the top of his cell door. Another detainee died “while undergoing stress technique interrogation,” involving smothering and “chest compressions,” according to the documents.

[clipped]

more–via Hit & Run or maybe Unqualified Offerings

And to end on a non-hideous note: Mickey Kaus has been blogging a lot, substantively and persuasively, on why Iraq can and should have rolling elections as soon as possible. Click and scroll.