The US military has launched a criminal investigation into photographs that show Navy SEALs in Iraq sitting on hooded and handcuffed prisoners and photos of what appear to be bloodied prisoners, one with a gun to his head. Photo by bTV
The US military has launched a criminal investigation into photographs that show Navy SEALs in Iraq sitting on hooded and handcuffed prisoners and photos of what appear to be bloodied prisoners, one with a gun to his head. Some of the photos have date stamps suggesting they were taken in May 2003, which could make them the earliest evidence of possible abuse of prisoners in Iraq. The more brutal practices photographed in Abu Ghraib prison occurred months later. The news for the photos came immediately after it was reported that Donald Rumsfeld is to stay on as US defence secretary. The defence secretary, one of the so-called "hawks" of the Bush administration, was closely involved in the decision to invade Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks, and more controversially Iraq in March, 2003.