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Lawmakers Shocked by New Images of Iraqi Prisoners



By Vicki Allen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Members of the U.S. Congress saw new images of violence and sexual humiliation from a U.S.-run Iraqi prison on Wednesday in a closed viewing one lawmaker likened to a descent into "the wings of hell."

Lawmakers said images showed inmates apparently being coerced to commit sodomy, wounds possibly from dog bites, a number of dead bodies, and examples of "sadistic torture" and "sexual humiliation."


Some top Republicans urged that the still pictures and video not be released publicly, saying they could endanger U.S. forces overseas.


"What we saw is appalling. It is consistent with the photos that you've seen in the press to date. They go beyond that in many ways in terms of the various activities that are depicted," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican.


"There were some awful scenes. It felt like you were descending into one of the wings of hell and sadly it was our own creation," said Sen. Richard Durbin, an Illinois Democrat. "And when you think of the sadism, the violence, the sexual humiliation, after a while you just turn away, you just can't take it any more.


"I still cannot believe that this happened without the knowledge of those at higher levels," Durbin added.


Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned last week the pictures could worsen a scandal that ignited international outrage and shook U.S. global prestige as the United States seeks to stabilize Iraq.


Senators and members of the House of Representatives had a chance over several hours to look at some 1,600 images in separate secure rooms in a presentation conducted by the Pentagon, which kept custody of the material.


FORCED SODOMY


Many lawmakers said the images were similar to photographs shown around the world of naked prisoners stacked in a pyramid or positioned to simulate sex acts at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, but they said some were even more shocking.


Lawmakers said they did not see examples of outright rape, murder or abuses of children.


Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, an Illinois Republican, said "many of the same people were involved over and over" in the photographs. "I didn't see different characters than the ones who have been in the newspapers," he said.


Durbin described a picture of a man with half his head "blown off," lying on the ground in blood and gore, but said there was no explanation of where that was taken.


An Islamic Web site on Tuesday showed an American civilian, Nick Berg of suburban Philadelphia, being beheaded by an al Qaeda leader in Iraq in revenge for the "Satanic degradation" of Iraqi prisoners.


Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican, whose committee had a closed-door hearing with Stephen Cambone, defense undersecretary for intelligence, said there were "44 CIA people in and out of" Abu Ghraib prison, "a lot during the evening, over a period of time."


Congress is trying to establish whether the mistreatment was encouraged by intelligence personnel to "soften up" prisoners for interrogations.


Roberts also said two other U.S. prisons in Iraq were mentioned in the latest material, "but the abuses were not as severe."


'GUT WRENCHING'

Rep. Jane Harman, a California Democrat, said the new pictures showed "cruel and sadistic torture."

She described as "gut wrenching" images of a nearly naked man "handcuffed to a wall, beating his head against the wall, recoiling back and forward, probably trying to knock himself unconscious and avoid having to live through the experience."


Lawmakers said the images were shown fairly rapidly and with minimal explanation. Sen. James Jeffords, a Vermont independent, said the pictures were "horrible. But they go by so fast. Terrible scenes. ... It was click, click, click.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, a Virginia Republican, urged that the images not be released before trials related to the abuses of detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison.

"I feel very strongly that these photographs should not be made public. I feel that it could possibly endanger the men and the women of the armed forces as they are serving and at great risk," Warner said.


(Warner became a senator after his primary opponent
died in a plane crash)