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Ear to the Ground

Iranian’s Torture Tale Denied by U.S.

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Posted on Apr 7, 2007

American officials have rejected claims made by Iranian diplomat Jalal Sharafi that he was tortured “day and night” by members of the CIA after being captured in February while stationed in Baghdad.  A White House representative dismissed the charges as “the latest theatrics of a government trying to deflect attention away from its own unacceptable actions.”


BBC:

“I was kidnapped on a Baghdad street while shopping by officials who had Iraqi defence ministry ID cards and were riding in American forces vehicles,” he said.

Mr. Sharafi said he was taken from the Karrada district to a base near Baghdad airport and questioned in Arabic and English.

“The CIA officials’ questions focused mainly on Iran’s presence and influence in Iraq,” he said.

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By Dale Headley, April 8, 2007 at 5:05 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Come on!  we all know that Bush & Blair don’t torture.  Those pictures from Abu Ghraib; those reports from FBI agents; all that testimony from former detainees; those charges from Amnesty International and The Red Cross - all lies!  Bush never lies, except on weekdays and holidays.

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By MARIAM RUSSELL, April 8, 2007 at 3:54 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Of course we denied it. Even the people in the Bush crime family know you cannot admit to torture.You can dance around it, name it something else, anything but admit that, yes, we tortured him, not because we think anything will be gained by torturing him, but because we have the power and we like to demonstrate that we have the power.

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By Quy Tran, April 8, 2007 at 9:23 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

No torture at all ! Just killed or hanged them all !
Why should “WE” torture them to waste our time ? Only barbarians’re using torture for their pleasures!

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By ShockandAwe, April 8, 2007 at 6:45 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

Bah! We just let the Iraqi Police “soften” them up before talking to them.

That’s the REAL American way! :D

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By James Yell, April 8, 2007 at 6:41 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

Well of course he may be lying, but we know this administration has promoted torture and have said it wasn’t torture, because they said it wasn’t, but by any reasonable definition what this Administration has promoted and have done is “Torture”. It is recognized as a crime against humanity, by civilized people all over the world. It is only in the neo-cons fantasy that they are allowed to practice it.

So knowing that this Administration is based upon the most outrageous lying of any Administration or government of these United States, a reasonable person would believe this man’s charges as being quite possible.

Bush/Cheney and our governments flacid response to their crimes leave us as a nation tainted with it, if not exactely in Kind, than degree of the most lawless behaviors ever practiced by governments. As Iraq Invasion was completely built on lies and the Administration seems very likely to have known this, there can be no excuse for what we are doing and the deaths of Iraqi civilians, must be counted as Crimes Against Humanity. Please bring home our troops. Please prosecute Rumsfield, Cheney and Bush. If we haven’t the heart to hold them in account, than send them to the Hague as Serbia has been forced to do.

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By Toby, April 8, 2007 at 6:33 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

Of course we didn’t torture him. We don’t torture. We know that because our president has told us so. Just before he signed into law The Military Commissions Act, which makes torture legal.

So, even if we did torture Jalal Sharafi, it’s OK, because it was “legal” but we didn’t. Because “We don’t torture.”

We know that because our president has told us so.

And if you believe that, you believe the “Easter Bunny” is coming today!

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By Ernest Canning, April 7, 2007 at 7:51 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

It is unfortunate that BBC reporters covering this story did not seek greater detail from Mr. Sharafi.  The CIA’s twin torture techniques of sensory deprivation and self-inflicted pain are based on a extensive studies costing one billion per year from 1948 onward until the adoption of the KUBARK counterintelligence manual, a previously secret CIA guideline for the interrogation of resistant subjects--a process that has been refined through years of practice and to which such abominable tactics as “water boarding,” sexual humiliation and the use of dogs has been added. 

While the article fails to provide sufficient detail, given the Bush administration’s track record the odds are very great indeed that Mr. Sharafi was indeed tortured.

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