She was a miserable failure at it, too.
Posted on 05/05/2004 3:36:10 PM PDT by My Favorite Headache
U.S. Troops Said to Mistreat Elder Iraqi 1 hour, 50 minutes ago
By SUE LEEMAN, Associated Press Writer
LONDON - U.S. soldiers who detained an elderly Iraqi woman last year placed a harness on her, made her crawl on all fours and rode her like a donkey, Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites)'s personal human rights envoy to Iraq (news - web sites) said Wednesday.
The envoy, legislator Ann Clwyd, said she had investigated the claims of the woman in her 70s and believed they were true.
During five visits to Iraq in the last 18 months, Clwyd said, she stopped at British and U.S. jails, including Abu Ghraib, and questioned everyone she could about the woman's claims. But she did not say whether the people questioned included U.S. forces or commanders.
Asked for details, Clwyd said during a telephone interview with The Associated Press that she "didn't want to harp on the case because as far as I'm concerned it's been resolved."
Clwyd, 67, is a veteran politician of the governing Labour Party and a strong Blair supporter who regularly visits Iraq and reports back on issues such as human rights, the delivery of food and medical supplies to Iraqis, and Iraq's Kurdish minority. Her job as Blair's human rights envoy is unpaid and advisory.
Clwyd said the Iraqi woman was arrested in Iraq in July and accused of having links to a former member of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s regime — a charge she denied.
The abuse occurred last year in Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison and at another coalition detention center, Clwyd said.
"She was held for about six weeks without charge," the envoy told Wednesday's Evening Standard newspaper. "During that time she was insulted and told she was a donkey. A harness was put on her, and an American rode on her back."
Clwyd said the woman has recovered physically but remains traumatized.
"I am satisfied the case has now been resolved satisfactorily," the envoy told British Broadcasting Corp. radio Wednesday. "She got a visit last week from the authorities, and she is about to have her papers and jewelry returned to her."
Clwyd said she had been told about the case because the woman has relatives in Britain.
Clwyd, who said the woman did not want to be named, did not identify the American military unit involved.
Blair's office said Wednesday the envoy had not delivered her report to the prime minister yet so, therefore, it could not immediately confirm her reported findings.
Why does the name Joe Wilson come to mind?
She was a miserable failure at it, too.
I heard that John Kerry has asked to testify at the upcoming congressional hearings. He says that he witnessed and even personally participated in human-donkey rides in Iraq.
Blair's office said Wednesday the envoy had not delivered her report to the prime minister yet so, therefore, it could not immediately confirm her reported findings.
So this "volunteer" investigator for Blair didn't bother to report to Blair but got on the phone with an AP reporter first and she doesn't name names.
Hooded Turkish protestors hold pictures of Iraqi detainees and anti US posters, during a demonstration in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday May 5, 2004. The protest, organized by Mazlumder, a pro-Islamic human rights group, condemned the alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. and British soldiers in Iraq (news - web sites). (AP Photo/Murad Sezer
The chances are, it is a big lie, but the sand pimps of the world believe it.
You get what you pay for in a human rights envoy, I guess.
During five visits to Iraq in the last 18 months, Clwyd said, she stopped at British and U.S. jails, including Abu Ghraib, and questioned everyone she could about the woman's claims. But she did not say whether the people questioned included U.S. forces or commanders.
Asked for details, Clwyd said during a telephone interview with The Associated Press that she "didn't want to harp on the case because as far as I'm concerned it's been resolved."
And of course it's because she doesn't want to harp on the case that she's discussing it with the press. . .
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