[quote]US extends custody deaths probe
At least 37 people have died in US custody in Iraq and Afghanistan, Pentagon officials admitted on Friday.
Most of the cases took place in US detention centres.[/quote]
[quote]In two cases, the US military said, captives had been shot as they lunged either for a weapon or a US soldier.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3737787.stm[/quote]
How convenient. How does one lunge for a weapon while wearing handcuffs or leg irons?
[quote]In another, an Iraqi drowned after he was forced off a bridge by a US soldier.
Other causes of death given include:
* multiple gunshot wounds with complications
* blunt force injuries and asphyxia
* blunt force injuries complicated by compromised respiration
* strangulation
* plumonary embolism due to blunt force injury to the legs[/quote]
How are these forms of asphyxiation consistent with the handling of alleged POWs in captivity?
[quote]When the previous cases were announced two weeks ago, two were declared to have been homicide.
An Army official said a soldier had been convicted of using excessive force when he shot dead a prisoner who was throwing stones at him.
He was thrown out of the army but did not go to jail. [/quote]
Obviously the reporting of such events is extremely biased, so here’s some good news from Iraq:
[quote]Czech field hospital opens in Southern Iraq
A Czech field hospital was officially inaugurated in Al-Basrah on 18 March with a ceremony attended by Czech Deputy Defense Minister Miroslav Kostelka and Chief of Staff General Pavel Stefka, CTK reported. The event, delayed due to problems in the transport of some equipment, was also attended by 30 Iraqi leaders from the region. The hospital is staffed by roughly 280 Czechs, who are expected to treat about 50 patients a day initially, with that figure gradually rising to 100. MS
reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/0/a4 … enDocument[/quote]