At the end of this post are links to digital copies of two documents from the Taguba report, hosted on the Washington Post website. Is it possible that they document the exact incidents to which Hersh referred? Excerpt from statement provided by Kasim Mehaddi Hilas, Detainee #151108, on January 18 2004:

I saw [name deleted] fucking a kid, his age would be about 15 - 18 years. The kid was hurting very bad and they covered all the doors with sheets. Then when I heard the screaming I climbed the door because on top it wasn't covered and I saw [name deleted] who was wearing the military uniform putting his dick in the little kid's ass. I couldn't see the face of the kid because his face wasn't in front of the door. And the female soldier was taking pictures.

Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.), who reviewed the reports yesterday, said he believes it is possible that U.S. troops lapsed into "Hussein-type behavior" under pressure from Bush administration officials to produce results.

"Is it possible that someone from above was telling them to take the gloves off because we have to find Hussein?" Taylor said. "I have not had assurances from this administration that that did not happen."

- posted by Cynthia @ 4:33 PM | | | Link |