US senators are getting a look at more photos of American soldiers brutalising Iraqi prisoners but will not have the authority to release the pictures that the Pentagon warns could deepen international fury over the abuses.
The photographs were being made available for three hours this afternoon in a high-security, classified office in thes Capitol. After that, they were to be returned to the Defence Department while the US administration decides whether to make them public.
Fears that the prisoner abuses would trigger a violent backlash appeared to be realised yesterday when a video was posted on an al-Qaida linked website showing the beheading of an American civilian. The video said the killing was to avenge the prisoner abuse.
The viewing of pictures in the Capitol comes a day after senators challenged military officials who pinned most of the blame for the mistreatment on a small group of soldiers and on supervisors who provided inadequate training and leadership.
The Army officer who investigated the abuses, Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that military police who acted improperly did so "of their own volition."
But several senators questioned whether low-ranking soldiers would have created the sexually humiliating scenarios by themselves.
The Army officer who investigated the abuses, Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that military police who acted improperly did so "of their own volition."
But several senators questioned whether low-ranking soldiers would have created the sexually humiliating scenarios by themselves.