Wednesday, May 12, 2004

CBS to broadcast soldier's video

A US soldier's video diary showing her disdain for Iraqi detainees who died in her charge is to be broadcast by a US network tomorrow in a further escalation of the prisoner abuse scandal that has shaken the Bush administration and provoked world outrage.

CBS, which two weeks ago broadcast the first pictures of Iraqi prisoners being abused in the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, said today its 60 Minutes II program would show video footage depicting conditions both there and at Camp Bucca, another US-run prison in southern Iraq.

...CBS said the home video did not show scenes of abuse but included comments by the soldier, that make clear her dislike for the camp and the prisoners under her control. Her name was not revealed to protect her identity.

"I hate it here," she said on the tape. "I want to come home. I want to be a civilian again. We actually shot two prisoners today.

"One got shot in the chest for swinging a pole against our people on the feed team. One got shot in the arm. We don't know if the one we shot in the chest is dead yet."

In her video, the soldier described the hazards of Camp Bucca.

"This is a sand viper," she said. "One bite will kill you in six hours. We've already had two prisoners die of it, but who cares? That's two less for me to worry about."

The soldier said about three prisoners broke out of the camp every week, but they did not try to escape when she was on duty.

"It's 'cause they are scared of me," she said. "I actually got in trouble the other day because I was throwing rocks at them."
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