CPTnet March 3, 2004 IRAQ: Conversation with American soldier outside
Baghdad prison

by Art Gish

Saddam Hussein's infamous prison just west of Baghdad is still full, except
now the U.S. military is running the prison. The prison contains over
10,000 detainees and is being expanded. The U.S. authorities allow few
visits; the detained have no right to due process, and only recently have
families been able to visit their loved ones.

Cliff Kindy and I had just walked through the razor wire around the prison
with an Iraqi man who wanted to make an appointment to visit his brother.
"He is not allowed any visits," a guard told us.

We told the Iraqi guards we wanted to talk with an American official. That
is when we met "Tony," an American soldier, about twenty-two years old,
short, and good-looking. He likes to work out in the gym, but most days he
is too tired, after standing guard in front of the prison for twelve hours
every day. "Most days," he said, "I have no energy left after my shift to
even think." When we asked him where his home was, he said, "I am
homeless."

He told us he had no authority and there was nothing he or we could do to
arrange a visit. He apologized for not being able to help us. He then
opened up to us. He said, "The situation is a mess in Iraq, and the
American military is making it worse. I can understand that the Iraqi
people would be angry. Under Saddam," he said, "families could visit their
loved ones once a week."

Tony is eager to leave Iraq and the military, but said he could be killed
any day. He was wearing a ragged piece of cloth as an armband in
remembrance of a buddy who was killed a few days earlier.

Tony said, "If you try to do what is right, you get kicked. I tried to do
what is right, and I got knocked down into the cellar." He didn't explain
what he meant.

He was fighting back tears as we expressed our concern for him. We told him
we wanted him to be safe, that we cared about him. Here was a good person,
caught in a force he could not control, trying to preserve his integrity,
doing his best keep his heart from becoming hard and cold.