WASHINGTON, voa – During a joint appearance at the White House with Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, President Bush used strong words to condemn the alleged mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by American troops.
“I share a deep disgust that those prisoners were treated the way they were treated. Their treatment does not reflect the nature of the American people. That is not the way we do things in America and so I didn’t like it one bit,” Mr. Bush said.
President Bush said any U.S. soldiers involved do not reflect the character of the men and women sent to Iraq.
“That is not the way the people are. It is not their character that are serving our nation and the cause of freedom. There will be an investigation and it will be taken care of.”
Photographs depicting the abuse are being published and shown around the world on television.
The pictures apparently show U.S. soldiers laughing and giving the thumbs-up sign while naked, male Iraqi prisoners are stacked in a pyramid or positioned to perform sex acts.
Another Iraqi prisoner is shown standing on a box, his head covered, with wires attached to his hands. The prisoner was allegedly told he would be electrocuted if he fell off the box.
The abuse took place at a Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad, which was a notorious penitentiary during the rule of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
The military has filed criminal charges against six U.S. soldiers allegedly involved in the abuse, and the Army says more soldiers are expected to be charged in the future.
The Pentagon has also suspended a senior U.S. military officer in charge of the prison.
