You Run A Jail With The Army You Have

According to internal Department of Defense documents obtained by the ACLU through the Freedom of Information Act, more incidents of prisoner abuse in Iraq were committed in 2003, months before the Abu Ghraib photos surfaced. Documented abuses include:

- mock executions of juvenile prisoners
- torture by electric shock
- burning detainees' hands with alcohol-based cleansers

"Abuse of detainees was not aberrational," ACLU lawyer Jameel Jaffer stated. "The Defense Department adopted extreme interrogation techniques as a matter of policy."

"Each of these acts referred to by the ACLU resulted in courts-martial convictions," said Marine spokesperson Maj. Nat Fahy. "This clearly demonstrates our commitment to thoroughly investigate all allegations of detainee abuse and hold those people accountable. Any behavior that does not constitute humane treatment of detainees is simply not tolerated."

The list of abuses involves members of various units within the 1st Marine Division. Two Marines pleaded guilty to connecting electrical transformers to a detainee and forcing him to "dance". One received a one-year confinement, and the other eight months.

There were 10 substantiated incidents of Marines abusing prisoners. Those involved 24 members of the Corps, and resulted in 11 court-martial convictions and three lesser punishments. Charges were dismissed against six other Marines, and four cases are pending.

ACLU Executive Director stated, "This kind of widespread abuse could not have taken place without a leadership failure on the highest order."

The incidents happened as early as May 2003.