In Britain, a New Chapter in the Torture Scandal

By Scott Horton

Today’s Independent on Sunday is on the stands in Britain with high-profile coverage of a growing scandal relating to the torture and mistreatment of prisoners in and around Basra, with many accounts dating back to the early days of the occupation. Many in the British Ministry of Defence acknowledge that there is and was a serious problem, and they place the origin of the problem clearly on the Americans. “With the Yanks using the practices that Rumsfeld okayed and our detention facilities being coordinated, there was simply no way to stop the spread of this cancer,” one told me. “In future cooperation with American forces, it will obviously be a problem for us. In fact, it will lead many to argue against cooperation.”