Armed Robots Not Actually Gone From Iraq

NightFalcon90909 writes "You may have heard that armed robots were yanked from Iraq after a gun started to swivel without it being told to do so. 'A recent news report that armed robots had been pulled out of Iraq is mistaken, according to the company that makes the robot [Foster-Miller] and the Army program manager. 'The whole thing is an urban legend,' says Foster Miller spokesperson Cynthia Black, of the reports about SWORDS moving its gun without a command.'"

Comments

Re:The Government Said So...

[SeeSp0tRun]

Political prisioners of a country in which another government is using armed forces to occupy qualify as prisoners of war. Also, lets consider that we are in a "WAR on terror." Would these prisoners, not be from this "war?" Point being, they lied about torture at Guantanamo, only to make laws enforcing it later.
Lets not forget the recent article claiming that certain sections of our own government felt it was above it's own laws.
Unfortunately in today's age, soldiers do not necessarily wield guns. A nice exploding vest does the trick.

Re:The Government Said So...

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

Died hanging from wrists and gagged, with over 25 rib fractures UPDATE2-His Name by bewert Sat Apr 12, 2008 at 03:05:50 PM PDT

This is my first of a series of diaries about prisoners murdered by US forces. It will tell the story of an Iraqi man who died hanging by his cuffed wrists from a door frame, gagged, and beaten to death by his US interrogators. As the Final Autopsy Report noted:

The remains are received clad in a white shirt, white pajama type pants, and white
undershorts. Feces covers the clothing from the waist down....There is gauze dressing on the left wrist. No other evidence of medical intervention is noted.... The right chest wall has fractures of ribs three through seven anteriorly and ribs six through twelve posteriorly. The left chest wall has fractures of ribs two through nine anteriorly and ribs seven through twelve posteriorly. There are fractures of the lateral aspect of ribs nine and ten on the left side. There is a horizontal fracture through the mid-portion of the body of the sternum."

Yes, our tax dollars are paying for this. Hung up by the wrists and beaten so badly that he not only had over 25 separate rib fractures, many slicing into his lungs, he also had a fractured sternum. The thick, solid bone protecting your heart.

It gets uglier over the fold. It's time to face reality.

• bewert's diary :: ::

UPDATE: Wow, top of the rec list. You care. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I have at least two more weeks of similar diaries, I want to make them happen, to get the facts, the horrible knowledge, out to the public in the leadup to Conyers hearings. Again, thank you all for the support. Together, we might be able to have an effect.

UPDATE 2: Some context, as much as I can glean:

The autopsy seems to have been performed as part of an Army CID investigation. I was done under the auspices of (from the header of the autopsy report):

ARMED FORCES INSTITUTE QF PATHOLOGY
Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner
1413 Research Blvd., Bldg. 102
Rockville, MD 20850
1-800-944-7912

The incident in question occurred in Al asad, Iraq on Jan. 9, 2004. The victim was a member of the Iraqi Army-the rank has been redacted. The autopsy was performed at BIAP Mortuary in Baghdad. After the autopsy,

ADDITIONAL PROCEDURES
Documentary photographs are taken by OAFME Photographer PH3 [redacted] USN
Specimens retained for toxicologic testing and/or DNA identification are: vitreous fluid, cavity blood, spleen, liver.urine, brain, bile, lung, kidney; and psoas muscle
The dissected organs are forwarded with body
Clothing and personal effects are released to the Army CID agents present at the autopsy

So it seems that it was an incident that was investigated as a crime. With more digging we might be able to find out more details, but right now I'm not sure who, what, or why. And this treatment is not condoned, as it resulted in death. As we know, it's considered torture only if major organ failure or death occurs.

UPDATE 3--This appears to the case of Abdul Jaleel.

From the Final Autopsy Report:

Circumstances of Death: Iraqi detainee died while in U.S. custody.

Authorization for Autopsy: Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner, lAW 10 USC 1471

Identification: Identification by accompanying paperwork and wristband, both of which include his nam

Re:It's Inevitable

[Rob T Firefly]

#1) I was responding to the scenario described in my parent comment, not the article. Read that AGAIN or don't.
#2) I resent the implication that I'm familiar with standard RC toys. I only have a passing acquaintance with one or two, but while I suppose they're okay I still wouldn't let my daughter marry one.