MOUNT LEBANON HOTEL DESTROYED
17 March 2004

Today in central Baghdad, a major bomb blast struck the Mount Lebanon Hotel, destroying much of the facade, and ripping apart rooms and nearby buildings. At least 27 have been reported killed so far. US military sources report that some 1,000 lbs. of explosive were used in this bomb. Early indications appear to point to a 'large vehicle bomb', though some witnesses claim to have seen flashes or flares which they believed came from a missile.

When US forces first arrived on the scene, they were pushed back by angry Iraqis, demonstrating the heightening tensions that have taken over much of the country, and now its capital. The policy at present is to let Iraqi emergency-response and security forces deal with the scene, and to lend help as needed, so the rebuff of US forces should not have hampered rescue efforts.

Early reports also indicate that many of the first casualties were removed from nearby buildings, which were also hit by the blast. There is no word yet on the principle nationality of the victims or who specifically may have been targetted. The attack appears to fit a recent pattern of the insurgents' shifting their focus away from military targets and onto largely civilian targets, to maximize the terror-effect of their strikes. [s]

REUTERS REPORTS 3 JOURNALISTS AMONG ABUSED IRAQIS
18 May 2004

The Reuters News Agency is reporting that 3 Iraqi journalists working for the agency were beaten and sexually abused when they were detained in January, while covering the story of a downed helicopter. The abuses occurred not at Abu Ghraib prison, but at the Volturno Forward Operating Base, near Fallujah. Reuters latest publication of the story is due to the fact that the Pentagon has not responded to requests for a review of an initial military report that found no torture had occurred (issued long before the Abu Ghraib photos had become public). [Full Story]

GENERAL KARPINSKI ALLEGES TORTURE ORDERED FROM TOP
15 June 2004

Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski has told the press that she is being made a "convenient scapegoat" by compromised authorities. She alleged specifically that she was told, while in command at Abu Ghraib, that all prisoners should be treated like dogs. She says that Maj Gen Geoffrey Miller, now in charge of Iraqi prisons, then in charge of the detention center at Guantánamo Bay, told her that any hint that detainees were anything more than dogs would lead to breakdown of her authority. [Full Story]