Finally, Some Good News.... Sort Of

US to Close Abu Ghraib Military Prison

BAGHDAD -- The U.S. military prison at Abu Ghraib that became a symbol of shame for the U.S. occupation of Iraq is to close within months, the military said yesterday.

Its 4,500 inmates, held on suspicion of insurgent activity, will be transferred to a new facility at the nearby Baghdad airport military base and other camps, a spokesman said.

Purpose-built new cells at Camp Cropper, presently an exclusive compound for deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and 100 or so other high-security inmates, will provide better conditions, U.S. officials said.

In all, 14,589 people are held in four U.S. sites in Iraq, more than half of them at Camp Bucca in the southern desert.

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Critics, however, dismissed the significance of the closing since the detentions, criticized by both the Iraqi government and the United Nations, will continue as before.

Baby steps, baby steps...

Ultimately, this could be nothing but a symbolic gesture, and the torture and horrific treatment of the detainees could continue (and wouldn't surprise me if it did), business as usual. This could be nothing more than a steak for our black eye, but I'm hoping that we're finally making movements towards basic human rights for the people being detained.

"We will transfer operations from Abu Ghraib to the new Camp Cropper once construction is completed there," Lieutenant-Colonel Keir-Kevin Curry said.

"No precise dates have been set, but the plan is to accomplish this within the next two to three months."

The buildings at Abu Ghraib will be handed over to the Iraqi government, which already operates part of the site as a prison, he said.

I hope they burn it to the ground.

(I'm an ord-i-nar-y guy... burnin' down the cross-posts)