London October 26:
President Barack Obama stepped into the White House pledging to end George W Bush's gloves-off approach to interrogations and detention, but a flood of leaked documents suggests that old habits were hard to break.
Field reports from the Iraq war published by WikiLeaks show that, despite Obama's public commitment to eschew torture, US forces turned detainees over to Iraqi forces even after signs of abuse. Documents also show that US interrogators continued to question Iraqi detainees, some of whom were still recovering from injuries or whose wounds were still visible after being held by Iraqis.
"We have not turned a blind eye," said US State Department spokesman PJ Crowley, noting that one of the reasons why US troops were still in Iraq was to carry out human rights training with Iraqi security forces.
President Barack Obama stepped into the White House pledging to end George W Bush's gloves-off approach to interrogations and detention, but a flood of leaked documents suggests that old habits were hard to break.
Field reports from the Iraq war published by WikiLeaks show that, despite Obama's public commitment to eschew torture, US forces turned detainees over to Iraqi forces even after signs of abuse. Documents also show that US interrogators continued to question Iraqi detainees, some of whom were still recovering from injuries or whose wounds were still visible after being held by Iraqis.
"We have not turned a blind eye," said US State Department spokesman PJ Crowley, noting that one of the reasons why US troops were still in Iraq was to carry out human rights training with Iraqi security forces.
