Administration Hid Number of Detainees in Iraq - September 22, 2003 Vol. 4 No. 19

September 22, 2003 Vol. 4 No. 19:

Published: 09/22/2003

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Administration Hid Number of Detainees in Iraq

U.S. officials have been hiding the actual number of prisoners in Iraq for months, after a news report last week placed the new number at 10,000. Of these prisoners, 3,800 are considered “security detainees” and went unreported for months. Officials said they previously did not have a proper category for the prisoners, therefore leaving them out of the actual count.

Brigadier General Janis Karpinski vaguely defined security detainees as "those who have attacked coalition forces" or were suspected of involvement in or planning of such attacks. These detainees have fewer rights than enemy prisoners of war.

The administration's flimsy excuse that the detainees were not reported because they lacked a proper category is extremely troubling. It raises the questions "what other actions and information is the administration not reporting to the public merely because it has not figured out proper terminology?" and "how long will citizens have to wait to find these things out?"