Pelosi: 'Shameful Mistreatment of Prisoners in Iraq is Unacceptable'

May 4, 2004

Washington, D.C. -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement today about abuse of Iraqi prisoners:

"The revelation of grotesque behavior by soldiers in Iraq is not only disgraceful and damaging to the interests of the United States, it also endangers our men and women in uniform, the vast majority of whom are courageously performing their duties. The shameful mistreatment of prisoners in Iraq is unacceptable and must be investigated thoroughly.

"Among the questions that must be answered are: Was this an isolated incident? Were personnel trained adequately to do the jobs to which they were assigned? When did senior leadership of the Department of Defense learn of these allegations? Was their response timely and did it reflect the seriousness of this situation?

"We must have a full investigation to get to the bottom of this outrage."

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