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White House officials have attacked the British media over their treatment of shocking abuse photographs the Obama administration wants to suppress.
President Barack Obama's spokesman Robert Gibbs denied a report in the Daily Telegraph which claimed the graphic images showed rape and torture at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.
The newspaper had quoted retired US Army Major General Antonio Taguba as saying a batch of photos that have been banned from being made public showed "torture, rape and every indecency". Mr Gibbs was asked about the claims by General Taguba who led the US military investigation into the 2004 Abu Ghraib scandal which revealed the humiliation of prisoners by US guards.
A Pentagon spokesman said the Telegraph had "completely mischaracterised the images".
Mr Gibbs went further. He said: "Let's just say if I wanted to read a write-up today of how Manchester United fared in the Champions League Cup, I might open up a British newspaper.
"If I was looking for something that bordered on truthful news, I'm not entirely sure it'd be the first stack of clips I picked up."
Reader views (1)
Huh...maybe. It's possible that the photos were mischaracterised. However, that could just as easily be the first part of a cover-up story to explain why such photos don't get released in the future.
- Jason, Wisconsin, 29/05/2009 16:19
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