Conservatives argue that terrorists are
trained to allege torture, and there may be some truth in that. Yet the similarities between the allegations from disparate sources attenuates that argument.
The story last year of three Iraqi journalists working for Reuters who were seized by the U.S. military and taken to a prison facility near Fallujah further undermines that explanation. The men say they were "subjected to physical and sexual abuse, among other forms of mistreatment."
A Reuters internal report describes the arrest and treatment of the reporters similar to allegations made by other victims of abuse. The report notes that the alleged abuse occurred after the military had already been informed of the identity of the reporters.
So, are we to believe that reporters as well as terrorists are trained to allege torture and abuse when wrongly seized by Americans?