U.S. military: Iraqi detaines tortured, killed inmates

BAGHDAD (AP) — For years, extremist Iraqi detainees in U.S. custody held self-styled Islamic courts and tortured or killed inmates who refused to join them, military officials said, disclosing new details about the use of American prisons to recruit for the insurgency. The discovery has prompted U.S. officials to begin separating moderate detainees from those they believe to be extremists — part of broader reforms to correct widespread U.S. prison abuse in Iraq that has sparked international criticism. "We were having people who weren't insurgents who were being forced to be insurgents because of the power of these courts, the power of al-Qaeda and other extremist groups," said Lt. Col. Kenneth Plowman, spokesman for Task Force 134, which operates coalition detention facilities in Iraq. Plowman told The Associated Press on... [read full story]