House votes to bulldoze horror prison

A proposal to destroy the notorious prison where Iraqi detainees were abused moved forward as politicians voted to include it in a defence spending bill.

The measure, by Reps Curt Weldon, a Republican, and John Murtha, a Democrat, would demolish the Abu Ghraib prison and build a modern detention centre in its place. It was included in a €416bn defence authorisation bill approved by the House of Representatives yesterday.

“This prison was a symbol of terrorism under Saddam, and it was an institution that the Iraqi people despised,” Weldon said.

The abuse that happened at the prison “really created a bad perception in Iraq”, Weldon said. “So my feeling is, tear it down.

"Get rid of it. Not just because of what a few soldiers did, but also because of what that symbol meant to Saddam, and show the Iraqi people: ‘Hey, we don’t want that kind of torture any more.’”

During a short debate, Rep Thaddeus McCotter said destroying the prison “is the sovereign Iraqis’ decision to make”.

But Weldon, in an interview, noted that the demolition plan called for the consent of the new Iraqi government since “by the time this bill passes, they’ll be in charge”.

The House voted 308-114 to include the prison provision in the defence bill. A similar proposal is pending in the Senate.