[Al Jazeera] U.S. army chief authorized abusive tactics in Iraq

And the beat goes on ...

U.S. army chief authorized abusive tactics in Iraq

U.S. army chief authorized abusive tactics in Iraq
3/30/2005 1:00:00 PM GMT

The former U.S. army chief in Iraq authorized tough techniques to intimidate detainees during interrogations, including using guard dogs and placing prisoners in painful “stress positions”, the American Civil Liberties Union said.

A September 14, 2003 memo signed by Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, then the top commander in Iraq, was obtained by the ACLU under court order through the Freedom of Information Act.

The memo shows that Sanchez approved the use of 29 interrogation tactics, including 12 which “far exceeded” U.S. accepted military regulations and the Geneva Conventions covering prisoners of war, the ACLU said.

The interrogation techniques included using military working dogs, or MWD, to "exploit Arab fear of dogs”. It also permitted putting prisoners in painful "stress positions".

The memo also approved methods of isolation and sleep and food deprivation and "environmental manipulation" such as making a room hot or cold or using an "unpleasant smell" to break down the detainees.

Sanchez also approved the "false flag" technique of "convincing the detainee that individuals from a country other than the United States are interrogating him".

“Clear violation”

"General Sanchez authorized interrogation techniques that were in clear violation of the Geneva Conventions and the army's own standards," said Amrit Singh, an ACLU lawyer.

Singh called for Sanchez and other senior U.S. officials involved in prisoner abuse in Iraq to be held responsible.

In July 2004, Sanchez quit his job leading U.S. troops following the Abu Ghraib scandal, in which U.S. forces abused and sexually humiliated Iraqi detainees. Gen George Casey replaced him as top commander in Iraq nine months ago.

The existence of Sanchez memo had been known for sometime, but it was obtained by the ACLU from the Defense Department on Friday following several court-backed demands. The department had refused to release the memo on national security grounds.

"It is apparent that the government has been holding this document not out of any genuine concern that it will compromise national security but to protect itself from embarrassment," Singh said.

However, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld claimed that the department maintains "full transparency", mitigated only by the demands of national security.

Earlier in March, the ACLU and Human Rights First filed a lawsuit asserting that Rumsfeld was directly responsible for the torture and abuse of detainees held by the U.S. in Iraq, Guantanamo, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

The ACLU has filed similar suits accusing Sanchez and other high-ranking U.S. general of being involved in prisoners abuse.

 

US Army Clears 4 Top Officers in Abu Ghraib Investigation
By VOA News
23 April 2005

The U.S. Army has cleared four top officers, including a former top U.S. commander in Iraq, of any wrongdoing in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal.

Defense officials say the Army's inspector general ultimately decided there was no basis for bringing charges against Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez and two generals and a colonel under his command.

The officials said that another military official, Army Reserve Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, has been relieved of her command and given a written reprimand. She oversaw the military police at the center of the prison scandal.

The findings are to be released in an upcoming report.

The Abu Ghraib prison scandal sparked outrage and condemnation in the United States and around the world after pictures emerged of American soldiers physically abusing and humiliating Iraqi prisoners.

 

The new math as taught in the Army:

1 + 1 = 0 and how high.

 

But

The memo shows that Sanchez approved the use of 29 interrogation tactics, including 12 which “far exceeded” U.S. accepted military regulations and the Geneva Conventions covering prisoners of war, the ACLU said.

The article does not clarify the 12 interrogation tactics which stepped way over the line (versus the 17 which probably danced on the line.)

 

Activists condemn Abu Ghraib verdict
By Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington
Published: April 25 2005 03:00 | Last updated: April 25 2005 03:00

Human rights groups have condemned a Pentagon report that exonerates top army officers over the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq and have called for an independent investigation.

The army inspector-general concluded that allegations that Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, the top US military officer in Iraq when the abuses occurred, was responsible for the abuses were unsubstantiated. "These findings only show that the president must appoint a special counsel who is not beholden by rank or party and who is able to look up the military chain of command," said Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Six low-level soldiers, but no officers, have pleaded guilty or been convicted over the scandal that forced President George W. Bush to make a televised apology last year. Specialist Charles Graner, the alleged Abu Ghraib ringleader, was given 10 years in prison in January, the harshest sentence to date. Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, the reserve officer in charge of prisons in Iraq, has been suspended from command.

The inspector-general's report is the 10th official inquiry into the abuses. The Pentagon says the reports demonstrate that the military did not have a policy of abusing or torturing prisoners. But the ACLU says military documents point to a pattern of abuse occurring from Guantánamo Bay to Afghanistan and Iraq.

"[The documents] clearly show that the command breakdown that led to these abuses was more than the work of one scapegoated officer," said Mr Romero.

An investigation by James Schlesinger, a former defence secretary, concluded that the US did not have a torture policy. Mr Schlesinger said senior Pentagon officials shared some responsibility for confusing policies but he stopped short of calling for resignations.

John Warner, the Republican chairman of the Senate armed services committee, said on Friday he "strongly agreed" with the conclusion of the Schlesinger report that commanders should be held accountable for their actions and that Pentagon officials "share this burden of responsibility".

Questions also remain on the role of CIA officers.

and

US rights groups call for special prosecutor to probe alleged torture
(AFP)
24 April 2005

WASHINGTON - US rights groups called Saturday for a special prosecutor to look into the alleged torture of war prisoners in the wake of a Pentagon report that cleared top US army officers of wrongdoing in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal.

The American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch say responsibility in the mistreatment of prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere lies in the top echelons and not just on rank-and-file soldiers.

In the Pentagon report, only Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, who commanded a military police unit found responsible for sexually humiliating prisoners, forcing them into stress positions and intimidating them with guard dogs, was relieved of her command and is being recommended for a career-ending reprimand, defense officials said late Friday.

However, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, who as commander of US forces in Iraq from June 2003 to July 2004 had briefly issued a set of tough interrogation guidelines that some say had encouraged the abuse, was fully exonerated, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The probe, completed by Army Inspector General Lieutenant General Stanley Green, comes on the heels of a slew of independent and internal Pentagon investigations undertaken since April 2004, when information about the pervasive abuse at Abu Ghraib leaked into the media.

The White House would not confirm the contents of the latest report, but a spokeswoman said detainee abuse would not be tolerated.

“The United States does not tolerate wrongdoing when it comes to detainees. When we find it we act to hold those responsible to account and take steps to prevent it from happening again,” spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

But the American Civil Liberties Union denounced the report and called for a special prosecutor to look into torture allegations against US troops. The group has released thousands of pages of internal military documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

The documents “clearly show that the command breakdown that led to these abuses was more than the work of one scapegoated officer,” ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said.

“As we continue to receive more information, the government cannot ignore the systematic nature of the torture that implicates the military chain of command to the very top.”

Separately, Human Rights Watch demanded that a special prosecutor be named to investigate US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, former CIA director George Tenet and other top officials for possible war crimes related to the torture and abuse of prisoners.

The rights group argues that evidence indicates that decisions and policies made by Rumsfeld and other high-ranking officials facilitated widespread abuse of prisoners in violation of US and international law, notably the Geneva Conventions.

It cited mounting evidence that they knew or should have known violations took place, and failed to act to stem the abuse, making them legally liable for the actions of subordinates further down the chain of command.

The report also cites Sanchez and Major General Geoffrey Miller, the former commander of a military-run detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Seven rank-and-file soldiers who had been assigned to guard duty at Abu Ghraib have been charged with physically and sexually abusing the detainees. Five of them have already been found guilty or pleaded guilty, while two courts-martial are still pending.

Several officers have received non-judicial punishment.

But top US commanders in Iraq have largely escaped punishment despite allegations some of them might have tacitly encouraged soldiers to rough up prisoners in order to “soften” them before interrogation.

The Green report sought to address these concerns, but found fault only with Karpinski, who is accused of failing to provide proper oversight of her troops, the defense officials said.

Though not released to the public, the document is seen as the military’s final word in the year-long saga that has tarnished the reputation of the US armed forces and fueled multiple calls for Rumsfeld’s resignation.

According to defense sources, the other officials cleared include Sanchez’s former deputy, Major General Walter Wojdakowski, who stood accused of failing to staff the prison with better trained guards, Major General Barbara Fast, the former chief intelligence officer at Abu Ghraib, and Colonel Marc Warren, the command’s top legal officer.

All continue to hold top jobs in the US military. Sanchez, for example, is now commander of the Army Fifth Corps in Germany, while Fast has been given command of an Army intelligence center at Fort Huachuca, Arizona.

However, the findings appear to contradict last year’s report by an independent panel led by former defense secretary James Schlesinger, who argued that commanders should be held accountable ”for their action or inaction.”

 

Image egg. Image your face.

Please explain in great detail how the Al Jazeera article is biased. AJ essentailly carried the same article the US MSM carried word for eff-ing word.

Now, go play on the freeway

 

which were based on documents that got from FOIA requests. Are you saying that the ACLU is not trustworthy?