Leadership failure, poor training led to Iraq abuse, says army general
03:25 PM EDT May 11
BETH GORHAM
WASHINGTON (CP) - A leadership failure led to the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers who were undisciplined, untrained and unsupervised, an army general who investigated the scandal testified Tuesday.
Maj.-Gen. Antonio Taguba said there was faulty leadership from the brigade commander on down and blamed a decision late last year to put military intelligence officers in charge at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison.
CIA agents and civilian contractors may also be involved, said Taguba, whose March report found "sadistic, blatant and wanton criminal abuses" at the prison.
The Senate armed forces committee is holding hearings to determine who is responsible for the scandal, which became public two weeks ago with the publication of graphic photos of naked, hooded Iraqis.
Taguba found instances of prisoners being moved to thwart officials from the International Red Cross and said intelligence officers eager to extract information from prisoners were influencing how guards treated them.
He also said he didn't believe the claims of the former prisons commander in Iraq, Brig.-Gen. Janis Karpinski, who said she wasn't allowed to enter certain parts of the prison.
"I disagree with that," said Taguba. "It's hard for me to believe that she would be excluded."
Stephen Cambone, undersecretary of defence for intelligence, said the department issued clear directions to officials in Iraq that prisoners were to be treated under the Geneva Convention, which prohibits physical and mental torture.
That contradicts Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld who has said the convention did not "precisely" apply in Iraq.
Asked to explain the abuses, Cambone also pointed to "a problem of leadership" of military police.
"The local commander was unable to bring order to the place."
But he disputed Taguba's claim that military intelligence officers were running the show.
There are specific army guidelines for the treatment of prisoners, said Cambone. Any exceptions had to be authorized by Lt.-Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the most senior officer in Iraq.
Seven soldiers are facing courts martial in the scandal and six others have been reprimanded. The first case goes to trial in Baghdad on May 19 and will be public.
More than 40 deaths and abuse cases in Iraq and Afghanistan are still being investigated.
The military began a criminal investigation in January after a U.S. soldier complained that military police were sexually humiliating and abusing prisoners.
The scandal is affecting President George W. Bush's approval rating at home and hurting American credibility around the world.
Republican Senator James Inhofe complained Tuesday that the gruesome photos are being politicized by Democrats and mocked the "humanitarian do-gooders" investigating the treatment of Iraqi prisoners.
"They're not in there for traffic violations," said Inhofe, who noted that deposed dictator Saddam Hussein encouraged far worse brutality at the prison.
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