It looks like Rumsfeld may be going! The day this broke, Rumsfeld was in a "classified", private session with a number of senators and never said a word........they are outraged!
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Abuse of Iraqi prisoners sparks outrage
By BETH GORHAM
Canadian Press
Washington — It has become the explosive turning point of the Iraq war, leading in all the wrong directions.
A scandal involving sadistic abuse and humiliation of prisoners by U.S. soldiers blew wide open Tuesday when the military acknowledged more than 20 cases of deaths and assaults are under investigation, not only in Iraq but Afghanistan, too.
Outraged U.S. politicians, who demanded to know how such rampant abuse could possibly have happened, worried even more cases will come to light.
And there's fear degrading, graphic pictures of Iraqi prisoners at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison that have infuriated the Arab world will embolden terrorists and lead to more bloodshed in the Middle East.
Despite the best efforts of U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to portray the assaults Tuesday as an “exception” among the actions of “wonderful” soldiers, the widening cases lend credence to long-stated Arab complaints about the behaviour of Americans.
“A picture's worth 1,000 words,” said U.S. Representative Jane Harman, the ranking Democrat on the House of Representatives intelligence committee.
“[They have] undone thousands of acts of kindness and courage,” Ms. Harman told CNN.
“It has changed the face of America in the world.”
“I was stunned by all of it,” said Mr. Rumsfeld, who called the incidents “totally unacceptable and un-American.”
Senators demanded Mr. Rumsfeld appear on Capitol Hill before the armed services committee to answer some tough questions, including why he didn't receive an internal Pentagon report on abuse at Iraq's main prison that was completed in February or inform Congress of the magnitude of the problem.
“We need to have a hearing with [him] as soon as possible,” said Republican Senator John McCain.
“Congress should have been notified of this situation a long time ago.”
Allegations of abuse at Abu Gharib were first reported by a U.S. soldier Jan. 13 and led to a criminal investigation, which was made public.
“Immediately, we told the world we thought we had a problem,” said Gen. Peter Pace, vice-chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.
“There was no attempt to hide this,” said Gen. Pace, adding the abuse report was making its way up the chain.
In February, the U.S. suspended 17 guards at the prison.
But the reason wasn't clear until last week, when U.S. and British news media outlets began showing leaked photographs of Iraqis tortured and mocked by Americans.
The images include Iraqis stripped naked and placed in sexually suggestive positions, while two grinning guards give a thumbs-up.
Another shows a prisoner standing on a box, connected to electric wires, who was reported to have been told he would be electrocuted if he fell down.
Former prisoners are now telling horrible stories about sleep-deprivation, beatings, punishing physical regimens, isolation and being placed in shipping containers used to house the prison dogs.
For Canadians, the graphic pictures of naked, hooded Iraqis were reminiscent of another atrocity years ago — the torture and killing of a Somali teen by members of the now disbanded airborne regiment.
A Canadian civilian who said he was falsely imprisoned, tortured and injured by U.S. military interrogators shortly after the invasion of Iraq is suing the army for $350,000.
Lawyer Thomas Nelson said he filed the lawsuit with the U.S. Army Claims Office on April 30 on behalf of Hossam Shaltout, 57, a former resident of Toronto.
The complaint said Mr. Shaltout was arrested by U.S. troops April 9, 2003, the month after the U.S. invasion. He said he was beaten and saw Iraqis being tortured.
He said his brother informed Canadian authorities of his detention but “they did nothing.”
The U.S. scandal grew to encompass the anti-terror war in Afghanistan, even as Mr. Rumsfeld said: “It is, we hope, an isolated case.”
Neither he, nor President George W. Bush, had seen the pictures until they were released by news outlets and a White House spokesman said Mr. Bush was unaware of the Pentagon report.
The top United Nations human rights agency opened an investigation into civil rights in Iraq, even before the U.S. military disclosed Tuesday there have been 35 criminal investigations into allegations of prisoner abuse and deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan since December 2002. Twenty are on-going.
In the Abu Ghraib Prison cases, six U.S. army reserve military police may face criminal charges and seven U.S. soldiers have been reprimanded.
The Pentagon's February report blamed abuse on inadequate training and too few troops, leading to a breakdown in command.
U.S. officials have ordered a halt to using hoods to blindfold Iraqi prisoners and authorities will cut the number of prisoners at Abu Ghraib in half.
The former head of the prison, Brig.-Gen. Janis Karpinski, pointed the finger at military intelligence officers who encouraged abuse to help elicit information during interrogations.
The abuse allegations have sparked six wide reviews, said Mr. Rumsfeld, including an investigation of procedures used by military intelligence officers.
Critics also blame the creation of a new class of prisoners following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. They are not technically prisoners of war and aren't covered by international laws like the Geneva Convention.
Most of the suspected terrorists from Afghanistan held at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have not been allowed to see lawyers and haven't been charged.
Procedures at that base and other U.S. detention centres are being reviewed, said Mr. Rumsfeld.
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