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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alighieri who wrote (188907)	5/20/2004 12:29:50 AM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1574384

LOL.

To: Alighieri who wrote (188907)	5/20/2004 2:29:49 AM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1574384

<font color=brown>Okay, Al, what's going on? The interrogation rules got posted but no person above "an obscure capt." ever saw them. Dang! A six year old could come up with a better explanation!<font color=black> *********************************************************** Posted 5/20/2004 12:58 AM Updated 5/20/2004 1:51 AM Sanchez says he never saw rules for interrogation By John Diamond, USA TODAY WASHINGTON — An obscure Army captain wrote the interrogation rules. The general in charge never saw them, even though his title appears on the document as the officer who must approve especially harsh techniques. Yet somehow the rules wound up on the wall of the interrogation center at Abu Ghraib prison. Under questioning Wednesday by members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, senior U.S. commanders in Iraq struggled to explain how "interrogation rules of engagement" that they admitted could violate the Geneva Conventions were distributed — without their knowledge — to guards and intelligence officers at the largest U.S. military prison in Iraq. The rules were posted at Abu Ghraib as of last October, possibly earlier. That was around the time that U.S. military guards at the sprawling prison complex 20 miles west of Baghdad photographed and videotaped their abusive and humiliating treatment of Iraqi prisoners. The images of naked Iraqis piled on top of one another or being dragged by dog leashes sparked an international furor when they were leaked to the media. An Army investigation found that the guards were responding to demands by military intelligence officers that they "soften up" the prisoners for interrogation. The rules According to a document titled "Interrogation Rules of Engagement" that was posted at Abu Ghraib, requests to use these methods had to be made in writing to the commanding general in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez: Change of scenery down (moving to a more barren cell) Dietary manipulation Environmental manipulation Sleep adjustment (reverse schedule) Isolation for longer than 30 days Presence of military working dogs Sleep management (72 hours maximum) Sensory deprivation (72 hours maximum) Stress positions (no longer than 45 minutes) The interrogation rules describe "approved approaches" such as rapid-fire questioning, offering of incentives for cooperation, and the silent treatment. The document cautions that detainees "will NEVER be touched in a malicious or unwanted manner" and that the Geneva Conventions apply in Iraq. But a separate list shows techniques that can be used with the "CG's" approval — a reference to Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the commanding general in Iraq and one of the witnesses at Wednesday's committee hearing. They include up to three days of sleep deprivation and "sensory deprivation," the use of guard dogs near prisoners, and up to 45 minutes tied in "stress positions." Sanchez said the interrogation rules were drafted "at the company commander level." He said he had "no role in preparing or approving it." Yet the briefing slide with the interrogation rules displays the logo of Combined Joint Task Force-7, the U.S.-led coalition force in Iraq that Sanchez commands. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., was incredulous. "How could the company commander evolve such a specific list" of techniques that would "require your permission, without any interaction between your command?" asked Reed, a veteran and West Point graduate. "It seems to me difficult to understand." "Sir, it's difficult for me to understand it," Sanchez replied. "You have to ask the commander." Sanchez said he had his own set of interrogation rules that followed Army regulations. But he acknowledged that in 25 separate instances, he approved holding Iraqi prisoners in isolation for longer than 30 days, one of the methods listed in the interrogation rules drafted by a female Army officer identified only as Capt. Woods. In three other cases, according to Warren, requests to put prisoners in "stress positions" were rejected by commanders below Sanchez. Sanchez also denied approving harsh treatment of one Iraqi inmate at Abu Ghraib, an incident detailed in the Army's investigative report by Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, and reported Wednesday in USA TODAY. In that incident, according to a government official who has read most of the Taguba report's 6,000-page classified annex, Sanchez approved the use of sleep deprivation, intimidation by guard dogs and inducing fear to persuade the Iraqi inmate usatoday.com