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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (145230)	9/9/2004 4:19:10 PM
From: GST	Respond to of 281500

US Hid Dozens of Iraqi Prisoners, Investigators Say 1 hour, 45 minutes ago Add Top Stories - Reuters By Vicki Allen WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States kept up to 100 "ghost detainees" in Iraq (news - web sites) off the books to conceal them from Red Cross observers, a far higher number than previously reported, Army generals told Congress on Thursday. "We were not able to get documentation from the Central Intelligence Agency (news - web sites) to answer those types of questions. So we really don't know the volume. But I believe it's probably in the dozens," Fay said. The Geneva Conventions require countries to disclose information on prisoners to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which monitors their treatment. The Senate and House of Representatives Armed Services Committees held hearings on an Army investigation on the role of military intelligence in prisoner abuses at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, as well as broader findings on U.S. mistreatment of prisoners by an independent panel headed by former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger. The reports depicted far more widespread and systematic mistreatment of detainees than the acts of a handful of soldiers accused when the images of horrific sexual and physical humiliation and torture at the Abu Ghraib prison first came to light last spring. CIA CRITICIZED While the panel led by Schlesinger blamed top Pentagon (news - web sites) civilian and military leaders for setting an environment that lead to the sadistic treatment of detainees, Schlesinger told a House committee that U.S. forces in Iraq had behaved far better overall than in previous wars, including World War II, Korea and Vietnam. "The vast majority of that force has behaved in Iraq with extraordinary forbearance -- and including countless acts of kindness," he said. Senators called the CIA's failure so far to turn over information sought by Army investigators unacceptable. "The situation with the CIA and ghost soldiers is beginning to look like a bad movie," said Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), an Arizona Republican. Fay said he made repeated requests for documents from the CIA, "and they said that they would not provide me with the information that I requested." In June, the CIA inspector general said the agency would conduct its own investigation, Fay said. "Well, I think that this is something that needs to be asked, Mr. Chairman, of the incoming director of the CIA," McCain said, referring to Rep. Porter Goss (news, bio, voting record), a Florida Republican tapped by President Bush (news - web sites) to run the CIA. Warner said the Senate Intelligence Committee was pressing the CIA for information, and said the Armed Services Committee may hold a hearing specifically on ghost detainees. The findings of the Army investigation, headed by Fay and Lt. Gen. Anthony Jones and released in August, listed 44 instances of prisoner abuse, 13 directly involving interrogations. It said 27 military intelligence personnel -- 23 soldiers and four contractors -- directly took place in abuse or induced others to do so, while another eight -- six soldiers and two contractors -- failed to report abuse they had witnessed. All have been recommended for possible criminal charges. Sen. Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), a Massachusetts Democrat, said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld misled the country about how many were responsible when he testified before Congress in May. (Additional reporting by Will story.news.yahoo.com