Tuesday, August 24, 2004

New Abu Ghraib Report

An independent commission's report on the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse was released today (the commission was created by Rumsfeld in May) . There's a DOD article here, a PDF of the full report, and a full transcript of the commission's press conference. Here' s a few snippets I found noteworthy in the press conference:
  • "Through our investigation and review, we found a string of failures that go well beyond an isolated cell block in Iraq. We found fundamental failures throughout all levels of command, from the soldiers on the ground to Central Command and to the Pentagon. These failures of leadership helped to set the conditions which allowed for the abusive practice to take place. " - Former U.S. Representative Tillie Fowler (R-Fl)
  • "None of the targets in the photos [released in April] were there because of presumed valuable information. There were cases at Abu Ghraib of abuse directed at intelligence targets, but none of them were photographed." - Former Secretary Of Defense James R. Schlesinger
  • "There was no policy of abuse; quite the contrary. Senior officials repeatedly said that in Iraq, Geneva regulations would apply." - Schlesinger
  • "There are now some 300 cases, more or less, of abuses being investigated, many of them beyond Abu Ghraib. So the abuses were not limited to a few individuals." - Schlesinger
  • "A degree of responsibility for failure to provide adequate resources to support the custodial and intelligence requirements throughout the theater and also for the confusion about permissible interrogation techniques extends all the way up through the chain of command to include the Joint Staff of the Joint Chiefs and to include the Office of the Secretary of Defense." - Former Secretary Of Defense Harold Brown

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