WP: U.S. Generals in Iraq Were Told of Abuse Early, Inquiry Finds

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23372-2004Nov30.html

A confidential report to Army generals in Iraq in December 2003 warned that members of an elite military and CIA task force were abusing detainees, a finding delivered more than a month before Army investigators received the photographs from Abu Ghraib prison that touched off investigations into prisoner mistreatment.

The report, which was not released publicly and was recently obtained by The Washington Post, concluded that some U.S. arrest and detention practices at the time could "technically" be illegal. It also said coalition fighters could be feeding the Iraqi insurgency by "making gratuitous enemies" as they conducted sweeps netting hundreds of detainees who probably did not belong in prison and holding them for months at a time.

The investigation, by retired Col. Stuart A. Herrington, also found that members of Task Force 121 -- a joint Special Operations and CIA mission searching for weapons of mass destruction and high-value targets including Saddam Hussein -- had been abusing detainees throughout Iraq and had been using a secret interrogation facility to hide their activities.

Herrington's findings are the latest in a series of confidential reports to come to light about detainee abuse in Iraq. Until now, U.S. military officials have characterized the problem as one largely confined to the military prison at Abu Ghraib -- a situation they first learned about in January 2004. But Herrington's report shows that U.S. military leaders in Iraq were told of such allegations even before then, and that problems were not restricted to Abu Ghraib. Herrington, a veteran of the U.S. counterinsurgency effort in Vietnam, warned that such harsh tactics could imperil U.S. efforts to quell the Iraqi insurgency -- a prediction echoed months later by a military report and other reviews of the war effort.

[oldhat]

1. Baghdad, Gitmo, Kabul, Singapore, aboard Navy ships...

How many secret prisons do these guys have?

[daleo]

2. "technically" illegal

That still qualifies as illegal, though, doesn't it? Maybe someone could "technically" get charged and "technically" go to jail.

3. If you have money or power

Things are "technically illegal"

If you are poor, black, etc.

Things are DEFINITELY illegal


How about this--

www.libertywhistle.us

[daleo]

4. It's kind of late at night

But I bookmarked it. There seems to be lots of interesting stuff.

[maddezmom]

19. kick...I missed it the first time around

[chuckrocks]

5. as much as i loath this

as much as i loath this administration, my hate for the media that refused to ask is tenfold. good dog. stay.

6. FOR EXAMPLE--

Why did they decide to BOMB Iraq, claiming Iraq had 500 tons of bio-germs at some unknown location.

Common sense as well as scientific reality says that you do NOT drop bombs on areas where such weapons are located, for fear of spreading them over hundreds, if not THOUSANDS of miles.

Yet, the Iraq invasion was discussed only TWO DAYS in Congress...questions such as the above were never posed, in Congress, or the media.

Dan S.

www.libertywhistle.us
"The Liberty Whistle Blows Where the Bell Stops Ringing"

[Judi Lynn]

7. Glad you made this point. It just hasn't been discussed publically.

Of course you're right. We've all been bombarded with so many fear messages everything seems to blur when it comes too fast and heavy.

Clearly you're right. Thanks.

[dand]

8. The Generals were informed of these atrocities,

and promptly prosecuted the Corporals and Sergeants who were the real brains behind the operation.

What a fucking joke, this whole administration should be tried at the Hague, they are all Fascist war criminals.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

16. My first thought was where's the outrage?

But I think this will slowly unravel. If you want to catch the kingpins of organized crimes you first have to get their foot soldiers.

[Just Me]

18. Yes. Additional evidence that those at the top = war criminals.

I'm sure CCR must have this evidence as they pursue charges against the neocon conspirators.

[Plaid Adder]

9. Fuckin' DUH, man!!

I'm glad someone at the Pentagon understands that the Abu Ghraib approach is counterproductive...too bad that person isn't Rumsfeld. Everyone else in Bush's cabinet is walking the plank--when's it gonna be his turn?

This report is a "DUH" right up there with "They hate us for our policies, not our freedoms." Jesus H. Christ. They needed a REPORT to figure that out?

@#$!,

The Plaid Adder

[Paradise]

11. Will you still be posting/replying here at DU?

I feel the way you do (a la "The Fat Lady Sings") but don't know where to turn... :shrug:

[indepat]

10. How far will any culpability ultimately reach?

[gratuitous]

12. Culpability? That's a hot one!

Nobody in the corrupt Bush administration is responsible or culpable. Why, Glorious Leader himself can't think of even one mistake he's made since being installed in the Oval Office! Culpability implies that something went wrong, or wasn't supposed to happen. This administration defies all norms, all expectations, and wins out every time. It never stops to consider the cost, because costs are to be borne by the suckers, and they aren't the suckers.

Meanwhile, the media watch all this happen right before their jaded eyes, and can't for the life of them fathom why anyone would feel angry or betrayed by what our country is doing in our name and with our tax dollars. But they give Jerry Falwell another 15 or 20 minutes to spew moralistic veneer to cover the atrocities, and all is right with the world again.

[rodeodance]

13. Cnn news "this story seems to blow apart the idea that AG was an

"isolated case" (as Rommy as miltary say)--and is indeed widespead"
whow--this blond cnn newscaster just "got it"!! (she was interviewing author of the WP above),

[daleo]

15. If she said that, I wonder about her job security

She may just be persuaded to publicly recant.

[yardwork]

14. Doesn't this mean that some people perjured themselves to Congress?

Just asking.

17. But didn't congress GOP say crimes are okay?

Perjury is okay then too?