TOP US INTELL OFFICER AT ABU GHRAIB SAYS: "I WAS WRONG"

[kpete]

Officer Says He Wrongly Approved Use of Dogs
Tactic Employed At Abu Ghraib

By Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 16, 2006; A01



The top U.S. military intelligence officer at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq testified yesterday that he inappropriately approved the use of dogs for interrogations without consulting higher-ranking officers, accepting responsibility for giving his subordinates an aggressive tool that was used to terrify detainees.

Col. Thomas M. Pappas, speaking publicly for the first time since the abuse at Abu Ghraib was revealed two years ago, told a military court-martial that in December 2003 he signed off on using dogs on one "high-value" detainee who was not responding to standard interrogation tactics. He said a series of interrogation memos from Baghdad that listed dogs as an option led him to believe he did not need to seek approval from Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, then the top general in Iraq.

"I wouldn't say that I was confused, but later on it turned out that I was wrong," Pappas said in a low voice, looking out over a small military courtroom at Fort Meade, Md. "I misinterpreted the language."

Pappas -- who was testifying at the trial of a military police dog handler accused of abuse at the prison -- is the highest-ranking officer to take responsibility for misconduct there.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/15/AR2006031502621_pf.html

[Dogmudgeon]

1. Quick! Throw another Private in the stockade!

That'll teach 'em!

--p!

[90-percent]

2. That'll teach 'em

Lyndie England's doing time, so the whole USA Torture issue has been fixed.

We're a good upstanding moral nation again, now that Lyndie's behind bars! I hope they got her newborn in prison, too. The kid just has to be a co-conspirator!

-85% Jimmy

[Chimichurri]

3. Taking one for the team. Wonder how much that costs these days.

[slaveplanet]

4. Liars

According to testimony this week, there is scant evidence that Smith's dog did more than bark or growl at detainees at close range -- a tactic that his defense team says exemplifies the point of having dogs at a prison in the first place, which is to keep detainees under control.

http://www.cdi.org/news/law/Al-Rawi-v-Titan-Complaint.pdf


95. Thereafter the Torture Conspirators continued to detain and abuse Plaintiff Ismael
and committed the following acts, among others, during his Abu Ghraib Prison detention:
(a) During interrogation, hitting him with electric cables and kicking him with
boots if he did not answer or did not answer in the manner desired by the Torture Conspirators;
(b) Tying his hands behind his backs and terrorizing him by shooting electric
guns at him;
(c) Stripping him, tying his hands behind his back and releasing dogs to attack
his private parts;
(d) Using demeaning and dehumanizing language;
(e) Depriving him of sleep by use of loud music or loose dogs roaming around
the tent;
(f) Stripping his clothes off and forcing him to stand on one leg for as long as 6
hours, during which they would hit him with a rifle if he showed any sign of fatigue or moved in
any manner;
(g) Hitting his private parts repeatedly.

102. The Torture Conspirators raped Plaintiff Neisef. A female conspirator placed a hood
over his head and called in two other conspirators, who held Neisef down while she raped him.
After sexually abusing him for approximately thirty minutes, she left him naked on the floor and
told him “it is our job to take your manhood away from you by the time you leave, you son of a
bitch.”

103. The Torture Conspirators forced Plaintiff Neisef to touch other detainees’ body parts
by threatening him with attack dogs. The Torture Conspirators poured cold water on Plaintiff
Neisef and the other detainees, wrapped electric wire around their penises, and gave them electric
shocks. Plaintiff Neisef started to bleed and suffered a ruptured vein on his penis. The Torture
Conspirators refused to tend his wounds.

104. The Torture Conspirators again degraded Plaintiff Neisef sexually by forcing him to
assume a dog position and by threatening to sodomize him with a stick.

127. In or around November 2003, Torture Conspirators located in Ramadi, Iraq, detained
approximately 30 putative Class Plaintiffs in a house. The conspirators released German shepherd
dogs into the house and encouraged the dogs to attack the detainees.

128. On or about November 19, 2003, Torture Conspirators located in Iraq managed to
wrest control over the detention conditions in Abu Ghraib prison from those charged with such
control under normal military procedures. The Torture Conspirators’ success in gaining control
over the conditions of detention is reflected in a memorandum signed by General Sanchez, which
formally transferred tactical control over the conditions of detention to the 205th Military
Intelligence Brigade.

129. On or about December 12, 2003, the Torture Conspirators located in Abu Ghraib,
Iraq, terrorized a putative Class Plaintiff with German shepherds. They stripped this victim and
subsequently permitted the dogs to attack him.

130. On or around Ramadan, 2003, the Torture Conspirators located in Abu Ghraib, Iraq
tortured putative Class Plaintiff by putting sandbags on his head, stripping him naked, forcing him
onto his hands and knees, piling other naked prisoners on top of him, taking pictures from front and
back views of the pile of naked prisoners, forcing him to stroke his penis, pretending to put his penis in the mouth of a guard while taking pictures, playing with his penis with a pen, writing on
his buttocks, leaving him naked in a cell with no mattress for two days and denying him all food but
bread and water for three days.

131. On or around Ramadan, 2003, the Torture Conspirators located in Abu Ghraib, Iraq
tortured putative Class Plaintiff by stripping him naked, ordering him to stroke his penis in front of
a female guard, placing three other naked prisoners on his back, forcing him onto his stomach and
then placing six other prisoners on top, taking pictures of him in a pile of naked prisoners, writing
on his body, forcing him and others to walk and bark like dogs, beating him on the face and chest
and forcing him to sleep on the floor with bags on his head for ten days.

132. The Torture Conspirators located in Abu Ghraib, Iraq tortured putative Class
Plaintiff by handcuffing him to a cell door for two hours, pouring cold water on him, putting his
head in urine, beating him with a broom, stepping on his head and legs, pressing a broom into his
buttocks, spitting on him and yelling at him over a loudspeaker for three hours.

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