Guardian Utd (Saturday): US general linked to Abu Ghraib abuse

[Jack Rabbit]

From the Guardian Unlimited (UK)
Dated Saturday May 22

US general linked to Abu Ghraib abuse
Leaked memo reveals control of prison passed to military intelligence to 'manipulate detainees'
By Julian Borger in Washington

Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, head of coalition forces in Iraq, issued an order last October giving military intelligence control over almost every aspect of prison conditions at Abu Ghraib with the explicit aim of manipulating the detainees' "emotions and weaknesses", it was reported yesterday.
The October 12 memorandum, reported in the Washington Post, is a potential "smoking gun" linking prisoner abuse to the US high command. It represents hard evidence that the maltreatment was not simply the fault of rogue military police guards.
The memorandum came to light as more details emerged of the extent of detainee abuse. Formal statements by inmates published yesterday describe horrific treatment at the hands of guards, including the rape of a teenage Iraqi boy by an army translator.
At present, one prison guard has pleaded guilty to abuse of detainees, and six more are facing courts martial. A separate inquiry is underway into the role of military intelligence, but it is unclear whether any private contractors implicated will face prosecution.
The October memorandum also calls into question General Sanchez's sworn testimony to the US Senate.

If anybody thinks it stops at Sanchez, guess again.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. No, it stops at Rumsfeld or even Bush

That said, why is our press not going after this?

Curious, very curious...

[Elwood P Dowd]

4. The press can't keep up with all the scandals

They are not prepared for this level of incompetence. Never in our history has so few fucked up so much on such a massive level.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Don't defend them, they are beyond defensible

they are willing co conspirators... read Brock or Alternan.

THEY SHOULD BE ABLE TO KEEP UP, but this is not to their interest to do this, or rather those who know that a muzzled press is a supine press

[Elwood P Dowd]

9. I've read the books

Just being facetious.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. Smile

well just making sure

Fascitiousness does not tranfer well to the print media

:-)

[Jack Rabbit]

5. Bush signed the executive orders

Bush signed the executive orders setting up a system of detainment beyond all scrutiny by either federal or international authorities.

There is no way he can duck responsibility for this.

[NMDemDist2]

2. the wheels are coming off faster and faster eom

[darkstar]

3. wow

Again: Wow.

Anyone understand why AG prison is singled out by Sanchez for the special treatment? I keep thinking a true "smoking gun" will emerge when pix of identical techniqes are found to have been used at another prison. But what do I know.

At any rate, how much faster and "furiouser" can this shit be coming? And when was the last time a sitting prez's popularity was in the 30's?

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. Lemme see... NIXON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[GoldenOldie]

8. The Buck Stops Where??????

Who is "Commander-in-Chief," and is his only function saluting those military as he gets on and off of the Official helocopter and Air Force I???? Why are we not seeing a parade of Generals entering the White House to brief "The Commander-in-Chief," on just what in the hell is going on.

[Disturbed]

11. Rumsfailed

Sanchez has to be indicted forthwith.

Then the rest up the food chain ending with the CIC.

BushCo is a criminal enterprise.

This is what the Cover Up has been about.

The unraveling of the stinking, corupt carpet must continue.

[Jack Rabbit]

12. Go a little higher

From Democratic Underground
Dated Tuesday May 11

Who is Responsible?
By Jack Rabbit

Is it sufficient to court martial some enlisted personnel, reprimand some officers and fire some civilian contractors for the abuses of Abu Ghraib? Would it be sufficient to dismiss Mr. Rumsfeld from his post? No, the problem goes beyond that.
It is Mr. Bush himself who is responsible for the crimes at Abu Ghraib. The circumvention of international humanitarian law is Bush administration policy. He is responsible whether he directly ordered any particular case of abuse at that prison or even whether he knew about it in January, as Mr. Rumsfeld said, or while watching 60 Minutes, as Mr. Bush said, or knew all along, which no one suggests. The crimes at Abu Ghraib are the result of the peculiar detention system established by Mr. Bush and his subordinates in the wake of the war on terror.
The centerpiece of the detention system is the prison camp at the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. A feature of the detention system is that it is, in the words of separate statements by Human Rights Watch and the International Committee for the Red Cross, "a legal black hole." This administration claims that the detention center is beyond the reach of the jurisdiction of any court. The detainees at the facility are presumed to be terrorists; no review of their cases can occur except by the good graces of this administration itself. The administration further asserts that all detainees at Guantanamo are "unlawful combatants" with no rights as prisoners of war. Again, because the administration claims that no US or international court has any jurisdiction over inmates at Guantanamo, their status cannot be reviewed by anyone outside the Bush administration.
This arrangement contradicts the Third Geneva Convention, under which a detainee is to be treated as a prisoner of war until a competent tribunal rules otherwise (Article 5). Since the administration's rules preclude judicial review of any detainee's status, no detainee has ever been had a review by any competent tribunal and so could not be ruled anything but a prisoner of war.
Moreover, the catch-all phrase under international law for those who are not prisoners of war is not "unlawful combatants," a term which is not found in any recognized body of international law, but rather "protected persons." The rights of protected persons are spelled out in the Fourth Geneva Convention; the rights of protected persons under the authority of a hostile power are little different than those prisoners of war. Even assuming that the detainees at Guantanamo are not prisoners of war, their rights under international law are being violated systematically and willfully by Mr. Bush and his subordinates . . . .
The conditions under which prisoners are kept at Guantanamo are the subject of some international concern. Few outsiders have seen the camp and reported on it. Those who have, condemn it. Prisoners are housed in small cages with little protection from the elements. Human Rights Watch called the conditions "a scandal" long before Abu Ghraib made headlines. A British jurist looking into the situation at one of the Guantanamo camps called the conditions one of "utter lawlessness."
The detention camp at Guantanamo Bay was set up to circumvent international law. Mr. Bush cannot claim to know nothing about it or to not be responsible for it. He signed the executive orders authorizing this circumvention of international law.

Read more.

[DemBones DemBones]

15. Very well said. Thanks for re-posting it.

I am not at DU much these days and had not read it before.

[daleo]

10. It is obvious to a five year old, that this goes past a few soldiers

It goes to the highest levels, right to Bush and Rummy. They may have been kept in the dark about the worst details, but I remember them smirking way back when about taking the gloves off and all that.

Although you would hate to tell a five year old about any of this.

[DemBones DemBones]

14. I'd rather explain consensual oral sex to a five year-old

than explain what was done at Abu Ghraib. When are the right wingers going to start complaining about Bush* et al making everyone explain sadism and torture to their kiddies?

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. This is one of those ocasions when I am so happy

we do not have children. I do not have to explain to the conure about torture, sadism or sexual assault. Simply stated the Conure (parrot) does not care... though she listens to my rants very well, thank you. She is a good listener...

But lemme see, oral sex... torture... if there is a choice I will take the oral sex.

[cosmicone]

17. Feeding Frenzy .. YAY!

It looks like the reporters have become bold and are showing a feeding frenzy now against the administration.

Plus pissed off intelligence agencies and career staffers are keeping the sharks well fed with a healthy diet of leaks!!

Events are spinning out of control of the admin and talking heads on Faux News ....

I absolutely love it !!!!!!!

[riverwalker]

18. The pistol holster guy

Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez. What the heck is that Pancho Villa macho pistol all about anyway?
Is our military completely run by middle aged adolescent juveniles in camoflage?

[saigon68]

19. SORRY SANCHEZ a/k/a Pistol Boy



SORRY SANCHEZ a/k/a Pistol Boy consiglieri to the Viceroy Pontius Paul Bremer I

His quote “ We are going to Kill the Shia Cleric Criminal Muqtada al-Sadr !! ”

SORRY PISTOL BOY also set the tone for loosening TONGUES at Abu Ghraib Prison



A U.S. soldier holds a trained dog in front of an Iraqi detainee inside the Abu Ghraib Prison, west
of Baghdad in this undated photo. Hundreds of unreleased photographs and short digital videos
depict U.S. soldiers using a wide variety of abusive techniques at Iraq news - web sites)'s Abu
Ghraib prison and appearing to enjoy the mistreatment, The Washington Post reported on May
21, 2004. Photo by Washington Post/Reuters

Sanchez also allowed his troops to use the Famous “WHITE CHAIR”

[Jack Rabbit]

20. Some furhter discussion from this morning (thread now locked):

Please click here.

[Tinoire]

21. Absolutely DISGUSTING / Bring me the head of MG Barbara Fast!!!

"I saw fucking a kid, his age would be about 15-18 years. The kid was hurting very bad and they covered all the doors with sheets. Then when I heard the screaming I climbed the door because on top it wasn't covered and I saw , who was wearing the military uniform putting his dick in the little kid's ass," Mr Hilas told military investigators. "I couldn't see the face of the kid because his face wasn't in front of the door. And the female soldier was taking pictures."

It is not clear from the testimony whether the rapist de scribed by Mr Hilas was working for a private contractor or was a US soldier. A private contractor was arrested after the Taguba investigation was completed, but was freed when it was discovered the army had no jurisdiction over him under military or Iraqi law.

Another inmate, Thaar Dawod, describes more abuse of teenage Iraqis. "They came with two boys naked and they were cuffed together face to face and Grainer was beating them and a group of guards were watching and taking pictures from top and bottom and there was three female soldiers laughing at the prisoners," he said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1222348,00.html

I want them ALL in front of the Hague for war crimes!

Where the HELL is General Barbara Fast? The head of Intel in Iraq and now promoted to being Commandant of Army Training & Doctrine for all Intel? Haul her ugly ass out of her cushy little reward for torture assignment NOW (she is now at Fort Huachuca training more interrogators!)! Those soldiers & people were under HER control, SHE was the one meeting with Sanchez & Pappas every morning, SHE was the one reading the intel reports every morning and also the one who refused to release the hundreds of prisoners Karpinski had recommended for release because there were no charges against them (they're the ones you see being released by the hundreds everyday now). Haul her ass out & stop protecting Intel!

I want to see this bwitch hauled out and made to answer!
==================

<snip>

Colonel Hackworth said he believed that more junior soldiers would soon "blow the whistle" on the abuse scandal. He said the general in charge of military intelligence in Iraq, General Barbara Fast, who has so far escaped media scrutiny, would soon receive more attention.

She was under the command of General Ricardo Sanchez, the senior US commander for the Iraq occupation forces.

"They're keeping her away from the media, but she was the general in charge of military intelligence and this happened on her watch," Colonel Hackworth said. So far, Mr Rumsfeld's sworn defence that the abuse of Iraqi prisoners did not go up the chain of command has secured his political survival.

<snip>

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/05/11/1084041400922.html

===
From Colonel Hackworth's site: "Soldiers for Truth" & vouched for by Senior NCOs all over the internet:



Hack,

The abuse and humiliation actually took place at 3 prisons in the Baghdad area. This was not done by accident, it was a planned, systematic way to break down the prisoners will to resist any interrogation, degrade them and then blackmail them into working for US Intelligence.

The pictures were taken as a way to intimidate the prisoners and then keep them working as low level collectors (if they did not the pictures would have been released to their family and tribes) Videos were also made as a way to record the "success" to be used as a teaching tool at Fort Huachuca (to train future interrogators). The MPs and Interrogators were told the Geneva Convention did not apply to Iraq Soldiers and Civilian Detainees. The methods the MPs used were actually taught to the MPs by military intelligence professionals and civilian contractors. This was a sanctioned operation and the methods were known to be used by Generals in the chain of command. Women MPs were sought out to further humiliate the Iraqi prisoners. The female MPs who accepted the jobs, conducted degrading acts upon the Iraq men, because such acts by women on men in the Arab culture are so humiliating, it was thought that the men would then talk just to stop the abuse by the female MPs. This abuse was done in stages and the less cooperative Iraqis were given the more degrading abuse to condition them to interrogation. The Major General ( Barbara Fast) in charge of the MI personnel in Baghdad sanctioned this treatment.

Hack, if they are going to hang privates and NCOs for meting out this abuse, they better go after the Generals and Colonels who sanctioned and approved these methods being used. This is a not an isolated case of abuse by a few soldiers, this was a planned campaign well known by the entire chain of command. There is also evidence that people in the Pentagon also knew and approved of these methods many months prior to the pictures being released and only told the President when the pictures were published.

The DOD is now trying to pin the blame on anything else, other than the Generals and Colonels who sanctioned this treatment.

MI Senior NCO

http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=Hacks%20Target%20Feedback%202004.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=13&rnd=994.7894187964637

===

<snip>

Pappas has admitted that under certain circumstances, intelligence officers under his command had naked prisoners shackled to the floor during interrogations. However, at the time in question, Pappas was under withering fire from his superiors in Iraq to extract more intelligence from detainees.

Pappas was directly supervised by his commander, Maj. Gen. Barbara Fast, with whom he met up to 5 times per week. It was Maj. Gen. Barbara Fast who prioritized interrogations, leaving it up to Pappas to carry them out.

Disciplinary action against Col. Pappas was recommended in the leaked summary of the secret Taguba report, but no recommendations have been made against his direct superiors, Maj. Gen. Barbara Fast and Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez.

<snip>

http://www.antiwar.com/rothschild/?articleid=2616
==
<snip>

One of the great mysteries is what role, if any, Maj. Gen. Barbara Fast, the top military intelligence officer in Iraq, had in the evolving scandal.

Defense sources said that she was under enormous pressure last year from her superiors in Baghdad and in the Pentagon to develop "actionable" intelligence to counter the growing insurgency as well as to find weapons of mass destruction.

Army Maj. Carolyn Dysart, Fast's public affairs officer, said Fast would not be available for an interview.

<snip>

http://www.nynewsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usengl0513,0,4626919.story?coll=ny-nationalnews-headlines

===
From Taguba's report:

24. (U) The screening, processing, and release of detainees who should not be in custody takes too long and contributes to the overcrowding and unrest in the detention facilities. There are currently three separate release mechanisms in the theater-wide internment operations. First, the apprehending unit can release a detainee if there is a determination that their continued detention is not warranted. Secondly, a criminal detainee can be released after it has been determined that the detainee has no intelligence value, and that their release would not be detrimental to society. BG Karpinski had signature authority to release detainees in this second category. Lastly, detainees accused of committing “Crimes Against the Coalition,” who are held throughout the separate facilities in the CJTF-7 AOR, can be released upon a determination that they are of no intelligence value and no longer pose a significant threat to Coalition Forces. The release process for this category of detainee is a screening by the local US Forces Magistrate Cell and a review by a Detainee Release Board consisting of BG Karpinski, COL Marc Warren, SJA, CJTF-7, and MG Barbara Fast, C-2, CJTF-7. MG Fast is the “Detainee Release Authority” for detainees being held for committing crimes against the coalition. According to BG Karpinski, this category of detainee makes up more than 60% of the total detainee population, and is the fastest growing category. However, MG Fast, according to BG Karpinski, routinely denied the board’s recommendations to release detainees in this category who were no longer deemed a threat and clearly met the requirements for release. According to BG Karpinski, the extremely slow and ineffective release process has significantly contributed to the overcrowding of the facilities. (ANNEXES 40, 45, and 46)

===

"Over Karpinski's apparent opposition, military police units at Abu Ghraib were under the command of Col. Thomas M. Pappas, whose 205th Military Intelligence Brigade came under Fast's oversight."

Martin interviewed "Larry Korb, a former Navy captain and assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration," who said "'it's a legitimate question' why the investigation stopped at Pappas' level and didn't examine the role of his superiors, including Maj. Gen. Fast, head of intelligence in Iraq."

"In Taguba's report," Martin writes, "the only mention of Fast refers to her position as 'detainee release authority,' in charge of deciding which inmates accused of crimes against the coalition could be released.

<snip>

Martin informs that " Fast, 50, graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in education and has a master's degree in business administration from Boston University. Before her current assignment, she was director of intelligence for U.S. European Command in Stuttgart, Germany, and deputy commander of Fort Huachuca in Arizona."

As for Fast's future military assignments, Martin confirms that "Last month, the Pentagon announced Fast will return to Fort Huachuca - to head the Army Intelligence Center. ... The fort's Web site described the center as 'focused on leading, training, equipping and supporting the world's premier corps of military intelligence professionals - imbued with a warrior spirit, self-discipline and mutual respect.'"

http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Barbara_ Fast
====

Sorry Rummy, Karpinski + 6 ain't gonna fly. I want the real culprits here & they're not reservists who didn't know what they were doing, they're your professionals. Bring the entire house of cards DOWN!

[bobbieinok]

22. need to keep this info

:kick: