Ilsa Koch: The Bitch of Buchenwald
Brig. Gen. Janis "Butch" Karpinski, Prison Matron of Abu Ghraib
Posted on 07/03/2004 5:20:11 PM PDT by blam
Rumsfeld gave go-ahead for Abu Ghraib tactics, says general in charge
By Julian Coman in Washington
(Filed: 04/07/2004)
The former head of the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad has for the first time accused the American Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld, of directly authorising Guantanamo Bay-style interrogation tactics.
Brig-Gen Janis Karpinski, who commanded the 800th Military Police Brigade, which is at the centre of the Abu Ghraib prisoner-abuse scandal, said that documents yet to be released by the Pentagon would show that Mr Rumsfeld personally approved the introduction of harsher conditions of detention in Iraq. In an interview with The Signal newspaper of Santa Clarita, California, which was also broadcast on a local television channel yesterday, Gen Karpinski was asked if she knew of documents showing that Mr Rumsfeld approved "particular interrogation techniques" for Abu Ghraib.
Gen Karpinski was interviewed for four hours by Maj- Gen Antonio Taguba, who was ordered to investigate abuse at Abu Ghraib and produced a damning report, which heavily criticised Gen Karpinski for a lack of leadership at the prison.
During inquiries into the scandal, she has repeatedly maintained that the treatment of Iraqi detainees was taken out of her hands by higher-ranking officials, acting on orders from Washington.
"Since all this came out," she replied, "I've not only seen, but I've been asked about some of those documents, that he [Mr Rumsfeld] signed and agreed to."
Asked whether the documents have been made public, Gen Karpinski replied "No" and went on to describe the methods approved in them as involving "dogs, food deprivation and sleep deprivation".
The Pentagon has consistently denied that Mr Rumsfeld authorised the transfer of harsher techniques of interrogation and detention from Guantanamo Bay to Abu Ghraib, where all prisoners are supposed to be protected by the Geneva Conventions.
Replying to Gen Karpinski's allegations, a spokesman for the Pentagon told The Telegraph: "Mr Rumsfeld did not approve any interrogation procedures in Iraq. The Secretary of Defence was not in the approval chain for interrogation procedures, which would have remained within the purview of Central Command, headed by Gen John Abizaid."
The Bush administration has been dogged by suspicions that harsh interrogation methods employed at Guantanamo were transferred to Abu Ghraib, as Iraqi insurgents began to score significant hits against coalition forces last year. In May, before the Senate armed services committee, Stephen Cambone, the under-secretary of defence for intelligence, publicly denied charges that Mr Rumsfeld had approved Guantanamo-style interrogations in Iraq.
Last month, the White House took the unusual step of releasing hundreds of internal documents and debates concerning interrogation procedures at Guantanamo. Extreme interrogation techniques at the camp, it was revealed, now require the explicit approval of Mr Rumsfeld. The Bush administration insists, however, that the notorious abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib was an aberration on the part of a handful of rogue soldiers. A Pentagon spokesman said that all relevant documents on interrogation techniques in Iraq would be made public but could not say when.
Gen Karpinski has been suspended from duty pending ongoing investigations into abuse of prisoners at the Baghdad prison. In a recent interview with the BBC, she complained of being turned into a scapegoat for the scandal, arguing that the running of the prison was taken out of her hands.
In a separate embarrassment for the Department of Defence last week, six recent studies, leaked to the Los Angeles Times, heavily criticised the military for failing to screen adequately potential recruits with violent and even criminal backgrounds.
The reports were written by a senior Pentagon consultant. One was delivered in September 2003, weeks before the worst abuses of Iraqi prisoners took place. The title of the report was Reducing the Threat of Destructive Behaviour by Military Personnel.
In it the author, Eli Flyer, a former senior analyst at the Department of Defence, stated: "There are military personnel with pre-service and in-service records that clearly establish a pattern of sub-standard behaviour. These individuals constitute a high-risk group for destructive behaviour and need to be identified."
According to a 1998 report by Mr Flyer, one third of military recruits had arrest records. A 1995 report found that a quarter of serving army personnel had committed one or more criminal offences while on active duty. In his 2003 study, Mr Flyer said that military personnel officers had been reluctant to toughen up screening procedures, fearing that the result would be a failure to meet recruitment goals.
Curtis Gilroy, who oversees military recruiting policy for the Pentagon, told the Los Angeles Times: "It's hard to pick out all the bad apples, but we are striving to improve the system and are doing so."
yeah sure whatever....does she have it in writing? No? didnt think so....
"dogs, food deprivation and sleep deprivation".
And this is different than most any prison in the world how?
If this is true, IF THIS IS TRUE...
We need to give Rumsfeld a medal, maybe a pay increase.
At least an "Atta BOY!".
She will eventually talk herself into a cell at Leavenworth.
She ought to be thinking about the future of women in the services instead of her own hiney.
All this whining and trying to CYA is not a model of a very modern general.
I think Abu Ghraib has more or less run its course. The media will try to cover the trials as if they are important, but i think people will give rummy a pass on this -- unless they discover that some iraqi heads were cut off in abu ghraib by OUR guys... i wouldn't doubt soddom did it all the time...
This ol'gal already tried the "blame the Jews" trick and that didn't work. Now she's blaming Rumsfeld.
"does she have it in writing? No? didnt think so...."
Sure she does. The one that says "I, Donald Rumsfeld, encourage and condone the stripping of men and posing them in sexual situations for the entertainment of our troops"
Not.
see tag line
Oh, it worked all right. It's now the top story on Al Jazeera.
Ilsa Koch: The Bitch of Buchenwald
Brig. Gen. Janis "Butch" Karpinski, Prison Matron of Abu Ghraib
You think the stuff we've heard about is abuse? Lemme at 'em....I'll show yunz abuse....
prisoner6
She's lying to cover her a$$...if she would have done her job in the first place, her command wouldn't look like a bunch of perverts.
"She's lying to cover her a$$...if she would have done her job in the first place, her command wouldn't look like a bunch of perverts."
You got that right. This gal isn't fit to run a sewing circle let alone a prison.
That is one fugly bee-ahch!
This is the same woman that claimed no one liked her enough to drop a dime on the torture, and admitted she ddint know waht was going on , Now she has evidence against Rumsfeld.
Damn gal how did you make general? Dont answer that I already know . They needed a woman to be a general and you were standing in the right place at the right time.
Surprising.
I wonder what percentages of consensual crimes, violent crimes, crimes against property, and the discharge rates for crimes committed while in the service.
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