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ABU GHRAIB SCANDAL WASHINGTON, Aug. 26 - Classified parts of the report by three Army generals on the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison say Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the former top commander in Iraq, approved the use in Iraq of some severe interrogation practices intended to be limited to captives held in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and Afghanistan. Moreover, the report contends, by issuing and revising the rules for interrogations in Iraq three times in 30 days, General Sanchez and his legal staff sowed such confusion that interrogators acted in ways that violated the Geneva Conventions, which they understood poorly...

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon on Thursday opposed calls for an independent investigation of prisoner abuse from human rights groups and a key congressional Democrat, who said such a probe was the only way to get to the truth. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch called for an independent investigation into U.S. prisoner detention and interrogation operations after two Pentagon reports this week greatly expanded the scope of culpability in the prisoner abuse scandal. "The investigations either completed or under way and the rigorous oversight by Congress provide the department and the public a thorough examination of the facts," said Matt...

What went wrong at Abu Ghraib prison? Two reports released this week agree: Woefully deficient planning for post-war Iraq, too few troops and inadequate leadership at the top.... THE REMAINDER OF THE COLUMN IS NOT WORTH IT.

WASHINGTON While blaming sadistic night shift workers in a prison ill-equipped to deal with a massive influx of detainees, an independent Pentagon report also took civilian leaders to task Tuesday for “indirect responsibility” in prisoner abuses at Abu Ghraib in Iraq. “You had this 'Animal House' mentality that occurred on the night shift,” James Schlesinger, chairman of the Independent Panel to Review Department of Defense Detention Operations, told a press conference following the report's release. “There was chaos at Abu Ghraib.” The prison and those running it were not prepared to deal with the range of detainees pulled together in...

A U.S. Army investigation has found that 27 members of a U.S. military intelligence unit at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad were directly involved in the abuse of Iraqi prisoners. The findings released at the Pentagon say 23 members of the U.S. military and four contractors abused the detainees while another eight knew of the mistreatment and failed to report it.

Since Operation Enduring Freedom began in October 2001, the U.S. has handled about 50,000 detainees in Afghanistan, Iraq and other venues of the war on terror. Among those, about 300 allegations of abuse have arisen. And as of this month 155 investigations have resulted in 66 substantiated cases of mistreatment. Only about a third of those cases were related to interrogation, while another third happened at the point of capture.... [T]he report says that "No approved procedures called for or allowed the kinds of abuse that in fact occurred. There is no evidence of a policy of abuse promulgated by...

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said Wednesday that civilian leaders in the White House and the Pentagon should be held accountable for abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison."Harry Truman had that sign on the desk and it said, 'The buck stops here,'" Kerry said. "The buck doesn't stop at the Pentagon." Responding to an independent report that faulted all levels of the military for prisoner abuse, Kerry repeated his call for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to resign and for President Bush to appoint an independent commission. He said the commission should investigate "all of the chain...

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry called today for Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign and urged President George Bush to appoint an independent group to recommend reforms after a report faulted all levels of the military for abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. “It’s not just the little person at the bottom who ought to pay the price of responsibility,” Kerry said at a Philadelphia union hall. “The buck doesn’t stop at the Pentagon.” A report released yesterday by an independent panel led by former Defence Secretary James Schlesinger concluded that senior US military leaders in Iraq and the...

Slamming Rumsfeld, President Bush.

Can you believe, admitted War Criminal John Kerry is asking for Donald Rumsfeld to resign over the Abu Gharab flap.

..."There was no policy of abuse at Abu Ghraib," said a four-member commission headed by former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger. "Quite the contrary." ...But those heinous acts did not result from any "authorized interrogation" or — as some of the soldiers now under charges have alleged — officially sanctioned attempts at intelligence-gathering. In fact, the report says, they were "freelance activities of the night shift at Abu Ghraib" — a point underscored by the fact that no mistreatment took place on other shifts. Yet circumstances at Abu Ghraib were tailor-made for the abuse that followed. "There was chaos at Abu...

Excerpts of the report of the Independent Panel to Review DoD Detention Operations: The events of October through December 2003 on the night shift of Tier 1 at Abu Ghraib prison were acts of brutality and purposeless sadism. We now know these abuses occurred at the hands of both military police and military intelligence personnel. The pictured abuses, unacceptable even in wartime, were not part of authorized interrogations nor were they even directed at intelligence targets. They represent deviant behavior and a failure of military leadership and discipline. However, we do know that some of the egregious abuses at Abu...

Rumsfeld's Status Taken Down a Notch By Thomas E. Ricks Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, August 25, 2004; Page A01 Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's leadership of the Pentagon has been weighed by a jury of his peers and found somewhat wanting. A report by a blue-ribbon panel he appointed to review the military establishment's role in creating and handling detainee abuse problems at Abu Ghraib prison said that the Iraq war plan he played a key role in shaping helped create the conditions that led to the scandal. In addition, the four-member panel, which was led by one former defense...

By Charles Aldinger and Philip Blenkinsop WASHINGTON/MANNHEIM (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld came under fire on Tuesday from a high-level inquiry into the Abu Ghraib prison scandal but a U.S. military judge ruled he did not have to testify at a trial arising from the abuse of Iraqi prisoners. A four-member panel headed by former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger issued a report accusing the chain of command from Rumsfeld down of leadership failures that created conditions for the abuse late last year that sparked anti-American outrage across the world. Schlesinger described the events at the U.S.-run Baghdad prison as...

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Abu Ghraib Report Faults Top Officials WASHINGTON - The Pentagon's most senior civilian and military officials share a portion of blame for creating conditions that led to the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq, according to a new report. The report, by a commission appointed by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, was presented to Rumsfeld Tuesday in advance of a Pentagon news conference to release the details. The commission was headed by James Schlesinger, a former secretary of defense. A person familiar with the report said it implicitly faulted Rumsfeld and Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top Pentagonofficials and the military command in Iraq contributed to an environment in which prisoners were abused at Abu Ghraib prison, a high-level panel investigating the military detentions has concluded, a defense official said on Tuesday. The independent four-member panel headed by former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger found that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the Joint Chiefs of Staff failed to exercise proper oversight over confusing detention policies at U.S. prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to the defense official. The official, who asked not...

Can anyone please explain to me how the headline of this article, obviously only what most ignorant Americans will read, reconciles with the last two lines (my red)?   Am I missing something or is this not absolutely amazing?  It's one thing to mislead in an article assuming readers won't question the source, but it's an absolute insult (or validation of) their readers' ignorance to have a headline that is directly contradicted two paragraphs later.   Stewart   Abu Ghraib Probe Points to Top BrassBy Josh White and Thomas E. RicksWashington Post Staff WritersFriday, August 20, 2004; Page A01 An...

A U.S Army investigation into abuses of Iraqi inmates at Abu Ghraib prison is expected to place blame on low-level soldiers, while generally clearing senior commanders of involvement. Seven U.S. soldiers are already facing charges of abuse in connection with a scandal that shocked the world. The results of the Army investigation are expected to be released in the coming days. Barring any last minute changes, U.S. military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, say it will place most blame for the abuses at Abu Ghraib on reservist guards and those who ran the prison. They say the investigation found...

Intelligence soldiers and civilian contractors at Abu Ghraib are implicated, but military brass outside the prison are not, officials say. WASHINGTON — A long-awaited report on the Abu Ghraib prison scandal will implicate about two dozen military intelligence soldiers and civilian contractors in the intimidation and sexual humiliation of Iraq war prisoners, but will not suggest wrongdoing by military brass outside the prison, senior Defense officials said Wednesday.