General Karpinski
Posted on 05/25/2004 12:18:47 AM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
By Will Dunham
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An American general in charge of U.S.-run prisons in Iraq (news - web sites) when the abuse of prisoners took place has been suspended as commander of the military police brigade at the heart of the scandal and removed from active duty, the Army said on Monday.
Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, who had commanded the 800th Military Police Brigade, was suspended from her duties, said Lt. Col Pamela Hart, an Army spokeswoman at the Pentagon (news - web sites).
Karpinski previously was formally admonished on Jan. 17 by Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.
The Army returned Karpinski on Monday to the Army Reserve from active-duty status, said Al Schilf, an Army Reserve spokesman. In addition, Karpinski no longer serves as commander of her Uniondale, New York-based brigade, and was "temporarily attached" to the U.S. Army Readiness Command at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, Schilf said.
The Army was seeking an "acting commander" of the brigade, Schilf said.
Seven U.S. soldiers have been charged with abusing Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib on the outskirts of Baghdad. Army Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba's report on the abuse faulted Karpinski's "poor leadership." Photographs show U.S. soldiers physically and sexually abusing and humiliating prisoners.
Asked whether Karpinski could face criminal charges, Schilf did not answer directly, but said, "This action doesn't close any doors."
"It's under review now," Schilf said of possible further steps regarding Karpinski. "It's ensuing from Major General Taguba's report. And the review is under way. And we don't know exactly how long it will take. But we want to be thorough and don't want to let any grass grow under it."
'TEMPORARY REASSIGNMENT'
Schilf said that the latest action "is not a punitive measure. This is a temporary reassignment of duties, pending review of her situation" by Lt. Gen. James Helmly, head of the Army Reserve.
Karpinski, who has served in the Army for 27 years, has argued that the cell blocks where the abuse was centered were controlled by U.S. military intelligence, not military police.
The pictures of abuse that took place late last year show Americans posing, smiling or giving the thumbs-up sign as naked, male Iraqi prisoners were stacked in a pyramid or positioned to simulate sex acts with one another.
Taguba's report said the problems at Abu Ghraib "were caused or exacerbated by poor leadership and the refusal of her command to both establish and enforce basic standards and principles among its soldiers." The report said she was rarely present at Abu Ghraib, feuded with military intelligence, and failed to correct problems once they surfaced.
Karpinski has told the Army she was overruled by higher-ranking officers on decisions to give tactical control of the prison to military intelligence, and to permit the use of lethal force as a first step in maintaining order. Sanchez denied she raised these complaints with him.
Karpinski, in her civilian life, works as a consultant who operates executive-training programs.
"It's under review now," Schilf said of possible further steps regarding Karpinski. "It's ensuing from Major General Taguba's report. And the review is under way. And we don't know exactly how long it will take. But we want to be thorough and don't want to let any grass grow under it." .."
...by what? Her piercings, I'm just mean enough to hope.
Never put a woman into a mans job. The results, as in this case, are disturbing to say the least.
When you see a US General under a cloud making the rounds on the talk shows you can bet they are covering their ass.
Nuff said...the truth is near at hand...Damn the political correctness...
Scary.
Yes. She's been pointing the finger at enlisted reserve component soldiers under her and the regular Army officers way over her head. So have others like her. I very strongly suspect, that as is common in cases involving certain kinds of women officers in the Army who seek near-combat commands, that civilian NGO political interests have been working obsessively on the media and government from the outside on the situation.
The whole thing has reeked of radical homosexual involvement disguised as "get tough" policy from the beginning. Get tough (or even rough), yes, but our Army does not tolerate sexual pervertedness. That sort of thing happening in ranks is likely making the majority of combat unit soldiers very angry.
Authority was taken from her, and given to military intelligence..
This is verified in Gen. Taguba's report..
3. (U) In addition to MG Ryder’s and MG Miller’s Reports, the team reviewed numerous reference materials including the 12 October 2003 CJTF-7 Interrogation and Counter-Resistance Policy, the AR 15-6 Investigation on Riot and Shootings at Abu Ghraib on 24 November 2003, the 205thMI Brigade’s Interrogation Rules of Engagement (IROE), facility staff logs/journals and numerous records of AR 15-6 investigations and Serious Incident Reports (SIRs) on detainee escapes/shootings and disciplinary matters from the 800th MP Brigade. (ANNEXES 5-20, 37, 93, and 94)
The October 12 policy statement has been noted as the "unofficial" takeover, just a week or so before the charged abuses began to take place..
On Nov. 19, 2003, authority was "officially" (written orders were signed) transferred to Military Intelligence..
Very shortly thereafter, leaks concerning abuse began to emerge.. note the Nov. 24 2003 Riot and Shooting incident above..
It's all well and good to investigate Gen. Karpinski, and charge her with relevent failures of command.. If she's found guilty, she should be punished according to the UCMJ..
The fact that she was a female General Officer may well have to do with the laxness of her command..
But it also probably had to do with the ease with which the Military Intelligence command was able to usurp and override her authority...
She should have raised a big stink about it, right up the chain of command, generating tons of paperwork.. traceable paperwork..
There are others responsible here.. Sanchez, most probably.... Miller, by all reports, another..
Taguba himself, may be covering his own butt as well..
We will see what we will see...
"..A military investigation in late summer 2003 of the 800th Military Police Brigade under Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski by Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller found a breakdown in discipline at the prison. When told that her troops were not even saluting, the general refused to order them to begin doing so. Central Command, concerned about the breakdown but apparently worried about disciplining one of the highest ranking female Army officers in Iraq, devised a compromise bureaucratic solution to hand control of the critical central interrogation prison at Abu Ghraib to the military intelligence unit questioning the prisoners..."
This was well before the abuse scandal broke.
"But it also probably had to do with the ease with which the Military Intelligence command was able to usurp and override her authority..."
No usurpation involved, her incompetence made it necessary.
" There are others responsible here.. Sanchez, most probably.... Miller, by all reports, another.. Taguba himself, may be covering his own butt as well.."
Probably...by all reports..may be....
The unit is operating in a war zone.. while it may not be the front lines, it is still considered proper, even recommended, that officers not be saluted under wartime conditions..
It identifies leaders to the enemy, and affords them opportunity to take them out of the action..
In Iraq, where the enemy is engaged in guerilla warfare, there is no front line..
Saluting, even in a prison, could be dangerous to officers in command..
It is the concern of the Central Command, because they have their head up their asses...
They are so concerned with establishing their own importance, they ignore one of the long established principles of conduct in a war zone..
I don't know about any other "laxness in discipline" because news reports and comments from the pentagon are anally fixated on the whole saluting thing...
Forget that, and let's find out what the actual breakdown in discipline was.. ( like male-female fraternization ? any mention of that?? )
Who's the dude?
She was in a chain of command. If they simply wanted to turn a cellblock or the prison as a whole over to Military Intelligence, they could have done so at any time.
The Iraq Survey Group (ISG) for instance has had control of some detainees who were related to WMD activities and still do.
Ya know I just realaized I am sexist. This in itself is odd, since I was totally raised in the feminist era. Bras had already been burned by the time I became an adult.
I find myself thinking Good - they got rid of the dike. She either slept her way to the top or threatened her way to the top. I am sure she wasn't chosen because she was more qualified than any other Officer.
There are times that I do not want to take a chance that a woman was not the most qualified - for instance Doctors. Although a women Doctor might be the most qualified - why take a chance? I certainly would not hire a women body guard, nor would I go to a church that has a women minister.
America's defense falls into this catagory.
"A commander is responsible for everything his men do or fail to do!" Maybe you should have paid more close attention to your officer training "General"!
This makes a whole lot more sense than calling for Rumsfeld to step down.
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