Posted on 06/15/2004 7:03:00 AM PDT by .cnI redruM
LONDON (AP) -- The American general who was in charge of Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison claimed she was being made a scapegoat for the abuse of detainees, and said her successor once told her that prisoners should be treated "like dogs." A spokesman for Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, accused of making the "like dogs" remark, categorically denied the charge.
In an interview with British Broadcasting Corp. radio broadcast Tuesday, Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski said Miller told her last autumn that prisoners "are like dogs, and if you allow them to believe at any point that they are more than a dog then you've lost control of them."
Miller was in charge of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp and now oversees U.S. prisons in Iraq.
Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a spokesman for detention operations in Iraq, said Karpinski's allegations were "categorically false."
"Maj. Gen. Miller made no such comment to Brig. Gen. Karpinski or to anybody else," Johnson said. "This allegation flies in the face of the philosophy of humane treatment for all detainees, under all circumstances, that Maj. Gen. Miller adopted first at Guantanamo, and now at his position in Iraq. Brig. Gen. Karpinski's statement to the media is categorically false."
Karpinski was suspended last month from command of the 800th Military Police Brigade after she and other officers were faulted by Army investigators for paying too little attention to the prison's day-to-day operations and not acting strongly enough to discipline soldiers for violating standard procedures.
Several soldiers are facing courts-martial over abuse allegations at the jail, which flared when pictures of troops abusing and humiliating naked Iraqi detainees were published in April.
In her defense, Karpinski has said that interrogations at the prison were not under her command but were run by a military intelligence unit that was "under increasing pressure to get more, as they call it, actionable intelligence."
Karpinski said that during a visit to Iraq in September, Miller - still the commander at the Guantanamo Bay prison - spoke of wanting to "Gitmoize" Abu Ghraib by applying the Cuban facility's regimented detention and interrogation techniques.
"He talked about Gitmoizing in terms of what the (military police) were going to do; he was going to select the MPs, they were going to receive special training," she said.
"That training was going to come from the military intelligence command," Karpinski added, noting that the troops under her command had no training in such interrogation techniques.
Karpinski said she was being made "a convenient scapegoat" in the abuse scandal.
"The interrogation operation was directed; it was under a separate command and there was no reason for me to go out to look at Abu Ghraib at cell block 1a or 1b or visit the interrogation facilities," she said.
Karpinski said was unaware until November that the International Committee of the Red Cross had visited the jail and expressed concerns about detainees' treatment to U.S. officials. She said she did not see the abuse photos - believed to have been taken late last year - until late January.
"I didn't know in September, I didn't know in October, I didn't know ever" about any abuse, she said.
"Those pictures which I saw on the 23rd of January were more shocking to me than probably the rest of the world ... I was absolutely sickened by those images and I couldn't even fathom a guess as to what happened to these people to make them go in such an opposite direction of how they were trained."
Which is to say IMHO she was incompetent...an adminstrator sitting on top of her worlrd with no connetcion to reality whatsoever. That's why things got out of hand, the CO was not minding the store.
If it's a good idea for the celebrities then why shouldn't the same apply to the military personnel facing trial?
I don't believe that the ''general'' is facing trial. Unfortunately.
The general was one of Clinton's select group of military indoctrinators; the type that shows affirmative action has no adverse consequences. She grouses about being a scapegoat but I'm betting she had no voice when she was promoted over better, more qualified and RESPOSIBLE men.
clinton?
sheesh - I even spell checked the thing...
"Karpinski was suspended last month from command of the 800th Military Police Brigade"
suspended = relieved = stripped of command
She should be too humiliated to open her mouth, and she goes PUBLIC complaining??? She was no General Officer.
She'll get a book contract, too; like that female AF pilot who was canned for adultery; and cried and cried about it.
Karpinski is just the worst; an absolute embarrassment.
More likely we are the victims of gender neutral promotion!
Gimme a big break Brig Gen Karpinski, sending an overrated she-male wannabe to do a real man's job.
Boo Hoo Janet! "Karpinski said she was being made "a convenient scapegoat" in the abuse scandal".
Nope you are directly responsible, Honey! Typical woman, when shit happens see calls for, or blames her man.
Levenworth or the media's convienent tool to beat President Bush in November. Disgusting!
Karpinski is willing to trash her own country in order to make excuses for her own failures of leadership. She is one of the most contemptible officers in all of American history.
AQGeiger covered that in Post #5.
Janis, just shut up and take your ass-kicking like the man you are.
When this story first broke, I figured you to be somebody like Rosa Klebb from the James Bond story "From Russia With Love". But the more I see your face, and the more I read about you making lame excuses for your ineptitude, the more I wonder whether it's possible that Colonel Wilhelm Klink of the Luftwaffe was a real individual, and whether he had a daughter.
Bill Clinton.
1. There is a cat fight over the actual use of the Abu Ghriab facility that has been going on for quite some time.
2. Somewhere after the completion of the rebuilding of the prison, and after the military took over, someone messed up... to what degree is debateable. If it was part of interrogations, thats ok and much less of an issue. If it was aimless and pointless military troops just getting their jollies, THAT stops right with the general. That shows exactly what kind of leader she is.
Some argue that panties on the head and getting hit with a nerf bat is humiliating, but not very serious. None the less its on the news often in vague terms so that makes it worse.
3. Finally SOMEWHERE in the military ranks SOMEONE is responsible. If she is the general in charge...DUH. Generals are supposed to kick ass and take names. It sounds to me like extremely poor leadership on her part.
No matter WHAT so and so did before, a strong leader would lay down the law as to what THEY want NOW, and from this time forth.
It sounds a might lot like the CEO of a company talking to shareholders, "Our share price dropped $10 a share because the sales department didn't do its job, the finance team sucks, and this place is a wreck. Its totally disorganized!" Thats more of a self indictment than anything.
That is, unless they put generals in position and give them no real authority...sort of a figurehead only type of thing...
Where's the "bimbo general" alert? ;)
Dear President Bush: You are the Commander-in-Chief. Take care of this, okay?!!
It is extremely poor leadership that allows women to be in a war zone commanding men.
Women in the military is not a good thing. How many high ranking, highly qualified male leaders have been forced to leave the Armed Forces because their female counterparts have charged them with "sexual harrassment"? When political agenda is put in front of military unity, the military loses something very valuable and important to its success. Apparenlty this woman, "Gen" Karpinski, can't take the heat without trying to bring a male General Officer or two down with her. This whole thing happened under her direct supervision and control; if she had any gullionies whatsoever she'd just..... oops, I forgot myself for a moment.
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