Posted on 06/17/2006 7:42:35 AM PDT by MNJohnnie
WASHINGTON — Murky procedures, lack of oversight and inadequate resources led to mistakes in the way U.S. troops treated Iraq and Afghanistan detainees. But two Pentagon reports, released publicly for the first time, found no widespread mistreatment or illegal actions by the military.
A human rights group called the reports released Friday a whitewash that ignored countless documented accounts of detainee abuse.
One report detailed several incidents involving U.S. special operations forces in 2003-04. It said interrogators fed some Iraqi detainees only bread and water for up to 17 days, used unapproved interrogation practices such as sleep deprivation and loud music and stripped at least one prisoner.
That report concluded the detainees' treatment was wrong but not illegal and reflected inadequate resources and lack of oversight and proper guidance rather than deliberate abuse. No military personnel were punished as a result of the investigation.
The findings were included in more than 1,000 pages of documents the Pentagon released to the American Civil Liberties Union on Friday under a Freedom of Information request. They included two major reports — one by Army Brig. Gen.Richard Formica on specials operations forces in Iraq and one by Brig. Gen. Charles Jacoby on Afghanistan detainees.
(Story continues below)
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
If it is not illegal, than "SHUT UP"
It's not a whitewash. The Pentagon isn't denying what's happened. They're just saying that it was wrong, but not in a criminal sense, or inidication of a systemic problem. Of course there were problem. We would up with a huge number of prisoners we weren't ready for, and had hundreds of thousands of troops with very little experience or training in detainee handling.
Our military has been focused on warfighting training against other major powers, not counterinsurgency. We showed up at Iraq very well prepared for the four weeks, and abysmally unready for the next four years. Our ability to handle and process detainees was just one of many skill areas we were woefully unprepared in.
Dems, what idiots!
Not illegal.
That's the bottom line.
Countless?? As in innumerable?
Documented?? As in proven?
Either our troops are very busy abusing everyone they can get their hands on, or these folks are engaging in a little hyperbole. It's no wonder that no one believes anything they say anymore.
NOT ILLEGAL, NOT WRONG!!! Even Fox News can go screw themselves now!
Iraqi detainees = muslim-islamic-arab terrorists?
Sucks to be them. They should find a new line of work.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.