Soldier's Family Set in Motion Chain of Events on Disclosure [Hackworth involved in CBS photos]

CUMBERLAND, Md., May 7 — Ivan Frederick was distraught. His son, an Army reservist turned prison guard in Iraq, was under investigation earlier this year for mistreating prisoners, and photographs of the abuse were beginning to circulate among soldiers and military investigators.

So the father went to his brother-in-law, William Lawson, who was afraid that reservists like his nephew would end up taking the fall for what he considered command lapses, Mr. Lawson recounted in an interview on Friday. He knew whom to turn to: David Hackworth, a retired colonel and a muckraker who was always willing to take on the military establishment. Mr. Lawson sent an e-mail message in March to Mr. Hackworth's Web site and got a call back from an associate there in minutes, he said.

That e-mail message would put Mr. Lawson in touch with the CBS News program "60 Minutes II" and help set in motion events that led to the public disclosure of the graphic photographs and an international crisis for the Bush administration.

It is still not entirely clear who leaked the photos and how they got into the hands of a "60 Minutes II" producer. What is clear, however, is that the furor over the photos is unlikely to dissipate any time soon.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld disclosed Friday that there were "many more photos" and videos of abuse that have not yet become public. And he acknowledged in Senate testimony that the military might have mishandled the affair by not alerting members of Congress and the public to the growing seriousness of the military's investigation into the abuses before the images became public on "60 Minutes II."

"I wish I had been able to convey to them the gravity of this before we saw it in the media," Mr. Rumsfeld said.

The irony, Mr. Lawson said, is that the public spectacle might have been avoided if the military and the federal government had been responsive to his claims that his nephew was simply following orders. Mr. Lawson said he sent letters to 17 members of Congress about the case earlier this year, with virtually no response, and that he ultimately contacted Mr. Hackworth's Web site out of frustration, leading him to cooperate with a consultant for "60 Minutes II."

"The Army had the opportunity for this not to come out, not to be on 60 Minutes," he said. "But the Army decided to prosecute those six G.I.'s because they thought me and my family were a bunch of poor, dirt people who could not do anything about it. But unfortunately, that was not the case."

Many of the incriminating photographs appear to have been taken on a digital camera by a soldier in the 372nd Military Police Company who is now facing a court-martial. From there, they appear to have circulated among military personnel in Iraq via e-mail and computer disks, and some may have found their way to family members in the United States.

But there are still numerous unresolved questions about the photographs. One is why they were taken. Some officials suggest that soldiers wanted the photographs as souvenirs, but some relatives said they believed that the photographs were going to be shown to other prisoners to pressure their cooperation.

Lt. Gen. Lance Smith, deputy commander of forces in the region, testifying Friday before Congress, said he was still unclear how that happened. "It was a surprise that it got out," General Smith said.

Military officials were aware of two disks with photographs on them that were part of continuing investigations, one in Iraq and another in Washington, he said.

"That was the limit of the pictures, and we thought we had them all," General Smith said.

Producers at "60 Minutes II" are not saying exactly how they got the photographs. But Jeff Fager, the executive producer, said, "We heard about someone who was outraged about it and thought that the public should know about it."

Digital cameras have become so ubiquitous in the military that many relatives of personnel in the 372nd and other units in Iraq said they routinely received photographs by e-mail. But the photographs were usually tourist-type photographs of smiling sons and daughters, relatives said.

Officials said that the photographs showing psychological or physical abuse numbered in the hundreds, perhaps more than 1,000, with Mr. Rumsfeld hinting Friday that more may come out.

Among some prison personnel in Iraq, the photographs were apparently an open secret. "Some soldiers in Iraq had them — I'm hearing that soldiers were showing them to everybody," Mr. Lawson said. He said he did not have the original photos and did not turn them over to anyone.

The photographs have now turned soldiers like Mr. Lawson's nephew, Staff Sgt. Ivan Frederick, and Pfc. Lynndie R. England into graphic symbols of military abuse. But for Mr. Lawson, they are evidence of a complete breakdown in training and authority in the Iraqi prison system.

He shared his frustration in his March 23 e-mail message to Mr. Hackworth's Web site, writing: "We have contacted the Red Cross, Congress both parties, Bill O'Reilly and many others. Nobody wants to touch this."

Less than five weeks later, images of his nephew — interviewed on "60 Minutes II" with Mr. Lawson's help — would be shown around the world. Far from untouchable, the story would become unavoidable.

Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez Coalition Provisional Authority Update 16 January, 2004

I'll now go ahead and take your questions. Yes, sir?

Q (In Arabic.)

GEN. SANCHEZ: Yes. Your question was that we detained a woman in Fallujah, under the pretext of looking for her husband, and you want to ask what my comments are on that.

As we conduct our operations, the Geneva Convention allows us to detain individuals that might be security risks or may have intelligence value as we continue to execute the task of bringing security and stability to the country.

In this case, my understanding is that that was the reason why we captured the lady. And if I'm correct, I believe she was released within a matter of 24 hours.

Next question, please. Yes, sir?

Q (In Arabic.)

GEN. SANCHEZ: The question is, what is the mechanism for the release of the detainees that was announced by the ambassador? The release of detainees that was announced by Ambassador Bremer was part of a security reconciliation initiative package that we have put together, that will attempt to release detainees that we currently have in custody, based on a process that will bring together a guarantor that is identified either in their tribe or in their -- in the areas where they live. We're pairing them with those guarantors, and then that individual that is going to -- that is the guarantor will sign for the prisoner, and the prisoner will then return to his normal life. And there are certain responsibilities that the guarantor will have to assume in ensuring that this individual stays on the straight and narrow, if you will.

We are making progress across the entire country in identifying those guarantors. That is a basic premise of the program. And in fact individuals have started to come forward, given the names that we have identified. And it's an initial number of 500 detainees that we've already identified. We've spread it across the country. We're getting significant numbers of guarantors in all of our northern division sectors, and we've begun to pair them, guarantor and prisoner. And we've in fact made some releases at this point, and that number will increase as we complete the pairings.

Yes, ma'am? In the back.

Q (Interrupting.) (In Arabic.)

(In English.) I'm sorry.

GEN. SANCHEZ: Yeah, you.

Q (Off mike) -- you seem to indicate that there's -- getting the guarantors is more difficult than had been anticipated. And certainly when Ambassador Bremer announced the release, he said that they were -- it was going to begin the next day, and it did not. Can you explain -- go into the problems, perhaps, that you're facing? And also, what are the exact responsibilities that the guarantors have to assume?

GEN. SANCHEZ: The process -- at the time that Ambassador Bremer announced the program, we were beginning the process of identifying guarantors the next day. If we gave the impression that we had guarantors paired up with prisoners at that time, that wasn't really the case, from our perspective. We didn't have those pairings done.

The challenge that we have is just getting out across the battle space, if you will, down into the tribes, into the local villages, because we have names of individuals, and therefore it's getting into those tribes and identifying those guarantors to come in. And that requires a division commander, a brigade commander and battalion commanders to go out and canvass the neighborhoods. And we've had good success. And I could actually give you numbers of guarantors, if you chose. But it's gaining speed, and we're making progress, and I think this is going to be successful.

Example: Here in Baghdad alone, we have over 40 guarantors that we've already identified, that are willing to cooperate and help out with this program.

In terms of the challenges, it's just time. We just need to get the time to pair them up. And we've got those names spread out in different locations, of those that we're willing to release.

Now there's another aspect of the program: that as we get these names out into the divisions, if the divisions have been able to generate additional intelligence against some of these individuals, there may be a negotiation process that has go on to -- before we release them.

Q The guarantors -- what do they have to promise or do?

GEN. SANCHEZ: Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Yes, ma'am. The guarantors will have to come in and validate that the individual has renounced violence. And then his responsibility will be to ensure that if this individual is involved in any sort of anti-coalition or illegal activities, the guarantor has the responsibility of reporting to that coalition forces.

Q Is that a legal responsibility?

GEN. SANCHEZ: Yes.

Q I mean, can he be held responsible if that individual --

GEN. SANCHEZ: Yes, it is. Yes, it is. We've made it a legal responsibility, yes, ma'am, just like a parole officer back in the States.

Q General, I'd just like to follow up on the question about detainees, of relatives of people who are on your watch list. According to Human Rights Watch, issued a report a couple of days ago saying that some of those detentions could be violating international law. And they also talked the demolition of at least four houses in the past two months, and they said that that also appears to be prohibited by the Geneva Convention. So I wanted to get your reaction to that report.

GEN. SANCHEZ: Well, on the first aspect of it, that we could be violating international law, I guarantee you that the Geneva Convention, given that we are still in a war environment, the Geneva Convention allows for the detention of security detainees and those detainees that are of intelligence value as we conduct our operations here in the country.

In terms of the demolition of houses, I've answered that question on multiple occasions. That those houses that are being destroyed are houses that are no longer of their original intended purpose. They are military targets because of the use that has been made by enemy forces. And we are making -- we've got about three or four different levels of cross-checking and legal reviews that those targets undergo before we make a decision to destroy those targets.

GEN. SANCHEZ: I believe your first question was whether salaries will be given to all of the detainees that we have in custody. At this point, there have been no discussions on giving back pay to all those security detainees that we've got in custody.

Why do we raid houses at night only? Well, not exactly true. We conduct raids during the day also, at all hours of the day. And I guess there is a preference for us to conduct raids at night, and we'll continue to do that. That gives us great advantage.

Yes, ma'am?

Q (In Arabic.)

(In English.) Thank you.

GEN. SANCHEZ: Okay, I don't know if it's good news or bad news, but I'm not leaving. (Laughter.) And oh, by the way, I've been here over eight months, okay?, not four. (Laughs.)

No, at this point in time, I will remain as the CJTF7 commander. And Lieutenant General Metz, the commander of the 3rd Corps, is coming in as the tactical commander who will be responsible for tactical operations within the country.

In terms of the detention of individuals across the country, I'll tie you back to the answer that I gave earlier, and this is that under the laws of war, if there is a security issue or an intelligence reason for the detention of individuals, that is clearly authorized within the Geneva Convention and the laws of war. And in order for us to accomplish our missions, that can be -- that can be employed.

Now, we work very, very hard to ensure that we're treating everyone with dignity and respect when they are in fact detained under coalition operations. And we'll continue to do that.

Coalition Provisional Authority Briefing Monday, March 22, 2004

Q Yeah. Hi. Two quick questions for General Kimmitt. The first question is, just following up on a question raised the other day by a CNN journalist about access to the Abu Gharib prison, and you had mentioned go to -- ask the Red Cross directly about their access. And the Red Cross has the policy of not speaking, specifically because they know that they will be denied access if they do. So I wanted to raise that as an issue, if you're aware of that.

The second is, I'd like to find out if you know anything about heightened security concerns of the last 24 hours, specifically rumors that car bombs have entered Baghdad, targeting Western-owned hotels.

GEN. KIMMITT: On the first question, about the ICRC, if that's their policy, that's their policy. It remains our policy that we will not subject the detainees in Abu Gharib or any of our detention facilities to public humiliation or ridicule. And as a result, we will continue to treat them in am manner consistent with that, as we treat enemy prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions.

As to the heightened security concerns, we always take a look at all the intelligence that comes into our organizations from various means, and we take the appropriate force protection measures as a result.

Yes.

Q (Through interpreter.) I have two questions. From Al Mashriq newspaper.

The first to Mr. Dan Senor, regarding the Ministry of Health. Putting off the personal funding, the auto-funding, the resources of the Ministry of Health has been reduced. So you have to increase the budget of the Ministry of Health.

Second question is that when there is any bombing taking place -- when there is any accident taking place in an area, the coalition soldiers try to randomly capture a number of people in the area without specifying them, and later they are being released. So is there any systematic procedure you -- the coalition forces follow to capture those people, or is it done randomly?

MR. SENOR: On your first question, the Ministry -- we have dedicated substantial funding, as I said in response to Caroline's question, substantial funding to all health care programs in this country, including the standing up of the Iraqi Ministry of Health. And in fact, it looks like the Iraqi Ministry of Health will be one of the first four or five ministries that we will hand over total operational control to the Iraqi authorities, the Iraqi minister of health, Dr. Abbas. That will be our first -- it will be included in the first tranche of ministries that we hand over in the months ahead. So the Iraqi Ministry of Health is in good condition, pardon the pun, and we are working closely with the management of the Ministry of Health to put them in a position to stand alone, independent of the coalition senior adviser that currently works with them.

GEN. KIMMITT: As to your question about our capture procedures, no, they're not random procedures. We spend an awful lot of time developing intelligence before we conduct an operation, and it's not just one source of intelligence; it's many sources of intelligence. We know that there's often a chance that somebody who provides a piece of intelligence may have a piece of intelligence for -- that he may have another reason for somebody to be picked up.

However, when we do that raid, when we do that cordon and search and we pick up a target, if that target is sitting in his living room with perhaps three of his friends and they're all there cleaning weapons, we would probably be expected not only to pick up the target, but those other four persons that were sitting -- three or four people that were sitting in there with him, even though they weren't the primary targets. We would bring them in for capture. We would bring them in for questioning. We would ask them reasonable questions: what were you doing with our target, have you been helping our target out? And we're going to spend some time with those people because if they are with one of our targets, they may have some information about other operations that this target may have been planning to carry out against the people of Iraq or against the coalition forces.

Coalition Provisional Authority Briefing Tuesday, April 20, 2004

Q Kevin Seitz with NBC News. General, I didn't hear this in your overview, but we had reports today of a roadside bomb in Mosul, possibly killing two U.S. soldiers, if you can confirm that for us; also reports that 250 prisoners had been released from Abu Ghraib. Any information on that?

GEN. KIMMITT: I have not received any reports on the first incident. The reports are typically a couple of hours late. I would have expected to have seen that report, but if it has happened, it may have happened very recently. But we have no reports on that.

And as to the comment of 250 detainees being released, we have a regular and routine release program. We release probably that number every week out of the entire population. I don't have the numbers with me right now. We can certainly check on that for you. But that's not a large number, that's not an incredible number, and that's typically about the number that we would release on any average week.

If, after a reasonable period of time, it turns out that those other persons that were picked up along with the primary target have no information or are not considered an imperative threat to the coalition, we're going to put them back on the street, back to their homes. If, on other hand, we find out that they have intelligence, which would lead us to believe that they might have been implicated in other criminal activity or other security issues, certainly we're going to detain them as well.

But to your specific question, no, our process is not random. No, we don't go on large sweeps. No, we don't take hostages. And no, we think our way through before we conduct these operations, based on very credible intelligence.

Q Carol Rosenberg with the Miami Herald. With Honduras' decision to depart -- remove its troops from theater -- what can you do with what's left of the Spanish brigade? And has anyone else notified you that they're withdrawing their forces?

And for those of us who don't know, who's responsible for the Baghdad detention facility; I mean, is it the coalition? And how many prisoners are there? And where is it?

GEN. KIMMITT: Well, as to the Baghdad confinement facility, this is the one that we've talked about at length many times from this podium, and why don't we take that question and walk you through how many we have in there as we have many, many times before and who's in charge after this press conference.

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