Abuse in Iraq

These incidents have all kinds of problems not directly related to the abuse of the iraqis. this will be used by detractors to kill the legitimacy of the war effort, tarnish the reputations of the multitudes of soldiers in iraq and ultimately could turn the public against being in iraq at all.

pulling out, at this point would of course be a massive disaster. the humanitarian crisis, the power vacuum and ensuing violence could spill out into open civil war, a renewed battle of secularists vs islamists, shia v sunni v kurds, ba'athists v marsh arabs....if the US decides that this thing is too big a hit, the region could be in for huge surprise. all the surrounding peoples who think a withdrawl would be a good thing will get their wish and they probably won't like the result.

US admits 25 deaths in custody
By Marian Wilkinson, Herald Correspondent in Washington
May 6, 2004

US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld addresses a press conference at the Pentagon, saying that abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers was totally unacceptable and promising to take action against them. Photo: AFP

The Pentagon has admitted that 25 prisoners have died in US military custody in Iraq and Afghanistan, at least two of them murders. Ten of the deaths are still under investigation, including one involving the CIA.

The admissions came from General George Casey, who briefed Congress on the widening scandal over Abu Ghraib jail, where prisoners were sexually humiliated, abused and beaten as military police guards videotaped and photographed the scenes.

At the same time the Administration scrambled to try to stem the erosion of US credibility caused by the mistreatment of prisoners and to limit any further political damage to President George Bush.

Mr Bush will give an interview to al Ahram, the government-owned Egyptian daily newspaper, on Thursday and is planning interviews with Arab television, an official said.

His National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, told the Dubai-based Arab channel al-Arabiya that Mr Bush was "personally sickened" by pictures displaying some of the abuses.

"We are deeply sorry for what has happened to these people, and what the families must be feeling," she said. "It's just not right. And we will get to the bottom of what happened,"

The Prime Minister, John Howard, also condemned the abuse, saying: "It is very regrettable. It is worse than that. I condemn it unconditionally as I did this morning and that is no part as far as I am concerned of the behaviour I know to be the norm of American military personnel."

General Casey blamed the abuse on what he called "a complete breakdown in discipline".

The US Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld, in his first public comments on the scandal, said he did not believe that the abusesamounted to torture.

"My impression is that what has been charged thus far is abuse, which is I believe technically is different from torture." Mr Rumsfeld promised that the military would take "whatever steps necessary" to hold those responsible accountable.

But senior Republican and Democrat politicians stridently attacked Mr Rumsfeld, and expressed outrage that the Pentagon had failed to brief Congress on the scandal which has inflamed public opinion throughout the Arab world and in the US.

"We have a great sense of revulsion, not only because of these actions but we also recognise what the dangers are for American troops if they are ever taken prisoner and the kind of treatment that they would be subject to," said the Democrats' Senator Ted Kennedy.

Senator John McCain, a Republican, said: "There are so many allegations swirling around . . . that we must have a public hearing with the Secretary of Defence testifying." He said Congress had been "kept in the dark".

But as the Pentagon announced that it had widened its inquiries to include Guantanamo Bay and its detention centres in Afghanistan, a lawyer for one of the military police charged over the abuse told the Herald there was evidence that US military intelligence was in part responsible for the Abu Ghraib mistreatment.

Gary Myers said an order from the office of General Ricardo Sanchez, the senior US military commander in Iraq, turned control of the jail over to military intelligence last November, just when the abuses were escalating.

"The commander of the 205 MI [military intelligence] brigade assumed responsibility for the Baghdad confinement facility made an MI officer rather than a military police officer effectively responsible for the military police units conducting detainee operations at that facility."
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