quote:US forces in Iraq kept detainees with only bread and water for up to 17 days in 2004, a newly-released report says.
The Special Operations troops stripped inmates naked and drenched them with water before interrogation in overly air-conditioned rooms, it said.
The report, by Brig Gen Richard Formica, says troops were not to blame - they had received the wrong advice.
According to the NYTimes, this report is the last of 12 that the military is issuing publicly regarding prisoner abuse in Iraq.
I don't remember 12 reports, but then, I haven't really been paying that much attention to the report numbers as much as to the main incidents.
The ones in this report are apparently different from the others we've discussed here.
Posted by littlemissattitude (Member # 4514) on :
"the wrong advice".
I'll say. Does this mean that the higher-ups giving the advice will be held to account this time, and not just the rank and file folks who put the "advice" into action?
Posted by airmanfour (Member # 6111) on :
"Advice" coming from either someone with serious rank, or a briefing, isn't so much advice as "what you're going to do."
Posted by littlemissattitude (Member # 4514) on :
Which was my point exactly. I have kind of gotten tired of people with rank handing out "advice" and then after their subordinates follow it and the you-know-what hits the fan about it, the subordinates get into trouble, but the people the "advice" came from never seem to suffer any serious consequences. Or, anyway, if they do, that never seems to become public knowledge. Which is too bad, because I'd like to know if there is any real accountability in these things.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
I don't believe for an instant that every one of these abuse things came down to the enlisted people disobeying a set of orders regarding treatment of prisoners.
What I've been unsure of is whether their behavior was condoned or inspired in ways OTHER THAN orders. This report, for the first time that I'm aware of, specifically states that the behavior was prompted by statements or actions from people up the chain.
It says that nothing "criminal" happened.
Well, I believe that violations of the Geneva convention are a problem for us whether they rise to the level of "criminal" behavior or not.
If the people weren't ordered to mistreat prisoners, but it was suggested to them, I find that even more repugnant because it condones the behavior and weasles out of any accountability. Or so it would seem.
I do expect that there will be some more officer-level people in trouble over this, and certainly higher up than the Lt Colonel from Abu Ghraib's interrogation center (the highest ranking individual facing charges to date).
Now, a Lt Colonel in the army is pretty high, but I have to ask about the other facilities and situations.
I fear that there were "people" going around to our detention facilities giving pointers.
If so, I want them exposed.
And I want them to share in the punishment that the rank & file have received so far.
There's at least one CIA operative who was implicated in the Abu Ghraib events. That person (or persons if it is more than one) needs to be looked at seriously.