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September, 2004
Rumsfeld Misleads About Prison Abuse
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Speaking yesterday in Phoenix, Secretary of
Defense Donald Rumsfeld claimed that there was no way that he and other top
military officials could have known about the abuse and torture that took place
at Abu Ghraib and other prisons. Rumsfeld said, "if you are in Washington, DC, you can't know what's going on in the midnight shift in one of those many
prisons around the world."[1] But a classified portion of a report by
three Army generals (the Fay report) - obtained by the New York Times - found
that the atrocities that took place in military prisons were the result of
actions taken at the top of the military hierarchy.
According to secret sections of the Fay report, the former top
commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez "approved the use in Iraq
of some severe interrogation practices intended to be limited to captives held
in Guant‡namo Bay, Cuba, and Afghanistan."[2] Moreover, "by
issuing and revising the rules for interrogations in Iraq three times in 30 days,
General Sanchez and his legal staff sowed such confusion that interrogators
acted in ways that violated the Geneva Conventions."[3]
A separate investigation headed by former defense secretary James
R. Schlesinger "faulted the Pentagon's top civilian and military
leadership yesterday for failing to exercise adequate oversight and allowing
conditions that led to the abuse of detainees in Iraq."[4] Rumsfeld was
cited specifically for contributing to "confusion over what techniques
were permissible for interrogating prisoners in Iraq."[5]
Sources:
1. "Rumsfeld: No plans to resign ," Arizona Daily Star, 8/27/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1322174&l=52355.
2. "Army's Report Faults General in Prison Abuse," New York Times,
8/27/04, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1322174&l=52356.
3. Ibid, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1322174&l=52356.
4. "Top Pentagon Leaders Faulted in Prison Abuse," Washington Post,
8/25/04, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1322174&l=52357.
5. Ibid, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1322174&l=52357.
Visit www.Misleader.org for more about Bush Administration distortion.