http://salon.com/opinion/conason/2004/05/07/rights/index.html
"How did the "permissive environment" that encouraged rampant criminality
and cruelty arise at Abu Ghraib? According to the JAG senior officers who
spoke with Horton, Pentagon civilian officials removed safeguards that were
designed to prevent such abuses. At a detention facility like Abu Ghraib,
those safeguards would include the routine observation of interrogations
from behind a two-way mirror by a JAG officer, who would be empowered to
stop any misconduct.
The JAG officers told Horton that those protective policies were
discontinued in Iraq and Afghanistan. They said that interrogations were
routinely conducted without JAG oversight -- and, worse, that private
contractors were being allowed unprecedented participation in the
interrogation process. Moreover, the contractors who participated in the
interrogation of Iraqi prisoners were operating in a legal twilight zone,
says Horton.
"The Uniform Code of Military Justice, which governs the conduct of officers
and soldiers, does not apply to civilian contractors," he adds. "They were
free to do whatever they wanted to do, with impunity, including homicide."
If that seems hard to believe, it is apparently true that the contractors
are exempt from prosecution by Iraqi and U.S. courts and not answerable to
those within the military chain of command. Kenneth Roth, the director of
Human Rights Watch, has suggested, however, that under the Geneva
Conventions, the U.S. government "nonetheless remains responsible for the
actions of those running the detention facilities, be they regular soldiers,
reservists or private contractors."
In practice, the changes in oversight appear to have blurred authority and
accountability at Abu Ghraib. Along with the lack of proper supervision and
training of the Army reservists who ran the prison, these changes resulted
in lawlessness and atrocious abuse.
After hearing the complaints of the JAG officers, Horton and his bar
colleagues wrote to Haynes and the CIA's general counsel in an effort to
clarify U.S. policy on the treatment and interrogation of detainees. Those
inquiries, he recalls, "were met with a firm brushoff. We then turned to
senators who had raised the issue previously, and [we] assisted their staff
in pursuing the issue directly with the Pentagon. These inquiries met with a
similar brushoff." The Bush administration wanted no meddling by human
rights lawyers as it brought democracy and human rights to the benighted
region.
Horton says that career military officers at the Pentagon were "greatly
upset" by what they regarded as the deliberate destruction of traditions and
methods that have long protected soldiers as well as civilians. Those
officers, and others who may have evidence to offer, are obviously reluctant
to step forward and speak because they fear reprisal from the Pentagon and
the White House. They have been instructed not to talk to anyone about these
issues. It is to be hoped that in the investigations to come -- whether or
not Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld and Undersecretary Feith keep their
jobs -- those conscientious officers will be able to tell what they know
about the decisions that led to this national disaster. "
--
Yang
a.a. #28
AthD (h.c.) conferred by the regents of the LCL
a.a. pastor #-273.15, the most frigid church of Celcius nee Kelvin
EAC Econometric Forecast and Socerey Division
Proudly plonked by Lani Girl and Crazyalec
The Bush 'balanced' budget: 1.2 trillion and worsening
The Bush 'economic' policy: -3 million jobs and counting
The Bush Iraq lie: -767 GIs, one friend's co-worker's son and mounting
Having Bush ***** up my country: Worthless
.
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