7/02/04 Sevastopulo, FT.com, Pentagon 'stalling on Abu Ghraib probe'
The Pentagon's failure to co-operate fully with the congressional probe into the Abu Ghraib scandal is frustrating the investigation, according to campaigners and Senate staff.
As the negative impact of the photographs depicting US soldiers humiliating Iraqi detainees at the Baghdad prison became apparent, President George W. Bush took the unusual step of apologising for the abuses on Arab TV. Congress moved quickly to criticise the brutal treatment of Iraqi prisoners and launched a series of high-profile hearings.
John Warner, chairman of the Senate armed services committee, was very aggressive in probing the abuses. But Mr Warner suffered strong criticism from some Republicans, including Duncan Hunter, chairman of the House armed services committee, who argued that the Senate and the media were exaggerating the significance of the abuses.
But other critics now say the effort is running out of steam. "The investigation does seem to have slowed down," said Tom Malinowski, Washington advocacy director for Human Rights Watch.
"Senator Warner was severely criticised by some members of his party for pushing as hard as he did. I think he is determined to continue but he decided a brief respite was probably in order."
After hearing testimony from senior military officers and Pentagon civilian leaders, the committee asked the Pentagon to provide documents and reports related to Abu Ghraib and the abuses.
The Pentagon has provided many documents but others have not yet been handed over. For example, it has not given Congress copies of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reports related to Iraq - despite assurances from Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, two months ago that it would do so. Last week Mr Warner expressed his dismay at the Pentagon's lack of co-operation.
"Congress must be given the tools, the reports with which to do its proper oversight," he said. "There's been a clear intent and desire to provide Congress such reports," Larry Di Rita, Pentagon spokesman said yesterday. "It's been a more challenging process than. . . I think anybody had an appreciation for."
Another Pentagon official said the military needs to collect the reports from commanders in the field, which is a complicated process in a war zone. When asked why the Pentagon had not simply asked the ICRC to provide Congress with the reports directly, Mr Di Rita replied: "I'll mark that down - I appreciate being educated."
Congress is also waiting for the army to complete a report into military intelligence officers at Abu Ghraib. The probe was delayed when General George Fay, chief investigator, was replaced by a higher-ranking officer who could question Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, who until yesterday commanded all US troops in Iraq. "We're not working on a timetable," said Mr Di Rita. But he added that the Pentagon would provide an interim report if that would help Congress.
Mr Warner has previously said it would be more effective to hold hearings after receiving more information on the role of military intelligence officers.
Some lawmakers have also complained that the Pentagon has placed overly stringent restrictions on how documents - such as the 6,000 page report by Major General Antonio Taguba, who concluded the first investigation into the Abu Ghraib scandal - can be accessed.
The White House last week released a raft of internal policy documents about interrogation policies in the war on terror. The unusual move for a secretive administration came after leaked memos from justice and defence department lawyers included legal theories that appeared designed to sanction torture.
But the attempt by the administration to prove that Mr Bush had not condoned torture raised new questions about how interrogation techniques once approved for use at Guantánamo Bay later emerged at Abu Ghraib. In December 2002, Mr Rumsfeld approved interrogation methods - including hooding and stripping prisoners, and using dogs in interrogations - for use at Guantánamo while Major General Geoffrey Miller was in charge of the facility.
Maj Gen Miller was later sent to Iraq to make recommendations on how to improve intelligence flow at the prison.