New Prisoner Abuse Surfaces

A new set of pictures of prisoner abuse has surfaced - this time by Navy Seals from May of 2003 - and yet another investigation has been launched. The Navy states that abuse may not have occurred, but that these may be "trophy photos" (which are illegal under international law, and Naval regulations). John Hutson (Navy Judge Advocate General from 1997-2000) states:

"Once you start allowing that kind of behaviour [trophy pictures], the next step is to start posing the POWs in order to get even better pictures."

The reports of yet more abuse by US forces comes on the heels of one of the Pentagon investigations of interrogation techniques. According to a report by Eric Schmitt in the 12/04/04 NY Times (emphasis mine):

A Pentagon investigation of interrogation techniques at military detention centers in Cuba, Afghanistan and Iraq concludes that senior defense officials exercised little or no oversight of interrogation policies outside of Guantánamo Bay, leaving field commanders to develop some practices that were unauthorized, according to a draft summary of the classified report.

The inquiry by Vice Adm. Albert T. Church, the naval inspector general, found that by January 2003, military interrogators in Afghanistan were using techniques similar to those that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld had approved for use only at Guantánamo Bay. They included stress positions, and sleep and light deprivation.

But when the command in Afghanistan submitted in January its list of techniques to the military's Joint Staff and Central Command, as requested, and never heard any complaints, it "interpreted this silence to mean that the techniques were unobjectionable to higher headquarters and therefore could be considered approved policy," the summary said.

There are a number of investigations both completed and ongoing into the abuse of prisoners by US forces. Thus far the common themes are: poor supervision, poor training, poor communication. It is very frustrating reading these various issues in light of what we do know.

1. Bush asked the Department of Justice and his own White House attorney (Gonzales) to give him a decision on his ability to breach US and international law by using torture to extract information. He got what he asked for - a determination by his advisors that he had free rein.

2. Rumsfeld authorized "interrogation techniques" that exceeded both military and Geneva Convention parameters.

3. Rumsfeld sent the head of interrogation in Guantanamo to Abu Ghraib to "gitmoize" interrogations there.

4. Generals in Iraq knew about abuse of detainees, and said and did nothing to stop it.

5. The Church Report states that silence was taken as permission.

It is clear, from top to bottom that a tacit policy of mistreatment and abuse were (and are) considered more than acceptable. This attitude was obviously clearly communicated - both by instructions received by troops as well as the supervisory personnel put in charge.

I believe that the communication was crustal clear. I do not think that poor training had anything to do with the wide reports of abuse - troops did what they were told to do. I do not think that the issue is poor supervision beyond wanting to be able to create a cover of plausible deniability.

As reports and investigations continue to trickle in, and the reports of abuses in current engagements continue to today, I remain convinced that abuse and war crimes are the policy. The Bush administration's disregard for any international conventions are clearly reflected in the almost certain use of napalm in the bombing of Fallujah (Firebombing Falluja and Fallujah: Napalm By Any Other Name. There are also reports of the use of chemical weapons by US forces, but these remain unconfirmed at this point.

What seems very clear is that the Bush administration feels they can do whatever they want, use whatever weapons and techniques they want. That Bush has absolutely no problems with violating either US or international laws in regard to war is clear by his most recent cabinet decision - Rumsfeld will continue as the Secretary of Defense. If this does not tell us that he approves of the way the "war on terrorism" is being conducted then I don't know what would.

Posted by rowan at December 4, 2004 9:02 AM | TrackBack | [eMail this article!] |