05 May 04 Morning Briefing

TOP STORIES

1. Anger Rises On Capitol Hill
(Philadelphia Inquirer)...Shannon McCaffrey and Sumana Chatterjee
Angry lawmakers - some of them reliable allies of the Bush administration - demanded yesterday that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld appear at a public hearing to explain how American jailers could have been allowed to abuse Iraqi prisoners.

2. Probes Of Detainee Deaths Reported
(Washington Post)...Bradley Graham and Charles Babington
Two Iraqi prisoners were killed by U.S. soldiers last year, and 20 other detainee deaths and assaults remain under criminal investigation in Iraq and Afghanistan, part of a total of 35 cases probed since December 2002 for possible misconduct by U.S. troops in those two countries, Army officials reported yesterday.

3. Army Discloses Criminal Inquiry On Prison Abuse
(New York Times)...Douglas Jehl and Eric Schmitt
...To date, the most severe penalties in any of the cases were less-than-honorable discharges for five Army soldiers, military officials said. No one has been sentenced to prison, they said. The disclosure of the investigations, by Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Army's second-highest ranking general, was the strongest indication to date of a wider pattern of abuse at American prisons beyond the horrific descriptions and photographs that have emerged recently of acts of humiliation, sexual and otherwise, at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq in November.

4. Bush To Denounce Abuse On Arab TV
(Washington Times)...James G. Lakely
President Bush will give interviews to two Arab TV networks today to denounce the abuse of Iraqi detainees, a furor that worsened yesterday as the Pentagon revealed it was investigating the deaths of 25 prisoners in U.S. custody, including two slain by Americans.

5. 138,000 Troops To Stay In Iraq Through 2005
(Washington Post)...Josh White
Military officials plan to keep as many as 138,000 U.S. troops in Iraq through the end of next year, maintaining a higher-than-expected level of forces there to quell the insurgency and provide security to the country long after it is slated to become a sovereign nation. Officials also plan to send more heavy equipment, such as tanks and armored vehicles, into Iraq to help secure U.S. forces against attack.

6. Iraq Shiites Urge Cleric To Desist
(New York Times)...John F. Burns
Representatives of Iraq's most influential Shiite leaders met here on Tuesday and demanded that Moktada al-Sadr, a rebel Shiite cleric, withdraw militia units from the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, stop turning the mosques there into weapons arsenals and return power to Iraqi police and civil defense units that operate under American control.

IRAQ

7. White House And Pentagon Scurry To Draft Responses
(New York Times)...Eric Schmitt and Richard W. Stevenson
...The military had prepared a detailed 11-page plan nearly three weeks ago to address the fallout that officials expected once the photographs of Iraqi prisoners began circulating. Nevertheless the Pentagon, the State Department and the White House had difficulty explaining why they had not acted earlier and more aggressively to deal with the abuse.

8. Top U.S. Officials Apologize To Arabs For Prisoner Abuse
(Washington Post)...Robin Wright
The Bush administration's top foreign policy officials publicly apologized yesterday to the Arab world for abuse of Iraqi detainees by U.S. personnel at notorious Abu Ghraib prison, and officials said President Bush today would join the effort to limit damage from the revelations.

9. U.S. To Cut Count In Iraq Prison
(Washington Post)...Sewell Chan
The U.S. general overseeing Army-run prisons in Iraq said Tuesday that the population of overcrowded Abu Ghraib prison would be cut by more than half and that he has ordered military intelligence operatives to stop placing hoods over detainees' heads as an interrogation tactic.

10. CIA May Have Had A Role In Hiding Iraqi Prisoners
(Los Angeles Times)...Bob Drogin
The CIA is seeking to determine whether its operatives had a role in the imprisonment of so-called ghost detainees, Iraqi prisoners who were held without names, charges or other documentation at U.S.-run detention facilities across their homeland, intelligence officials said Tuesday.

NA
11. U.S. Probes More Prisoner Deaths, Weighs The Role Of CIA Officer
(Wall Street Journal)...Gary Fields, Greg Jaffe and David S. Cloud
...The CIA contacted the Justice Department last week to discuss opening a criminal case against the CIA officer and what charges could be brought, a senior law-enforcement official said. The incident involved the death of an Iraqi prisoner at Abu Ghraib prison west of Baghdad and may have included Navy Seals, officials said.

12. Many Iraqis Outraged; Others Say Photos Pale Next To Saddam
(USA Today)...Jim Michaels and Sabah al-Anbaki
The news that detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison were abused by U.S. guards has prompted outrage in much of the Arab world. But in Iraq, where Saddam Hussein's torture and killings are still fresh in people's minds, the reaction has been more mixed.

13. Interrogators Pressured To Make Inmates Talk
(Washington Times)...Rowan Scarborough
Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller arrived in Baghdad in September with one urgent mission: Improve the intelligence gathered from Iraqi detainees in 16 Army-run prisons, including Saddam Hussein's favorite, Abu Ghraib.

14. Iraqi Recounts Hours Of Abuse By U.S. Troops
(New York Times)...Ian Fisher
The shame is so deep that Hayder Sabbar Abd says he feels that he cannot move back to his old neighborhood. He would prefer not even to stay in Iraq. But now the entire world has seen the pictures, which Mr. Abd looked at yet again on Tuesday, pointing out the key figures, starting with three American soldiers wearing big smiles for the camera.

15. Dozens Of Prisoners Freed After Odd Odyssey
(Philadelphia Inquirer)...Robert Moran
Scores of prisoners released from the Abu Ghraib prison yesterday were forced to take a winding, nearly five-hour journey through central Iraq on three buses escorted by U.S. military humvees before being deposited without explanation in the middle of a gravel quarry near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit.

16. Iraqis Line Up, Hoping To See Jailed Relatives
(New York Times)...Christine Hauser
Peering over the barriers and barbed wire, Iraqi women shook their fists in anger on Tuesday as a crowded bus pulled away from them at a checkpoint and lurched along a dirt road, headed for the gates of the prison here.

17. Shiites Shell U.S. Base; Accident Kills 4 Troops
(Philadelphia Inquirer)...Jason Keyser, Associated Press
...North of Baghdad, four U.S. soldiers from the First Infantry Division were killed after their humvee overturned during a combat patrol north of Baghdad, the Army said.

NA
18. For Sgt. Frazier, First Weeks in Iraq Bring 3 Close Calls
(Wall Street Journal)...Yochi J. Dreazen
...But the rotation has meant that troops with little knowledge of Iraq or experience managing the complexities of guerrilla war here have been thrown into combat almost immediately. They have also been given an unwelcome crash course on two of the militants' weapons of choice: rocket-propelled grenades and the hidden roadside bombs known as "improvised explosive devices," or IEDs.

19. Casualties Of Iraq War Can 'Get To' U.S. Medics
(Washington Times)...Willis Witter and Maya Alleruzzo
The U.S. Army trauma physician reaches past the plastic tubes and blood-soaked bandages to gently squeeze the hand of a wounded American soldier being wheeled into the operating room.

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

NA
20. Rumsfeld Condemns Abuse Of Iraqis
(Dallas Morning News)...Associated Press
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Tuesday condemned the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers as "totally unacceptable and un-American" and said the Pentagon would take all steps necessary to bring those responsible to justice.

21. Accountability At Issue In Abuse Of Prisoners
(Los Angeles Times)...Esther Schrader
With public outrage growing, lawmakers and others are asking where responsibility will settle and whether higher-ups will be punished.

NA
22. Feith: No Unified Insurgency Against Coalition Forces
(InsideDefense.com)...Prairie Summer
Neither the attempted "power grab" by rebellious Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr nor the anti-coalition fighters centered in Fallujah represent a broad movement or insurgency in Iraq, Douglas Feith, under secretary of defense for policy, said today.

23. Training Flights Planned Today, Tomorrow
(Washington Post)...Unattributed
The North American Aerospace Defense Command plans to conduct training flights in the Washington area today and tomorrow in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration.

EUROPE

NA
24. Top US Genl Condemns Alleged Abuse Of Iraqi Prisoners
(Wall Street Journal (wsj.com))...Associated Press
The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff in Iraq Tuesday condemned the alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners by guards at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison. Gen. Richard Myers made the comments while in Bosnia visiting U.S. troops near the northeastern town of Tuzla.

25. What If? Europe Simulates Qaeda Nuclear Hit
(International Herald Tribune)...Associated Press, Reuters
European officials have conducted a simulation showing how Al Qaeda could kill 40,000 people and plunge the continent into chaos if a crude nuclear device were detonated outside NATO headquarters in Brussels.

ARMY

26. Losing A Limb Doesn't Mean Losing Your Job
(USA Today)...Patrick O'Driscoll
...In today's military, amputation doesn't automatically mean "medical retirement," a discharge because of a disability. High-tech advances in artificial limbs and improved methods of rehabilitation now allow a significant number of amputees to stay in uniform. Some, like Rozelle, may even return to combat. At least 4,400 military men and women have been wounded in action since the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq last year. More than 120 of them have lost a limb. Some have lost two or three.

27. Diversity Opened Doors For U.S. General
(Los Angeles Times)...Times Staff Writer
...Now one of the Army's top Asian Americans, the 53-year-old Taguba was serving in the low-profile post of deputy commanding general of the 3rd Army when allegations of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison began working their way up the military chain of command. The 3rd Army's area of responsibility extends from East Africa through the Middle East and into south-central Asia and includes Iraq and Afghanistan, countries in which prisoner abuse is being investigated. Within about 10 days, Taguba found himself directing an administrative review that eventually set off a political firestorm in Washington ? and condemnation of the U.S. in much of the Islamic world.

MARINE CORPS

28. Navy Honors Four Marines' Valor In Combat
(San Diego Union-Tribune)...Rick Rogers
...Yesterday, Navy Secretary Gordon England presented the Navy Cross to the 22-year-old Martinez and the Silver Star to two other 2nd Battalion, 5th Regiment Marines ? Staff Sgt. Adam R. Sikes, 27, of Aliso Viejo, and Cpl. Timothy C. Tardif, 22, of Huntington Beach ? before a gathering of hundreds of Marines at Camp Pendleton. A spokeswoman at the base said the combat medals might be the highest awards presented so far to members of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force who fought their way into Baghdad last year. Gordon also presented the wife of Gunnery Sgt. Jeffrey E. Bohr Jr. of Fallbrook with a posthumous Silver Star.

NATIONAL GUARD/RESERVE

29. Soldier Sisters Report Back To Duty
(Washington Times)...Unattributed (alternate source here)
Two soldiers who decided against returning to combat in Iraq after their sister was killed there returned to active duty Monday, a spokesman for the Wisconsin National Guard said.

30. Ex-Guard Capt. Accused In Nude Photo Case
(New York Times on the Web)...Associated Press
A former National Guard commander is accused of taking naked pictures of female U.S. soldiers while they showered last year at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, a newspaper reported.

CONGRESS

31. Intelligence Panel Votes To Abolish Term Limits
(Washington Post)...Dana Priest
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, in an admission of its own role in U.S. intelligence failures of the last three years, yesterday voted unanimously to abolish the eight-year term limits imposed when the panel was established 28 years ago, committee members said.

NORTH KOREA

32. North Korea Offers US Pledge On Weapons
(London Financial Times)...Victor Mallet
North Korea, one of the world's most secretive and isolated nations, has offered an olive branch to the US by vowing not to sell nuclear materials to al-Qaeda, calling for Washington's friendship and saying it does not want to suffer the fate of Iraq.

33. Inside North Korea: Leaders Open To Ending Nuclear Crisis
(London Financial Times)...Selig Harrison
In unusually frank talks, high-ranking officials offered an olive branch to the US, promising never to sell nuclear materials to al-Qaeda and calling for US friendship, writes Selig Harrison, recently in Pyongyang.

34. North Korea Builds Up Missiles
(Korea Herald)...Joo Sang-min
North Korea is reported to be building two underground launching sites aimed at deploying an intermediate-range ballistic missile with a target distance of up to 4,000 kilometers following successful development last year.

AFGHANISTAN

35. Taliban Ambushes In South Kill 10 Policemen And Soldiers
(New York Times)...Carlotta Gall
Taliban gunmen have killed at least 10 Afghan policemen and soldiers in two ambushes in southern Afghanistan in the last 24 hours, government and Taliban officials said Tuesday. The attacks are part of a surge of violence by the Taliban and other insurgents that has killed at least 40 Afghan policemen and soldiers and one American soldier in the last two weeks.

BUSINESS

36. U.S. Addresses Control Of Security Companies
(Washington Times)...Sharon Behn
Pentagon officials are moving to tighten control over security contractors whose intelligence-gathering activities in Iraq are largely outside the control of U.S., military, international or Iraqi law.

37. Prison Scandal Indicates Gap In U.S. Chain Of Command
(Washington Post)...Ariana Eunjung Cha and Ellen McCarthy
Questions about the role of civilian interrogators in the abuse of inmates at the Abu Ghraib prison have put the spotlight on the accountability of tens of thousands of contractors in Iraq and on whether the administrative setup at the prison gave contractors too much freedom from and too much power over military units.

38. Private Guards' Status Outlined By Pentagon
(Washington Post)...Mary Pat Flaherty
At least 60 private security companies, employing 20,000 workers, operate in Iraq and even more will arrive as reconstruction work picks up, the Pentagon said yesterday in response to a Congressional inquiry.

39. Boeing Buys Ads To Defend Proposed Tanker Deal
(Washington Post)...Renae Merle
Boeing Co. bought full-page newspaper advertisements yesterday to defend its proposed $23.5 billion tanker deal with the Air Force as the Pentagon neared release of a key report that could help determine the fate of the controversial program.

40. Boeing Buys Developer Of Military Helicopter
(Los Angeles Times)...Bloomberg News
Boeing Co. acquired closely held Frontier Systems Inc., giving Boeing its first military-reconnaissance helicopter that may compete against Northrop Grumman Corp.'s new model.

41. Doubts Surface On Control Of Iraq Oil Revenue
(London Financial Times)...James Drummond
Iraq's interim government, due to take its seats this July, may not be given full control over the country's massive oil revenues after the end of US military occupation, it emerged yesterday.

42. Shell Puts Iraq Project On Hold
(London Financial Times)...Joanna Chung and Clay Harris
Royal Dutch/Shell has investigated the possibility of participating in an Iraqi oil project but decided not to proceed, at least for now, according to executives familiar with industry developments in the region.

OPINION

43. Administration, Outside Experts See Different Iraqs
(USA Today)...Walter Shapiro
Few administration insiders rival Douglas Feith as a passionate believer in America's ability to transform Iraq into a beacon of democracy in the Middle East. Feith, the undersecretary of Defense for policy and a prot駩 of Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld, has played a lead role in what has turned out to be overly optimistic postwar planning.

44. Willing Torturers
(Washington Post)...Anne Applebaum
A few years ago, a scholarly book with the provocative title "Hitler's Willing Executioners" climbed to the top of U.S. bestseller lists. In part the book attracted attention because its author located the origins of the Nazi death camps in the German national character, in German history and in the specific nature of German anti-Semitism. What happened in Germany, he implied, could never happen anywhere else. Certainly it could never happen here.

45. Those Friendly Iranians
(New York Times)...Nicholas D. Kristof
...Left to its own devices, the Islamic revolution is headed for collapse, and there is a better chance of a strongly pro-American democratic government in Tehran in a decade than in Baghdad. The ayatollahs' best hope is that hard-liners in Washington will continue their inept diplomacy, creating a wave of Iranian nationalism that bolsters the regime ? as happened to a lesser degree after President Bush put Iran in the axis of evil.

46. Pakistan's Real Bulwark
(Washington Post)...Alfred Stepan and Aqil Shah
Amid the turmoil in Iraq and signs that Afghanistan still lacks a viable state, it's not surprising that doubts about the ability of the United States to support democratization are growing in the Middle East and even in the United States. This is all the more reason why the success of a homegrown democratic process anywhere in the Muslim world is so important -- especially in a strategically located nuclear state such as Pakistan. But is U.S. policy helping to achieve this end in Pakistan?

NA
47. Developing Missile Defense -- (Letter)
(Washington Times)...Dan Montgomery
As Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Kinetic Energy Interceptors program manager, I was surprised by James Hackett's column Thursday ("Missile defense going astray?" Commentary). For the record, KEI is one element of a global missile-defense system designed to protect our country and allies from enemy missile threats, which is a point Mr. Hackett missed. Simply put, if we're serious about adding capability to the initial ballistic-missile-defense system that will be deployed later this year, we need KEI.

EDITORIAL

48. A System Of Abuse
(Washington Post)...Editorial
SECRETARY OF Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld yesterday described the abuses of Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison as "an exceptional, isolated" case. At best, that is only partly true. Similar mistreatment of prisoners held by U.S. military or intelligence forces abroad has been reported since the beginning of the war on terrorism.

49. The Torture Photos
(New York Times)...Editorial
It seems gloomily possible that in years to come, when people in the Middle East recall the invasion of Iraq, they will speak not of lost American lives or the toppling of a brutal dictator. The most enduring image of the occupation may be those pictures of grinning American soldiers torturing Iraqi prisoners. This is the kind of outcome no one wanted, although one that the Bush administration should have worried about long ago, and taken far more care to avert. Now all the president and his top officials can do is clean up the mess and express the country's deep regrets. So far, they have accomplished neither.