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 Greetings! You are reading an article from The Mudville Gazette. To reach the front page, with all the latest news and views, click the logo above or "main" below. Thanks for stopping by! May 13, 2004 13 May 04 Morning BriefingBy GreyhawkTOP STORIES 1. Rumsfeld Defends Rules For Prison NA 3. Bush Supporters Are Split On How To Pursue Iraq Plan 4. Lawmakers Are Stunned By New Images Of Abuse 5. Soldiers Speak Out On Abuse 6. Lawmakers Getting Tough On Rumsfeld DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 7. Rumsfeld Preserves Bearing, But Weighs Ability To Serve 8. Rumsfeld Has Doubts 9. Money Request Coming Next Year NA 11. New Tankers Not Needed, Report Says NA IRAQ NA 14. Iraqi Politicians Press For Wider Role 15. U.S. Turns Up Pressure On Shiite Cleric's Militia 16. In Najaf, Gunfire And A Peace Plan 17. Shiite Leaders Report Progress In Talks On Najaf, But Cleric Balks 18. General Took Guantᮡmo Rules To Iraq For Handling Of Prisoners 19. Witness Faults Actions Of Prison Interrogators 20. Two Sergeants Ordered To Face Courts-Martial 21. Soldier Charged In Abuse Scandal Is Moved Away From Other Suspects 22. Court-Martial Will Lay Foundation For Other Cases 23. Abuse Less Shocking In Light Of History 24. Some In Baghdad Say U.S. Troops No Longer Wanted 25. Line Increasingly Blurred Between Soldiers And Civilian Contractors 26. U.S. Officials Failed To Protect Slain Civilian, Family Says
Posted by Greyhawk / May 13, 2004 2:16 PM | Permalink 9 Comments |
November 26, 2010America@war [Greyhawk]
I think anyone who's ever pondered the "comment" option - once only available on blogs and bulletin boards, now ubiquitous on almost any web site - will appreciate this:
The so-called faculty of writing is not so much a faculty of writing as it is a faculty of thinking. When a man says, "I have an idea but I can't express it"; that man hasn't an idea but merely a vague feeling. If a man has a feeling of that kind, and will sit down for a half an hour and persistently try to put into writing what he feels, the probabilities are at least 90 percent that he will either be able to record it, or else realize that he has no idea at all. In either case, he will do himself a benefit. That's wisdom from the past, captured for posterity at the US Naval Institute, shared via the web on the institute's 137th anniversary. From their about page:
"The Naval Institute has three core activities," among them, History and Preservation: The Naval Institute also has recently introduced Americans at War, a living history of Americans at war in their own words and from their own experiences. These 90-second vignettes convey powerful stories of inspiration, pride, and patriotism. Take a look at the collection, and you'll see it's not limited to accounts from those who served on ships at sea, members of the other branches are well-represented. I'm fortunate to have met USNI's Mary Ripley, she's responsible for the institute's oral history program (and she's the daughter of the late John Ripley, whose story is told here). She also deserves much credit for their blog. ("We're not the Navy nor any government agency. Blog and comment freely.") We met at a milblog conference - Mary knew (and I would come to realize) that milbloggers are the 21st-century version of exactly what the US Naval Institute is all about. Once that light bulb came on in my head, I mentioned a vague idea for a project to her - milblogs as the 21st century oral history that they are. "Put that in writing," she said (of course - see first paragraph above!) - and here's part of the result. Shortly after the first tent was pitched by the American military in Iraq a wire was connected to a computer therein, and the internet was available to a generation of Americans at war - many of whom had grown up online. From that point on, at any given moment, somewhere in Iraq a Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine was at a keyboard sharing the events of his or her day with the folks back home. While most would simply fire off an email, others took advantage of the (then) relatively new online blogging platforms to post their thoughts and experiences for the entire world to see. The milblog was born - and from that moment to this stories detailing everything from the most mundane aspects of camp life to intense combat action (often described within hours of the event) have been available on the web... And et cetera - but since you're reading this on a milblog, you probably knew that. And you know that milblogs aren't just blogs written by troops at war, that many friends, family members, and supporters likewise documented their story of America at war online in near-real time, as those stories developed. The diversity in membership of that group is broad, the one thing we all have in common is the impulse to make sense of the seemingly senseless, and communicate the tale - for each of us that impulse was strong enough to overcome whatever barriers prevent the vast majority of people from doing the same. Everyone at some point has some vague idea they believe should be shared - we were the people who, from some combination of internal and external urging, found and spent those many half hours persistently trying to write it down. But where will all that be in another 137 years? Or five or ten, for that matter. That's something I've asked myself since at least 2004 - when I wrote this:
Membership in the ghost battalion has grown in the years since, and an ever growing majority of those abandoned-but-still-standing sites are vanishing. Have you checked out Lt Smash's site lately? How about Sgt Hook's? If you're a long-time milblog reader you know the first widely-read milblog from Operation Iraq Freedom and the first widely-read milblog from Afghanistan are both gone from the web. If you're a relative newcomer to this world you may never even have heard of them - or the dozens upon dozens of others who carried forth the standard they set down. If you have a vague notion that something should be done about that, (a notion I've heard expressed more than once...) then you and I and the good folks at the US Naval Institute are in agreement. Preserving the history documented by the milbloggers is just one of the goals of the milblog project, the once-vague idea that we're now making real. And it's a big idea, if I say so myself - too big to explain in one simple blog post, so stand by for more. Likewise, it's too big a task to be accomplished by just one person. So if you're a milblogger (and exactly what is a milblogger? is a topic for much further discussion on its own) I'm asking for your help. All I'll really need is just a little bit (maybe just one or two of those half hours...) of your time, and your willingness to tell the tale. We've already made history, it's time to save it. (More to follow...) Posted 4:02 PM | Permalink |
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The Mudville Gazette is the on-line voice of an American warrior and his wife who stands by him. They prefer to see peaceful change render force of arms unnecessary. Until that day they stand fast with those who struggle for freedom, strike for reason, and pray for a better tomorrow.
 
 
 Furthermore, I will occasionally use satire or parody herein. The bottom line: it's my house. I like having visitors to my house. I hope you are entertained. I fight for your right to free speech, and am thrilled when you exercise said rights here. Comments and e-mails are welcome, but all such communication is to be assumed to be 1)the original work of any who initiate said communication and 2)the property of the Mudville Gazette, with free use granted thereto for publication in electronic or written form. If you do NOT wish to have your message posted, write "CONFIDENTIAL" in the subject line of your email. Original content copyright © 2003 - 2011 by Greyhawk. Fair, not-for-profit use of said material by others is encouraged, as long as acknowledgement and credit is given, to include the url of the original source post. Other arrangements can be made as needed. Contact: greyhawk at mudvillegazette dot com  Tending Distant Far from hearth and home, watching What tales we'll tell When things grim Some distant sunset, vision fading Saluting fallen friends whose names - Greyhawk, Baghdad, December 2004 |
"Lawmakers Are Stunned By New Images Of Abuse"
Yeah right! They're just upset they couldn't get in on the perversion. Right down their alley! ;-)
I'm about sick of all of this fake outrage. What a joke. But that's OK, Jesse Jackson is riding up on his white horse to save the day! That guy's always a day late and a dollar short. Time to move on to the next outrage of the week against the Admin.
We can start a new info channel and call it "Prison Abuse Channel" - where you can watch prisoners abused 24/7 - Dan Rather moderator. Catch the impressive expert panel as they dissect what denotes abuse and scream their outrage from the rooftops. Esteemed panel members Hilliary Clinton, Teddy Kennedy, JfKerry, Robert Byrd, Joe Biden, and Jesse Jackson have a Kumbaya fest over the giddy situation they can exploit ad nauseum. Stay tuned!
Meanwhile back at the ranch, these same esteemed members of the Party of The People are still giving aid and comfort to our enemies and getting our troops killed. Film at 11.
Oh yee-haw! It do get old! :-(
One interesting development. Private England --the woman who appeared in the Iraqi prison abuse photos -- has stated to the press that she was following orders from higher ups in her chain of command. She has stated that the photos were part of a PsyOps operation.
Last night on 60 Minutes, a retired CIA case officer explained that this might be a "dirty recruitment" based on blackmail. He noted that in the Middle East, the tribe might kill a member photographed while engaging in a homosexual act.
What's interesting is that the White House is arguing that the photos can't be released because such a release would hurt efforts to prosecute the soldiers at the Iraqi prison.
Yet one day after Private England's statement to the press, the conservative New York Post announces that the unrevealed photos include photos of Private England engaged in sex with fellow soldiers. Plus Matt Drudge has a banner up pointing to the NY Post.
Given that only US Senators and Pentagon officials have seen the photos, the NY Post appears to be part of a calculated effort to pressure Private England to get with the program.
Now why would someone do that?
BTW - Greyhawk, I don't think I've thanked you yet for putting together these morning briefs. They are appreciated!!
Re the argument some are making that MG Taguba said he found no evidence of a policy or direct order promoting the Iraqi prison abuse, I would not that that is an incomplete statement of MG Taguba's findings. In his report he noted that his orders were to investigate the MP Company --but he recommended an Article 15 investigation of the Military Intelligence brigade as followup.
Some of Taguba's "Findings of Fact" in Part 3 of the Investigation:
**********************
9. (U) I find that this ambiguous command relationship was exacerbated by a CJTF-7 Fragmentary Order (FRAGO) 1108 issued on 19 November 2003. Paragraph 3.C.8,
Assignment of 205th MI Brigade Commander’s Responsibilities for the Baghdad
Central Confinement Facility, states as follows: 3.C.8. A. (U) 205 MI BRIGADE. 3.C.8. A. 1. (U) EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY COMMANDER 205
MI BRIGADE ASSUMES RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE
BAGHDAD CONFINEMENT FACILITY (BCCF) AND IS
APPOINTED THE FOB COMMANDER. UNITS CURRENTLY AT
ABU GHRAIB (BCCF) ARE TACON TO 205 MI BRIGADE FOR
“SECURITY OF DETAINEES AND FOB PROTECTION.” Although not supported by BG Karpinski, FRAGO 1108 made all of the MP units at
Abu Ghraib TACON to the Commander, 205th MI Brigade. This effectively made an
MI Officer, rather than an MP Officer, responsible for the MP units conducting
detainee operations at that facility. This is not doctrinally sound due to the different
missions and agendas assigned to each of these respective specialties. (ANNEX 31)
-----------
Tuguba then goes on to make several recommendations --including recommending that several officers from the BGeneral on down be relieved of command. He then recommends:
---------
13. (U) I find that there is sufficient credible information to warrant an Inquiry UP Procedure 15, AR 381-10, US Army Intelligence Activities, be conducted to
determine the extent of culpability of MI personnel, assigned to the 205th MI Brigade
and the Joint Interrogation and Debriefing Center (JIDC) at Abu Ghraib (BCCF).
Specifically, I suspect that COL Thomas M. Pappas, LTC Steve L. Jordan, Mr.
Steven Stephanowicz, and Mr. John Israel were either directly or indirectly
responsible for the abuses at Abu Ghraib (BCCF) and strongly recommend immediate
disciplinary action as described in the preceding paragraphs as well as the initiation of
a Procedure 15 Inquiry to determine the full extent of their culpability. (ANNEX 36)
Note: Steven Stephanowicz, and Mr. John Israel
were the CACI civilian contractors
I would think the person responsible for that FRAGO --putting the MP Company under the command (TACON) of the MI Brigade -- would be Lieutenant General (LTG) Ricardo S. Sanchez, Commander, Combined Joint Task Force Seven (CJTF-7) -- which is making the Pentagon sweat because that FRAGO was evidently driven by the recommendations of Maj General Miller (of Guantanomo Bay) to the CJTF-7.
Defense Undersecretary Stephen Gambone, one of Rumsfeld's subordinates, fell over himself the day before yesterday trying to explain the innocent purpose of this to Congress.
See http://www.iht.com/articles/519413.html
In the course of which, we saw civilian appointee Gambone arguing (erronously) with Army Major General Taguba over what TACON means.
The Baltimore Sun had an interesting report yesterday -- in which Colin Powell noted that the Red Cross had complained to the State Department re abuses at Abu Ghraib prison -- and that he had passed the information on to the President.
See http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.powell12may12,0,2804533.story?coll=bal-news-nation
Plus it looks like some of the spooks are getting nervous and talking to the New York Times. See
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/13/politics/13DETA.html?ei=5062&en=f4df7ec51a3252e0&ex=1085025600&partner=GOOGLE&pagewanted=print&position=
An excerpt:
-----------------------
"ASHINGTON, May 12 — The Central Intelligence Agency has used coercive interrogation methods against a select group of high-level leaders and operatives of Al Qaeda that have produced growing concerns inside the agency about abuses, according to current and former counterterrorism officials.
At least one agency employee has been disciplined for threatening a detainee with a gun during questioning, they said.
In the case of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, a high-level detainee who is believed to have helped plan the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, C.I.A. interrogators used graduated levels of force, including a technique known as "water boarding," in which a prisoner is strapped down, forcibly pushed under water and made to believe he might drown.
These techniques were authorized by a set of secret rules for the interrogation of high-level Qaeda prisoners, none known to be housed in Iraq, that were endorsed by the Justice Department and the C.I.A. The rules were among the first adopted by the Bush administration after the Sept. 11 attacks for handling detainees and may have helped establish a new understanding throughout the government that officials would have greater freedom to deal harshly with detainees.
Defenders of the operation said the methods stopped short of torture, did not violate American anti-torture statutes, and were necessary to fight a war against a nebulous enemy whose strength and intentions could only be gleaned by extracting information from often uncooperative detainees. Interrogators were trying to find out whether there might be another attack planned against the United States.
The methods employed by the C.I.A. are so severe that senior officials of the Federal Bureau of Investigation have directed its agents to stay out of many of the interviews of the high-level detainees, counterterrorism officials said. The F.B.I. officials have advised the bureau's director, Robert S. Mueller III, that the interrogation techniques, which would be prohibited in criminal cases, could compromise their agents in future criminal cases, the counterterrorism officials said....
......
...Concerns are mounting among C.I.A. officers about the potential consequences of their actions. "Some people involved in this have been concerned for quite a while that eventually there would be a new president, or the mood in the country would change, and they would be held accountable," one intelligence source said. "Now that's happening faster than anybody expected."
The C.I.A.'s inspector general has begun an investigation into the deaths of three lower-level detainees held by the C.I.A in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Justice Department is also examining the deaths."
--------------
Personally, I agree that the Army has to enforce discipline -- and the Photos released so far look bad. Yet I would note that the enlisted personnel charged so far signed up to defend this country--at the risk of their lives. I would be annoyed if those privates and soldiers were railroaded to protect those higher up in the chain of command --especially when some of those superiors have never been within 500 miles of an active battlefield.
I'm confident that Dubya, Rummy, CENTCOM, and the US Congress will follow normal tradition and allow the USDOD and Army to "clean" their own houses without intervention from non-DOD agencies. For me and prob many other Army or mil vets out in the world, IFF the photos, however authentic or "altered/faked", was intended to show proof that interrogation did occur, with specific Army- andor USDOD authorized methods also de facto being followed, HOW AND WHY DID THESE PHOTOS, WHICH ARE PROB MEANT TO BE STAMPED AS "CLASSIFIED", GET OUT OF THE FORMAL CONTROL OF THOSE CONTROLLING THE INTERROGATION OR OPERATING THE PRISON(S)! The alleged "authorized" "abuse" depected in these photos are normally intended to be reserved for enemy combatants, ie professional soldiers, bureacrats, or armed civilian insurgents with either known records of enemy service or, in the alt, where there is substantial comtemporary or new evidence to warrant logical/reasonable belief in their engaging in the service of the enemy! IT IS per se CRIMINAL MISCONDUCT to abuse enemy soldiers whom have either already cooperated, or to abuse civilians where no evidence of enemy service, or knowledge of the enemy harmful to American or Allied interests, is or can be presented and substantiated. IfF these guards were indeed only folowing orders and amidst an authorized interrogation with pre-approved methods, the mil lawyers and generals are going to go after the commissioned officers and senior non-coms as to how these photos escaped their oversight-control, and whether whomever did it intended to deliberately embarrass the military, CENTCOM, America, the President, and America's interests in Iraq and the War on Terror - let the investigators or courts-martial determine if the reason(s) were for as per HUMANITY, SIMPLE ERROR, MUTUAL MISTAKE-NEGLIGENCE, or for partisan POLITICS! Remember, America and Americanism right now is under relentless ideological and pragmatic assault, both INTERNALLY and EXTERNALLY, to forcibly submit, without mutually destructive global [nuclear] warfare, to anti-sovereign Socialism and Socialist Global Government, read COMMUNISM, and to include assault from dedicated anti-American Americans whom demand that America be "perfectionist" or "humanist" absolutist in its treatment of foreign POWS or suspects, BUT MAKE NO SIMILAR DEMANDS ON FOREIGN STATES, ESPEC COMMAND SOCIALIST STATES, AS TO THEIR ARMY'S OR NATION'S TREATMENT OF THE SAME OR AMERICANS HELD IN CAPTIVITY/PRISON - you know, as per [Leftist] EQUALISM!
Do you know what "Special Access Program" means? I do. At one time in my work, I had clearance to 4 such programs. So I know how things can work.
My concern, frankly, is not so much the rights of Arabs as the rights of US citizens. Throwing foreigners in a brig for years without a hearing before a judge is one thing -- doing that to US citizens is something else. What would the NRA think, for example, if Charleton Heston was imprisoned the next time he stood up, waved a flintlock, and yelled "From My cold dead hands"?
I am also aware that many people in the military and in the Pentagon are not actual combat troops -- are not warfighters. MP is a combat MOS -- they often go after enemy infiltrators in rear areas , for example. I get annoyed when I suspect that REMFs and "staff" are trying to screw combat troops.
Rumsfeld was a Navy aviator and deserves our respect. What kind of military record does Stephen Gambone have --or does he have any?
Consider, for example, this news item just in
regarding a New Yorker article coming out:
---------------
" WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved a plan that brought unconventional interrogation methods to Iraq (news - web sites) to gain intelligence about the growing insurgency, ultimately leading to the abuse of Iraqi prisoners, the New Yorker magazine reported on Saturday. ...
...The New Yorker said the interrogation plan was a highly classified "special access program," or SAP, that gave advance approval to kill, capture or interrogate so-called high-value targets in the battle against terror.
Such secret methods were used extensively in Afghanistan but more sparingly in Iraq -- only in the search for former President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) and weapons of mass destruction. As the Iraqi insurgency grew and more U.S. soldiers died, Rumsfeld and Defense Undersecretary for Intelligence Stephen Cambone expanded the scope to bring the interrogation tactics to Abu Ghraib, the article said.
The magazine, which based its article on interviews with several past and present American intelligence officials, reported the plan was approved and carried out last year after deadly bombings in August at the U.N. headquarters and Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad. "
------------
I think we should suspend judgement until more information is in. But, as I noted above, that FRAGO putting the MP Company under MI Tacon seemed strange. One can argue about how to interrogate captured personnel --although I think scrapping the Geneva Convention is illegal and exposes US soldiers to similar treatment.
But there is NO justification for ordering MPs to abuse captives and then sacrificing those soldiers for the sake of protecting your butt from political criticism.
Re the timing of all this, my understanding is that it was triggered when a soldier had the balls to stand up in January and say "This is illegal" and his Lieutenant had the balls to back
him.