Interrogation tactics in Iraq are reined in

[Judi Lynn]

Saturday, May 15, 2004

Interrogation tactics in Iraq are reined in
Top commander bars most harsh, coercive practices

By ERIC SCHMITT
THE NEW YORK TIMES

WASHINGTON -- Under a barrage of international and domestic criticism, the top U.S. commander in Iraq has barred virtually all coercive interrogation practices, such as forcing prisoners to crouch for long periods or depriving them of sleep, the Pentagon announced yesterday.

The commander, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, will still consider requests to use less severe techniques such as holding prisoners in isolation for more than 30 days, according to a senior Central Command official who briefed reporters yesterday. The general has approved 25 such requests since last October, the official said.

But the official said that Sanchez would deny requests to use harsher methods.

"Simply, we will not even entertain a request, so don't even send it up for a review," a senior Central Command official told reporters at the Pentagon yesterday.
(snip/...)

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/173507_abuse15.html

[maddezmom]

1. more from the NYT article- MG Miller and Karpinski mentioned

~snip~
The Army's top intelligence officer, Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander, had presented to senators this week a list of techniques, some of which were approved for use on all prisoners and others that required General Sanchez's approval. The chart also listed safeguards, including a warning that "approaches must always be humane and lawful." Senators said at the hearing on Tuesday that General Alexander had characterized the one-page chart as a product of the American military high command in Baghdad. But the Central Command official disclosed Friday that the document was actually produced sometime in October by the Army's 205th Military Intelligence Brigade, which oversaw interrogations at Abu Ghraib. The Central Command official also said that until last fall, commanders did not have an interrogation policy specific to Iraq.

That changed, however, after Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, the head of detention operations at Guantanamo Bay, visited Iraqi prisons last September and recommended several changes, including the creation of a specific interrogation policy for prisons in Iraq. An interim policy, from Sept. 14 to Oct. 12 last year, spelled out approved interrogation techniques for all prisoners, a separate list of harsher tactics that required General Sanchez's approval, and the list of safeguards.

A revised policy took effect on Oct. 12 that dropped the listing of the approaches needing the general's approval, although the Army intelligence brigade that actually conducted the interrogations produced a chart that kept the old listings, and posted it as a guide.
~snip~

The official acknowledged that a Red Cross report submitted last November to Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, head of the 800th Military Police Brigade, contained allegations that the official said were "very concerning" and that had been investigated by Army criminal investigators as well as Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, who first reported the abuses. But the official did not elaborate.

~snip~
more: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/15/politics/15MILI.html?pagewanted=2&hp

[truthisfreedom]

2. bull.

bushco would never give up. these hardliners will do anything and everything... don't believe it.

[priller]

3. There's absolutely no reason to believe them

The Bushies are always saying, "Trust us", but they've done nothing to deserve that trust. Until they agree to have the prisons monitored by the ICRC or some other outside group, we have to assume that many of these abuses will continue, but kept tightly under wraps from now on.

[central scrutinizer]

4. reined in? - so now we are using reins

instead of dog collars?

[ze_dscherman]

5. Only in IRAQ

It's still "legal" to use torture in Afghanistan, Gitmo and elsewhere.