Rumsfeld Approved Iraq Interrogation Plan - Report

[Josh]

(Apologies if this is a duplicate)

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.

Rumsfeld, who has been under fire for the prisoner abuse scandal, gave the green light to methods previously used in Afghanistan (news - web sites) for gathering intelligence on members of al Qaeda, which the United States blames for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the magazine reported on its Web site.

More: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&ncid=564&e=4&u=/nm/20040515/ts_nm/iraq_abuse_pentagon_dc_5

If this is true, he's gong down. Bigtime. And Bush, we all recall, just said he was doing a "superb" job.

[napi21]

1. This is supposed to be the story in the New Yorker Mag. next week.

Sy Hirsh's article I think.

I wonder how the WH is going to cover this one up?

[undergroundrailroad]

2. More:

The operation had across-the-board approval from Rumsfeld and from Condoleezza Rice, the national-security adviser. President Bush was informed of the existence of the program, the former intelligence official said.


THE GRAY ZONE
by SEYMOUR M. HERSH
How a secret Pentagon program came to Abu Ghraib.
Issue of 2004-05-24
Posted 2004-05-15

The roots of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal lie not in the criminal inclinations of a few Army reservists but in a decision, approved last year b Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, to expand a highly secret operation, which had been focussed on the hunt for Al Qaeda, to the interrogatio of prisoners in Iraq. Rumsfeld’s decision embittered the American intelligence community, damaged the effectiveness of élite combat units, and hur America’s prospects in the war on terror

According to interviews with several past and present American intelligence officials, the Pentagon’s operation, known inside the intelligence community by several code words, including Copper Green, encouraged physical coercion and sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners in an effort to generate more intelligence about the growing insurgency in Iraq. A senior C.I.A. official, in confirming the details of this account last week, said that the operation stemmed from Rumsfeld’s long-standing desire to wrest control of America’s clandestine and paramilitary operations from the C.I.A.

Rumsfeld, during appearances last week before Congress to testify about Abu Ghraib, was precluded by law from explicitly mentioning highly secret matters in an unclassified session. But he conveyed the message that he was telling the public all that he knew about the story. He said, “Any suggestion that there is not a full, deep awareness of what has happened, and the damage it has done, I think, would be a misunderstanding.” The senior C.I.A. official, asked about Rumsfeld’s testimony and that of Stephen Cambone, his Under-Secretary for Intelligence, said, “Some people think you can bullshit anyone.”



http://newyorker.com/printable/?fact/040524fa_fact

[skooooo]

3. Bwwwahahahahahahaha

Everyone, even the die-hards, recognize that Rumsfeld and the rest of the Bush administration are COMPLETELY TOAST.

You blew it, morans.

[Cooley Hurd]

4. Hi Josh

There's an existing Late Breaking News thread about this topic. Please continue the discussion here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x557424

Thanks! :hi: