NYT, pg1:Top Commanders Face Questioning on Prison Abuse

[DeepModem Mom]

ABU GHRAIB
Top Commanders Face Questioning on Prison Abuse
By EDWARD WONG

Published: June 22, 2004


BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 21 — A military judge (Col. James Pohl) ruled Monday that the top American commanders currently involved in the Iraq war will have to submit to questioning by lawyers for two servicemen charged in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse case. The defense lawyers said they would show that the most senior military and civilian officials approved interrogation methods that violated the Geneva Conventions.

Among those who could be questioned are Gen. John P. Abizaid, commander of the United States Central Command, and Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the senior American commander in Iraq; and Lt. Gen. Thomas F. Metz, who is overseeing daily military operations....

***

The hearings gave the strongest indication to date that defense lawyers plan to pin blame for the abuses on the most senior officials in the White House and Pentagon, as well as the top generals in Iraq. They suggested in arguments on Monday that the officials had created an atmosphere that encouraged the flouting of the conventions of war during interrogations....

***

(Guy Womack, the civilian lawyer for Specialist Charles Graner) also asked the judge to order the government to release several memos written at the top levels of the Bush administration that showed officials trying to stretch the allowable limits for prisoner interrogations. Recent news reports have said that the memos — including one by the White House counsel, Alberto R. Gonzales, that called the Geneva Conventions "quaint" — were written to advise Mr. Bush that international laws concerning torture did not apply to "unlawful combatants" captured during the "war on terror."...


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/22/international/middleeast/22IRAQ.html?hp

[demoman123]

1. Abizaid, Sanchez and Metz are not going to like this at all...

Nor will Alberto, if the lawyers get around to him.

I wouldn't be surprised if the charges were quashed, to prevent these guys from testifying, on grounds of national security.

[DeepModem Mom]

2. You're right, demoman123 -- and congrats on 100 posts!

[DeepModem Mom]

3. big story, posted early

[Spazito]

4. I bet there is a frantic effort to "cut a deal" with those charged....

in order to stop any further investigation of the "higher-ups". I just hope at least one doesn't go for a deal and pursues this to the top.

[LeftHander]

5. If Iraq is EVER to be "free and democratic"

These trials have to go on without looking like a whitewash. I believe the people conducting these trials understand full well that if the truth is not uncovered and it becomes a patsy feeding frenzy then the insurgency will escalate and the war will spiral deeper into chaos. The Iraqi people will not stand for replacing one despot with another.

[struggle4progress]

6. kick

:kick: