Army clears top Abu Ghraib case officers

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/APWires/headlines/D89KO8TO1.html

By ROBERT BURNS
AP Military Writer

WASHINGTON — The Army has cleared four top officers - including the three-star general who commanded all U.S. forces in Iraq - of all allegations of wrongdoing in connection with prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib and will not be punished, officials said Friday.

Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who became the senior commander in Iraq in June 2003, two months after the fall of Baghdad, had been faulted in earlier investigations for leadership lapses that may have contributed to prisoner abuse. He is the highest ranking officer to face official allegations of leadership failures in Iraq, but he has not been accused of criminal violations.

After assessing the allegations against Sanchez and taking sworn statements from 37 people involved in Iraq, the Army's inspector general, Lt. Gen. Stanley E. Green, concluded that the allegations were unsubstantiated, said the officials who were familiar with the details of Green's probe.

Green reached the same conclusion in the cases of two generals and a colonel who worked for Sanchez.

more

I'm sure they came up with some good reasons though.

No BushCo is to blame is this Regime's motto.

This way they can continue to attribute it to "bad apples" and not the culture of the military. Very rarely do executives anywhere pay for their crimes, especially when it can be blamed on underlings. Once again working class people are punished (in this case rightly so) and the well off escape justice.

Everything is just fine.

Big BushCo loves you.

But enlisted Soldiers? The Army brass will always look to nail the enlisteds and let the officers off the hook. There is no such thing as officers taking responsibility. All they care about is the next highest pay grade. Same thing goes for the senior NCO's. That's why the Army sucks.

I cared about two things: accomplishing the mission and taking care of troops. I didn't give a shit if I got promoted or not.

Your generalizations are invalid.

It was primarily ARMY officers in the Pentagon that tried to stop Bush.

But the Army has become corrupt under the Bush corporate cabal. All of the good senior officers who fought the Iraq war plans got shitcanned.

IMO, eveybody up to the CINC was responsible for creating the climate in which Abu Ghraib, etc. occurred. It is a coverup and it is a disgrace. I have never been so ashamed of my country.

I cared about two things: accomplishing the mission and taking care of troops. I didn't give a shit if I got promoted or not.

Your generalizations are invalid.

It was primarily ARMY officers in the Pentagon that tried to stop Bush.

But the Army has become corrupt under the Bush corporate cabal. All of the good senior officers who fought the Iraq war plans got shitcanned.

IMO, eveybody up to the CINC was responsible for creating the climate in which Abu Ghraib, etc. occurred. It is a coverup and it is a disgrace. I have never been so ashamed of my country.
=============
I salute you for your service to this country, especially as an infantry officer. But I stand by my statements. Most Army officers in the "Army of One" are right wingers.

"unsubstantiated"? Like the WMD's were? The entire world knows who these farging bastids are and what they did. For the rest of his pathetic greasy psychotic life, anyone who Googles "Ricardo Sanchez" will get "Abu Ghraib, sodomy, rape, torture, sadistic, illegal" in the results. Times like these, I love the internet. Thats your permanent legacy, you pig.

Maybe Abu Ghahib will disappear Hitler thought Auschwitz would too but it didn't!!!

Your Courts Martial awaits ........

What a surprise :sarcasm:


Top Officers in Abu Ghraib Case Cleared

By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer

WASHINGTON - Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, faulted by some for leadership failures in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, has been cleared by the Army of all allegations of wrongdoing and will not be punished, officials said.


Three officers who were among Sanchez's top deputies during the period of the prisoner abuse in the fall of 2003 also have been cleared. An Army Reserve one-star general has been reprimanded, and the outcome of seven other senior Army officer cases could not be learned Friday.


Sanchez, who became the senior U.S. commander in Iraq in June 2003, two months after the fall of Baghdad, has not been accused of criminal violations. It is unclear, however, whether the controversy surrounding his role in Iraq will stand in the way of his earning a fourth star. He is nearing the end of his tenure as commander of the Army's 5th Corps, based in Germany.


After assessing the allegations against Sanchez and taking sworn statements from 37 people, the Army's inspector general, Lt. Gen. Stanley E. Green, concluded that the allegations were unsubstantiated, according to officials familiar with the details of Green's probe.

<snip>

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050423/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/prisoner_abuse_army

And yet, the American People will hold the entire government accountable. Watch.

Hell, some of them already have.

But, of course, it will and has already fallen upon those with the least rank. IOW, the place got out of control because the ones on the lowest military rung were to ones in charge. I bet that surprises the shit out of the dogfaces at that place.

And it doesn't get close to the political leadership that made it seem okay to torture prisoners. The White House memos will be blown off. The giggling murderer and his band of pirates escape even being charged with THEIR crimes.

I don't know if she's culpable or not but it seems odd to me that she's the only one potentially facing charges.

so now the whole country collectively will be responsible. Asswipe slides by unscathed again.

on the Italian journalist is going? I just hope having the Italian government involved will shed some light on the matter. Otherwise it is just "Move along. There is nothing to see here.".

it's a wonder she doesn't collapse from the weight of it.

I didn't expect anything different. Hypocrisy abounds in the Bush administration...to get the officers means you would have to climb higher and Bush Inc isn't about to accept the blame for their actions.

Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.

Hekate

what a sad sad shame.

The photos that now are seen daily in the Arab world were originally "leaked" to Sy Hersch by one of the fathers of one of the lower enlisted guys (forgot which one). They knew they were going to get blamed for...well for following DoD directives approved by Rummy and Gonzales so they tried to take the brass down with them. It didn't work, the only ones blamed/held accountable were the dratically undermanned troops on the ground.

Pack accordingly,General.:bounce:

It's always the enlisted man's fault.

It's always the poor man's fault.

It's always the downtrodden and powerless who fuck things up for the rich.

Give me a break already.

These people make me sick.

US army clears top brass over abuse charges

Associated Press
Saturday April 23, 2005

The US army has cleared four top officers - including the three-star general who commanded all US forces in Iraq - of all allegations of wrongdoing in connection with prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, officials said.

Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez, who became the senior commander in Iraq in June 2003, two months after the fall of Baghdad, had been faulted in earlier investigations for leadership lapses that may have contributed to prisoner abuse. He is the highest ranking officer to face official allegations of leadership failures in Iraq, but he has not been accused of criminal violations.

After assessing the allegations against Gen Sanchez and taking sworn statements from 37 people involved in Iraq, the army's inspector general, Lt Gen Stanley E Green, concluded that the allegations were unsubstantiated, officials who were familiar with the details of Green's probe said Friday.

<snip>

A separate investigation by a panel headed by the former defence secretary, James Schlesinger, concluded that Gen Sanchez should have taken stronger action in November 2003 when he realised the extent of problems among military intelligence and military police units running Abu Ghraib.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1468673,00.html

WASHINGTON - Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, faulted by some for leadership failures in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, has been cleared by the Army of all allegations of wrongdoing and will not be punished, officials said.

Three officers who were among Sanchez's top deputies during the period of the prisoner abuse in the fall of 2003 also have been cleared. An Army Reserve one-star general has been reprimanded, and the outcome of seven other senior Army officer cases could not be learned Friday.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=1&u=/ap/20050423/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/prisoner_abuse_army&sid=84439559

Right. They knew nothing. Torture was (and is) routine in every detention center in Iraq and Aghanistan but nobody knows about it or is responsible for it except a few low level grunts stupid enough to photograph themselves in action.

Our military has disgraced itself by allowing this conduct, by permitting the violation of the legally binding geneva conventions. Our nation has disgraced itself by its conduct and by its refusal to take responsibility for its conduct.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10546-2005Apr22.html

Top Army Officers Are Cleared in Abuse Cases
One General Will Likely Get Reprimand Over Abu Ghraib

By Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 23, 2005; Page A01

An Army inspector general's report has cleared senior Army officers of wrongdoing in the abuse of military prisoners in Iraq and elsewhere, government officials familiar with the findings said yesterday.

The only Army general officer recommended for punishment for the failures that led to abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison and other facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan is Brig. Gen. Janis L. Karpinski, who was in charge of U.S. prison facilities in Iraq as commander of the 800th Military Police Brigade in late 2003 and early 2004. Several sources said Karpinski is expected to receive an administrative reprimand for dereliction of duty.

Karpinski, who has said she would fight such a charge, did not return calls yesterday. Her attorney, Neal A. Puckett, has not seen the report but said other general officers share responsibility for shortfalls. "I don't think it's fair, and it continues to make her the scapegoat for this entire situation, which has been her feeling all along," Puckett said.

The investigation essentially found no culpability on the part of Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez and three of his senior deputies, ruling that allegations they failed to prevent or stop abuses were "unsubstantiated." A military source said a 10-member team began the investigation in October and based its conclusions on the 10 major defense inquiries into abuse and interviews with 37 senior officials, including L. Paul Bremer, who led the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq. The report has not been released.

Of those 10 major inquiries, the inspector general's was designed to be the Army's final word on the responsibility of senior leadership in relation to the abuses. It was the only investigation designed to assign blame, if any, within the Army's senior leadership. Questions about Sanchez's and other senior leaders' role in approving harsh interrogation tactics -- including the use of military working dogs to intimidate detainees -- have swirled since photographs of abuse at Abu Ghraib surfaced almost exactly a year ago.

From the WP article:

.....An overarching, independent analysis of the abuses by James R. Schlesinger said senior leadership should bear responsibility. "Commanders are responsible for all their units do or fail to do, and should be held accountable for their action or inaction," the report said.

Although the Army has not officially announced the results of the investigation, senior members of the Senate Armed Services Committee staff were briefed on the results this week, Hill staff members said. Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), chairman of the committee, attended a portion of the briefing. Staff members with Sen. Carl M. Levin's (D-Mich.) office were briefed, but a spokesperson for Levin declined to comment on the issue.

Warner has been adamant about getting to the bottom of senior leadership responsibility, and he issued a statement yesterday in which he said it is "absolutely essential to determine what went wrong, up and down the chain of command, both civilian and military."

Warner did not specifically address the findings, but he vowed to have another Armed Services Committee hearing about detainee abuses after the reviews are complete, saying that he wants "to examine the adequacy of those reviews, and to offer the opportunity to senior Department and military leadership to address the issue of accountability."

-one guy-Tenor gets chopped!! Mission accomplished.

From the BBC Online
Dated Saturday April 23 8:22 GMT (1:22 am PDT)

Top brass cleared over Iraq abuse

<snip>

Human rights groups have criticised the latest findings, full details of which are to be made public after members of the US Congress are briefed.

"What this decision unfortunately continues is a pattern of exoneration and indeed promotion for many of the individuals at the heart of the torture scandal," said Amnesty International spokesman Alistair Hodgett.

"It only serves to underscore the desperate need for an independent investigation that will scrutinize the policy decisions and the individuals who made and implemented them in a manner that will expose the truth," Mr Hodgett told Reuters news agency.

Read more.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/04/24/wabu24.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/04/24/ixportal.html

By Colin Freeman
Filed: 24/04/2005

A military investigation into the culpability of the upper ranks of the US Army in Iraq's Abu Ghraib abuse scandal has cleared four out of the five most senior officers involved.

The inquiry, in effect the last word on whether army top brass allowed or encouraged abuses to be committed, has recommended that only one officer, Brig Gen Janis Karpinski, should face a formal reprimand.

Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez is in the clear over abuse
Her four colleagues in the chain of command, including Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez, the former overall commander of US forces in Iraq and the most senior officer to face investigation, were fully exonerated.

Brig Karpinski, who commanded a military police unit that sexually humiliated prisoners and forced them into so-called stress positions, has been suspended from duty since initial inquiries into the scandal began.

A bunch of sadistic underlings took part in widespread torture and were able to coordinate it, have it mirror U.S. policy elsewhere, and hide it from all in command. Yeah right.

while the other big-shots walk away unscathed. This is just BS. This prosecution should go all the way to the Oval Office where the policy of torture originated.

old saying