INTERVIEW-US unsure when, if can hand over prisons to Iraq

BAGHDAD, Feb 2 (Reuters) - U.S. forces are taking longer than expected to train Iraqis to run their prisons and have no clear view of when, if ever, they can entrust security suspects they hold to the overall control of the Iraqi authorities.

Acknowledging reports of torture and abuse in Iraqi-run prisons, the commander of U.S. camps that house 15,500 detainees said he was working to raise standards among Iraqis to the point where Washington can hand over its responsibilities without breaching its obligations to protect its prisoners from harm.

"The biggest challenge is legal authority to hold detainees," Major General Jack Gardner told Reuters in an interview, saying Iraq first needed appropriate facilities and to show it could meet international "standards of care".

"That's the goal. If we meet those criteria, then we will transfer. If we don't, we won't. It's not time dependent."

Washington is training Iraqis to run its military prisons at Camp Bucca in the south and at Camp Cropper near Baghdad, which replaced the ill-famed Abu Ghraib jail last year. It is also offering training to guards in Iraq's own prisons, while local U.S. units are expected to check on Iraqi jails in their areas.

more;http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MAC223380.htm

Yeah..America, a war crime nation, that has a government policy of torture, indefinite detentions without due process, extraordinary renditions and "aggressive interrogation methods" is worried about meeting international standards of care.

You betcha.

There's nothing more to say about the content besides the all too common responses of :puke: and :mad:.

add: left a word out

America should know how to run prisons since we have the highest incarceration rate on the planet here in "the land of the free".

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0818/p02s01-usju.html

"If a person who indulges in gluttony is a glutton, and a person who commits a felony is a felon, then God is an iron."

-Spider Robinson