Seymour Hersh: How General Antonio Taguba became casualty

Army Major General Antonio M. Taguba, thank you.

blueflame


General Taguba is one of the few Brass that did the right thing by his troops and the U.S. instead of protecting his career advancement.

I wonder if DOD Chief Gates appreciates him and recognizes his courage?

BBB

Re: blueflame


If he does I doubt he says so out loud.

Thank You, General Taguba, Investigator of Abu Ghraib
Thank You, General Taguba, Investigator of Abu Ghraib
by Stacy Parker Aab
Posted June 17, 2007

Thank you. Thank you for being an officer. Thank you for staying in the military for as long you could. Thank you for being your brother's keeper. Thank you for your courage in the face of Secretary Rumsfeld and all other officers concerned first and foremost with their careers.

If you have not read General Taguba's story of investigating torture at Abu Ghraib, please do so now.

No matter how bad the news gets from Iraq, I try to take comfort in the fact that every soldier has free will, and in the end, can make his or her own decisions. They can choose life over death. They can choose to be humane. That for every soldier who tortures an inmate, there is one who refuses, one who dissuades others from joining in. That in casual and clutch situations, soldiers have the power to maneuver, to finesse, to do the right thing. That not everything is lost because a man like Rumsfeld is in charge.

Unfortunately, as documented so brilliantly in Seymour Hersh's New Yorker piece, this power to maneuver cuts both ways. The backchannels and the freelancing, while expected in wartime, reveal again what a free-for-all it is in this Iraq war, this horrible circus of death and greed that only the most dogged journalists have the stamina to keep up with, to keep braving the bombs and bullets to pull back the flaps of the tent.

So thank you, General Toguba, for believing in the rule of law when so many above you did not. Thank you for caring about the dignity and human rights of those we imprison. Thank you for exemplifying what we've always wanted to believe is inherent in the American character: fairness and decency.

And thank you, Seymour Hersh, for once again bringing painful, necessary truths to light.

Bush and Rumsfeld "Knew About Abu Ghraib"
By David Usborne
The Independent UK

Tuesday 19 June 2007

The two-star Army General who led the first military investigation into human rights abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq has bluntly questioned the integrity of former US Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld, suggesting he misled the US Congress by downplaying his own prior knowledge of what had happened.

Major General Antonio Taguba also claimed in an interview with The New Yorker magazine published yesterday that President George Bush also "had to be aware" of the atrocities despite saying at the time of the scandal that he had been out of the loop until he saw images in the US media.

The White House issued a response denying the claim, however. "The President said over three years ago that he first saw the pictures of the abuse on the television," Scott Stanzel, a spokesman, said.

In the extensive interview, Maj-Gen Taguba insisted that at the very least Mr Rumsfeld "was in denial" at a congressional hearing in May 2004, when he said he had only become aware of the extent of the abuse - and seen some of the shocking photographic evidence - one day before. The Secretary told members of Congress that the images published in the media were "not yet in the Pentagon".

Mr Rumsfeld had summoned Maj-Gen Taguba to the Pentagon on the eve of the hearing, which took place one week after first US media reports of the abuse surfaced in The New Yorker and on CBS News. Yet the General had begun his investigation several months earlier, in January 2004, and had circulated his finished report to Pentagon managers - with pictures and a video - several weeks before seeing Mr Rumsfeld. "The photographs were available to him - if he wanted to see them," Maj-Gen Taguba said.

As for the Secretary's congressional appearance, he claimed: "Rumsfeld is very perceptive and has a mind like a steel trap. There's no way he's suffering from CRS - Can't Remember ****. He's trying to acquit himself."

Mr Bush has since conceded that the abuse at Abu Ghraib is the one thing he regrets about the war in Iraq. The photographs that became public at the time - and sparked worldwide condemnation - showed US jailers humiliating inmates who were naked, hooded, on leashes or piled into a human pyramid.

Maj-Gen Taguba said that other material not yet publicly disclosed or mentioned in subsequent trials included a video showing "a male American soldier in uniform sodomising a female detainee". The first wave of images he received also included images of sexual humiliation between a father and his son.

The General said he was ordered to limit his inquiry into the conduct of military police at the jail even as he became convinced they had a green light from higher up. "Somebody was giving them guidance but I was legally prevented from further investigation into higher authority. I was limited to a box." He adds: "Even today ... those civilian and military leaders responsible should be held accountable."

The General also tells the New Yorker that he became a victim of his own dedication to finding the truth when he was subsequently forced to retire early. In early 2006, he said, he received a phone call from a higher-ranking colleague telling him he was expected to retire by January this year, after more than 30 years of service. His conclusion: he was being punished for that first investigation.

"They always shoot the messenger," Maj-Gen Taguba told Seymour Hersh of The New Yorker. "To be accused of being overzealous and disloyal - that cuts deep into me. I was being ostracised for doing what I was asked to do."