US letter questioned applicability of Geneva Conventions: report

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US military sent a confidential letter to a Red Cross official last December asserting that many Iraqi prisoners were not entitled to the full protections of the Geneva Conventions.


The New York Times reported that the letter, drafted by military lawyers and signed by Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, emphasized the "military necessity" of isolating some inmates at Abu Ghraib prison for interrogation because of their "significant intelligence value."


It also said prisoners held as security risks could legally be treated differently from prisoners of war or ordinary criminals, according to the report.


The letter contradicts recent public statements by Bush administration officials, including those of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who have said that the Geneva Conventions were fully applicable in Iraq (news - web sites).

more

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/us_iraq_prisoners_geneva

eom

did not know a thing I tell you, somebody FAKED her signature, I tell you.

Sadly I expect an excuse like this sooner or later...

,...HAHAHA,...she demands an expert to analyze the handwriting and the expert finds that it was forged and likely the writing of ??????

Oh, man,...this administration has everyone grabbing for one another as they are flooded in very high waters.

What a crock!

:puke:



http://www.wgoeshome.com

there was a volley between some folks...letter was drafted by Sanchez's military lawyers for Karpinski to sign, IIRC.

The part of it dealing with protecting civilian populations?

Karpinski will not be a fall girl. If she goes down she will take everyone she can with her. I hope they go for it . They would be toast.

~snip~
Karpinski's account of the letter and the sequence of events as the Abu Ghraib scandal began to emerge contradicts those of her superiors, who have said they did not react to the abuses sooner because it took months for the reports of problems to rise to their level.


The first report of abuses at Abu Ghraib was given to Army officials by the International Committee of the Red Cross last November. It was not until January, after an enlisted man working as a guard at Abu Ghraib passed photographs of abuses to his superiors, that senior Army officials began to investigate.


But the letter Karpinski signed rejecting the original Red Cross allegations was written in December. And if, as she insisted Monday, the letter was drafted in part by advisers to Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the U.S. ground commander in Iraq (news - web sites), that strongly suggests the allegations of abuses had already reached Sanchez's headquarters.
~snip~

She said the letter took on several draft forms, and was repeatedly sent back and forth between her command and Sanchez's office of legal counsel -- an assertion borne out at a congressional hearing last week. Finally, she said, she signed the letter.


"I'm aware now that that response was written precisely for my signature, precisely to avoid any discussions about the allegations that the Red Cross was raising," she said.

~snip~
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2026&e=12&u=/latimests/generaloverseeingprisonssaysshewassetupbyarmy

And anyone else who ordered the issuance of the letter.