Pentagon too slow to decry shameful U.S. acts in Iraq

The shocking disclosure that U.S. soldiers humiliated and abused Iraqi prisoners prompted President Bush (news - web sites) to add his own words of outrage Monday. According to his spokesman, Bush ordered Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to make sure offenders are punished for "shameful and appalling acts" at the Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad. That is the same place where Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) once tortured his opponents.

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Nearly as disturbing as the repulsive behavior by some U.S. soldiers is the fact that the Pentagon (news - web sites) has been so slow to share the sense of outrage over their actions, even though it has known about the allegations for almost six months.


First, Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, asked CBS to delay its broadcast of the photos on the grounds that the timing would be too inflammatory in Iraq (news - web sites). Then this past weekend, he cast the scandal as the acts of a few rogue offenders, before admitting that he couldn't be sure. He acknowledged he hadn't yet read the report that was completed in February. Pentagon officials said Monday that Rumsfeld had not read the report, either.


Efforts by the Pentagon's top brass to suppress the scandal rather than move swiftly and decisively to punish offenders suggest that the U.S. military doesn't practice the values it wants Iraq to embrace. They include respect for human rights and public accountability.

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more: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=679&ncid=742&e=1&u=/usatoday/20040504/cm_usatoday/pentagontooslowtodecryshamefulusactsiniraq