Inspector (David Kay) warned U.S. officials of Iraqi prisoner abuse

Inspector says he warned U.S. officials of Iraqi prisoner abuse

May 6, 2004

Inspector says he warned U.S. officials of Iraqi prisoner abuse

By BOB GIBSON
Media General News Service

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- David Kay, the man who led the U.S. search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, says he repeatedly told people about problems with the interrogation of prisoners, but the military ignored him.

"I was there and I kept saying the interrogation process is broken. The prison process is broken. And no one wanted to deal with it," Kay said. "It was too, too distasteful. This is a known problem, and the military refuses to deal with it."

snip...

Anything less than severe action, which he described as a "hanging," against a two- or three-star general in charge means "in the Middle East, they are always going to believe we did it as part of a sanctioned process," Kay said.

"I am terribly worried that if we only charge the seven or 15 reservists who were involved and condemn the contractors who were involved and maybe the one-star reserve general who was in charge of this overall military prison unit, I think we will have done a horrible mistake," Kay said.

"Who's responsible for their behavior? Or are they scot-free?" Kay asked. He said that contract employees could be charged by a federal prosecutor with "violating a normative international law" but cannot be touched by the military that hired them because "the only sanction the military has against them is removal."

more at link...

http://www.morningnewsonline.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=FMN/MGArticle/FMN_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031775300094&path=!news

Marshall offers no link, but I'm sure The Nelson Report can be googled.


(May 06, 2004 -- 08:05 PM EDT // link // print)

An interesting tidbit from this evening's edition of The (must-read) Nelson Report ...

We can contribute a second hand anecdote to newspaper stories on rising concern, last year, from Secretary of State Powell and Deputy Secretary Armitage about Administration attitudes and the risks they might entail: according to eye witnesses to debate at the highest levels of the Administration...the highest levels...whenever Powell or Armitage sought to question prisoner treatment issues, they were forced to endure what our source characterizes as "around the table, coarse, vulgar, frat-boy bully remarks about what these tough guys would do if THEY ever got their hands on prisoners...."

-- let's be clear: our source is not alleging "orders" from the White House. Our source is pointing out that, as we said in the Summary, a fish rots from its head. The atmosphere created by Rumsfeld's controversial decisions was apparently aided and abetted by his colleagues in their callous disregard for the implications of the then-developing situation, and by their ridicule of the only combat veterans at the top of this Administration.

Tough guys ...
-- Josh Marshall
www.talkingpointsmemo.com

in which Bush said something like "let's put it this way, they won't be causing trouble any more," referring to terrorists -- maybe in Afghanistan?

I remember thinking at the time that he sounded like a vigilante, and that he was clearly implying that people would be killed (no messy trials?) and he was pretty cool to be saying that.

Sadly, my brain only retains the vague outline of this. Anyone know what I'm talking about, since I don't?

If they were EVIL Doers!

Edit} The contractor problem is the biggie here that they are trying to hide! Tom DeLay is leading the charge to duck and cover!

The civilian contractors isn't what this administration wants to be investigated. They don't want to talk about who they are, who they work for and who approved of using these methods?

Can anyone remember junior saying that we were going to find those WMD from some loose talking Iraqi? Rummy said it, Powell said it and hell knows who Else.

So let's talk about those civilian contractors and their connections with the CIA

He is in denial or has not read MG Taguba's report. I just saw him on GMA and he has his mind made up before the rummy hearing that it is just and isolated incident of abuse and not systematic. Swell.... :(

He and Tom DeLayanyinvestigation had a heart to heart chat with KKKarl and set up plan A "operation sweep under the rug"! Oh that's right, they could not have had a heart to heart chat, for obvious reasons!