An official report on the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal yesterday blamed a failure of leadership at the Pentagon for negligence over prison conditions and confusion over interrogation rules which led to "Animal House" sadism in the Iraqi jail. The report, by a four-member panel of Pentagon advisers, did not pin direct responsibility on the defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, by name, nor did it find any top officials legally culpable.

The worst abuse at Abu Ghraib, it said, was carried out by night shift guards. But the report represented an implicit indictment of the defence secretary's management of the defence department. "We believe there is institutional and personal responsibility right up the chain of command as far as Washington is concerned," James Schlesinger, a former defence secretary who chaired the panel, told reporters yesterday. Mr Rumsfeld issued a non-committal response last night. "The panel has provided important information and recommendations that will be of assistance in our ongoing efforts to improve detention operations," he said in a statement. "The defence department has an obligation to evaluate what happened and to make appropriate changes. The independent panel's contributions will be of great help to us."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1290303,00.html

Source:
Aftermath News
Top Stories - August 26th, 2004