The latest Pentagon investigation of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal found that more than two dozen military intelligence soldiers were involved in the abuses, but said that most of the errant behavior was not the result of official policies and did not occur in the course of gathering intelligence.
Rather, it concluded that the major cause of the abuse at the prison outside Baghdad was human failings. "The primary causes are misconduct (ranging from inhumane to sadistic) by a small group of morally corrupt soldiers and civilians, a lack of discipline on the part of the leaders and soldiers . . . and a failure or lack of leadership" at several levels of command, states the report, which was released at 1:30 p.m. by the Army.
One of 11 official inquiries into the military's handling and interrogation of detainees over the past three years, the new report is the first to focus on the role of military intelligence troops in the abuse and torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib. The primary investigators were Maj. Gen. George R. Fay and Lt. Gen. Anthony R. Jones.
"In the course of this investigation, we discovered serious misconduct and a loss of moral values," Army Gen. Paul Kern, who oversaw the investigation, told reporters at the Pentagon today. "We set out on our course to find the truth, not to whitewash, and also not to convict those people who were not incriminated.
"We found that the pictures you have seen, as revolting as they are, were not the result of any doctrine, training or policy failures, but violations of the law and misconduct. We learned there were leaders who knew about this misconduct, knew better, and did nothing."
The report's release comes a day after a separate panel issued a related review of the Defense Department's role in creating the conditions that led to the scandal and its subsequent handling of that matter. That review, led by former defense secretary James R. Schlesinger, faulted Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld for failing to react quickly last summer as the Iraqi insurgency erupted, but was even more critical of top generals in the chain of command, saying they should have realized that more specialized troops were needed to deal with the deteriorating situation.
The new report says that 27 military intelligence soldiers and civilian contractors "allegedly requested, encouraged, condoned or solicited" the abuse of Iraqi detainees, it said. But, it continued, "Most, though not all, of the violent or sexual abuses occurred separately from scheduled interrogations and did not focus on persons held for intelligence purposes."
This latest report is based on 170 interviews and a review of more than 9,000 documents by a staff of 28 investigators, analysts and legal advisors. But it is far from the last statement in the matter. Seven low-ranking members of the 372nd Military Police Company, which provided guards for the prison's cellblocks, already have been charged in connection with the abuses, and more legal proceedings against other soldiers and perhaps some civilian contractors are expected.
Prosecutors told a military court in Mannheim, Germany, yesterday that they were nearing a decision on whether to charge two senior U.S. Army intelligence officers for their roles in the scandal. The possible charges against Lt. Col. Steven Jordan, formerly in charge of interrogations at Abu Ghraib, and his superior, Col. Thomas Pappas, would be the first brought against officers and members of interrogation units at the prison.
Two previous reports were issued on abuses in Iraq. One finds fault at the highest levels of the Pentagon, and a second focuses on military intelligence.
