- A military investigation into the culpability of the
upper ranks of the US Army in Iraq's Abu Ghraib abuse scandal has cleared
four out of the five most senior officers involved.
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- The inquiry, in effect the last word on whether army
top brass allowed or encouraged abuses to be committed, has recommended
that only one officer, Brig Gen Janis Karpinski, should face a formal reprimand.
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- Her four colleagues in the chain of command, including
Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez, the former overall commander of US forces in Iraq
and the most senior officer to face investigation, were fully exonerated.
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- Brig Karpinski, who commanded a military police unit
that sexually humiliated prisoners and forced them into so-called stress
positions, has been suspended from duty since initial inquiries into the
scandal began.
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- The reprimand recommended by the inspector general's
report will effectively end her career, although she has repeatedly claimed
to have been a scapegoat for the failures of superiors.
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- Overall, however, the reports' conclusions have drawn
accusations of double standards from human rights groups and relatives
of rank-and-file soldiers, many of whom have faced courts martial for their
roles in the abuse.
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- Five soldiers assigned to guard duties at the Baghdad
jail have already been convicted of or pleaded guilty to charges of physical
and sexual abuse against prisoners, including the alleged ring-leader,
Specialist Charles A. Graner Jr, who was jailed by a military court for
10 years.
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- In an interview with the New York Times, which published
details of the findings yesterday, Anthony Romero, the executive director
of the American Civil Liberties Union, said: "This further underscores
the military's inability to look into -allegations of torture and abuse.
It's just another effort to paper over the scandal." Democrat politicians,
who have been privately briefed alongside Republican colleagues on the
report, also said this weekend that they intend to challenge the findings
once they have examined them in detail.
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- Among the findings of one of the 10 previous Abu Ghraib
investigations was that Gen Sanchez had at one point approved the use of
severe interrogation practices which led indirectly to some of the abuses.
Another, led by a former US defence secretary, James Schlesinger, ruled
last August that Gen Sanchez had failed to ensure that his staff dealt
with problems at the prison when they were first raised internally.
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- While the inspector general, Lt Gen Stanley Green, has
not yet commented on his findings or even confirmed the identities of the
officers involved, three senior defence officials associated with the inquiry
have privately confirmed that he found extenuating circumstances in most
cases.
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- Among the mitigating factors were that Gen Sanchez's
forces in Iraq lacked sufficient manpower and could therefore not be fully
culpable for any management shortcomings that allowed abuse.
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- The inquiry also found that the upsurge of guerrilla
violence that coincided with the start of Gen Sanchez's tour of duty of
in June 2003 meant that his military priorities were understandably focused
elsewhere.
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- Other officials cleared by the report include Gen Sanchez's
former deputy, Major Gen Walter Wojdakowski, Maj Gen Barbara Fast, the
former chief intelligence officer at Abu Ghraib, and Col Marc Warren, the
command's top legal officer.
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- Gen Sanchez is currently head of the army's V Corps,
based in Germany. It is not clear whether he will be given a new senior
assignment when his command ends this summer.
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- The inspector general is still examining the roles of
seven other senior officers.
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- © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2005.
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- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main
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