Former Abu Ghraib Commander Repeats Allegation That Rumsfeld Ordered Abuses

Now that the mini-dictator, Donald Rumsfeld, has stepped down from the office of Secretary of Defense, more generals are stepping up with their reactions and feedback regarding his manner of leadership and failure to take responsibility for his policies, practices and actions.

Although Rumsfeld was in the Navy, he never served in combat and never faced the realities of war. As a naval aviator serving in predominantly peace time, and never in a combat area, he never really had to put his life on the line. He never had to hump a 75-pound pack through all kinds of terrain. He was never responsible for the lives of hundreds of troops. As a result, he really was not able to deal with the decisions that led to putting troops into harm's way.

Perhaps that is why he did not understand the need for proper armor in vehicles being attacked by IEDs and geurilla tactics. Maybe it is because he never had to face the dangers of war in a personal manner that he did not supply our troops with proper body armor that could have prevented over 80% of our casualties and injuries. Perhaps it is because he did not understand the needs of ground troops that he allowed his ideology, ego and stubbornness to undermine our troops, our field commanders and our generals. Perhaps it is because he never had to face actual capture that he was all too willing to allow torture, maltreatment and violation of the Geneva Conventions, our own Constitution and the very principles of justice and human decency.

But whatever the reasons, Rumsfeld was a lousy leader for our military. He shut down objections of field commanders and refused to hear any criticism of his plans. He refused to hear any criticism that indicated he was acting unjustly--at least until such time as it was clear that the political and public opinion winds were blowing against him.

We have seen lower-ranked troops blamed and prosecuted for the events at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere. We have seen the career of Brigadier General Janis Karpinski undermined because she followed orders (note bene: PBS Frontline has several documentaries that support my understanding of these events). Yet, we have not seen Rumsfeld held accountable for his loss of control and lack of adherence to our laws and principles.

Finally, however, people that were subjected to the domineering despotic dicatator-style leadership of Rumsfeld are now free to speak out. While I truly believe that each soldier involved in the violation of basic human rights and breach of the Constitution and several treaties should be prosecuted, I believe it is a grave injustice to allow Rumsfeld and those generals and underlings that exhibited unquestioning loyalty to his unlawful actions and orders to go untouched by the long-arm of our law. Rumsfeld is as responsible for Abu Ghraid as was PFC England and the NCOs that were on duty when incidents occurred.

Former Abu Ghraib commander Janis Karpinski has repeated her claim that outgoing US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld personally ordered "making prisoners stand for long periods, sleep deprivation ... playing music at full volume" and so on at the now infamous Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Karpinski told Spanish newspaper El Pais in an interview published Saturday that she saw a memorandum ordering the use of these methods, which rights groups and others consider torture in violation of the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war. The letter was allegedly signed by Rumsfeld with the handwritten words, "make sure this is accomplished." Karpinski, who claims to have been unaware of the abuses at Abu Ghraib until pictures surfaced in the press, earlier alleged the existence of the memo in an interview with law professor Marjorie Cohn, now president of the National Lawyers Guild, in August 2005. The former Army Brigadier General has also charged that Rumsfeld further violated the Geneva Convention by "ordering us to hold [a] prisoner without registering him... on various occasions."

Karpinski, the only high-ranking military officer to be punished in connection with the abuse scandal, alleged early last year that the interrogation techniques were approved by top US officials and has testified to that effect in support of a recent bid to have the German federal prosecutor bring war crimes charges against Rumsfeld and others under German universal jurisdiction laws. According to that testimony:

[a Sergeant at Abu Ghraib] pointed out a memo posted on a column just outside of their small administrative office. The memorandum was signed by the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, and it discussed Authorized Interrogation techniques including use of loud music and prolonged standing positions, amongst several other techniques. It was one page. It mentioned stress positions, noise and light discipline, the use of music, disrupting sleep patterns, those types of techniques. There was also a handwritten note out to the side in the same ink and in the same script as the signature of the Secretary of Defense. The notation written in the margin said “Make sure this happens!” This memorandum was a copy; a photocopy of the original, I would imagine. I thought it was unusual for an interrogation memorandum to be posted inside of a detention cell block, because interrogations were not conducted in the cell block, at least to my understanding and knowledge. Interrogations were conducted in one of the two interrogation facilities outside of the hard site.

This was the command of Donald Rumsfeld himself talking about the specific interrogation techniques he was authorizing. And there was the note – the handwritten note out to the side. It said, "Make sure this happens." And it seemed to be in the same handwriting as the signature. And people understood it to be from Rumsfeld. This is all of what I can say about the memorandum.

Karpinski maintains her innocence in the Abu Ghraib scandal, claiming to be a scapegoat targeted for being a woman and a reservist. She has also derided "corruption like I've never seen it before" in the US-run Coalition Provisional Authority that ran Iraq before a transitional Iraqi government took over in June 2004.