H3090 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE May 10, 2005 Third, Major General Geoffrey Miller: Ac- military judge, Col. James Pohl, declared a credibility the American occupation of Iraq cording to the Center for American Progress: mistrial after Pvt. Charles A. Graner Jr., a was clinging to when it happened. The hope, ‘‘a Guantanamo commander, Maj. Gen. Geof- former guard at Abu Ghraib, testified that at the time, was that the United States the photos were taken for training purposes. would show the world that it was different, frey Miller, was sent to Abu Ghraib to That testimony undermined England’s ad- that it would be accountable. ‘‘Gitmoize’’ it. Under his command, the Inter- mission that she knew her actions were ‘‘Watch America. Watch how we deal with national Committee of the Red Cross found in- wrong and her acceptance of responsibility. this,’’ then-Secretary of State Colin Powell terrogation techniques at Guantanamo Bay But England and the the few other enlisted said almost a year ago in a commencement are ‘‘tantamount to torture.’’ ‘‘Harsh methods’’ men and women who have faced courts mar- speech at Wake Forest University. ‘‘Watch used at the prison include forced enemas, tial in the scandal should not be the only how a nation such as ours will not tolerate sleep deprivation and chaining prisoners to ones to pay a price for what happened at Abu such actions. The world will see that we chairs and leaving them ‘‘to soil themselves.’’ Ghraib. High-level military and administra- are still a nation with a moral code that de- tion officials must not be allowed to escape fines our national character.’’ Just weeks after he visited Iraq, the now-infa- responsibility for a scandal that is far more There was reason to hope. But at the time, mous abuse occurred at Abu Ghraib. of their making than of low-ranking soldiers. Powell and others believed that al-Jamadi’s Fourth, White House Counsel Alberto Gon- So far, Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, an Army death was the only one on the military’s zalez: Gonzales was instrumental in shaping reservist who formerly ran U.S. prisons in prison watch in Iraq and Afghanistan and U.S. policy on the interrogation of prisoners. In Iraq, is the only high-level officer to be dis- that abuse was limited to a few bad apples. the now infamous 1/25/02 memo to the presi- ciplined, and she rightly regards herself as a It turned out that al-Jamadi’s death was, in- dent he wrote, ‘‘the war against terrorism is a scapegoat. deed, the only one—at Abu Ghraib. In March, new kind of war’’ and ‘‘this new paradigm ren- Congress, which abandoned its oversight the Pentagon conceded that it was inves- role during the invasion and its bloody after- ders obsolete Geneva’s strict limitations on tigating 25 other inmate deaths it has classi- math, should demand an investigation by a fied as homicides in American custody in questioning of enemy prisoners and renders bipartisan independent commission similar Iraq and Afghanistan since 2002. If that many quaint some of its provisions.’’ Gonzalez also to the Sept. 11 commission. inmates have been killed in prisons and de- advised President Bush that laws prohibiting Instead of starting at the bottom, as the tention centers under American supervision torture do ‘‘not apply to the President’s deten- military’s whitewashes have done, the panel in the two countries, it is unlikely that the tion and interrogation of enemy combatants’’ should start at the top with Defense Sec- beatings, the abuses, the tortures that lead and an interrogation tactic only constituted tor- retary Donald Rumsfeld, who failed to plan to such homicides would be limited to a few ture if it resulted in ‘‘death, organ failure, or for postwar Iraq and then failed to adjust his bad apples. plans after the insurgency began. Rumsfeld serious impairment of body functions.’’ Yet that’s the upshot of 11 investigations is the reason why there were insufficient and reports of what went wrong. Some of the Last but surely not least, President George numbers of prison guards in Iraq and why reports judged the Pentagon severely and W. Bush: The President is not last on this list they had inadequate training and murky called for corrective action and punish- for no reason, Mr. Speaker. Harry Truman guidelines. Rumsfeld also made the decision ments. But it was up to the Army to act, be- proudly proclaimed ‘‘the Buck Stops Here.’’ It to authorize harsh interrogation techniques cause President Bush refused to give anyone would seem this Commander in Chief believes for detainees at Guantanamo Bay and then else authority to do more than advise. the buck stops far before that Pentagon, White to apply those methods in Iraq. So the Army judged (and protected) its House or Oval Office. Next on the list should be Attorney Gen- own. The Army has cleared four of the top eral Alberto Gonzales, who three years ago Mr. Speaker, why is Congress receiving five officers overseeing prisons in Iraq. It prepared a legal opinion stating that Geneva isn’t clear whether it has investigated offi- more information on these atrocities from the Conventions protections for detainees in Af- cers supervising prisons in Afghanistan (with news media than the President, his staff or the ghanistan were ‘‘obsolete.’’ That opinion, at least two reported inmate deaths) or Department of Defense on? Moreover, why along with his endorsement of the harsh in- Guantanamo Bay. Of 353 cases of abuse the does he refuse to acknowledge that either he terrogation methods, contributed to the Army investigated (the number alone belies or his immediate advisers are primarily re- abuses at Abu Ghraib. Also high on the list any suggestion of a limited problem), 225 are sponsible for the culture of abuse ‘‘Bring em should be Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the closed. Of 124 soldiers who faced disciplinary on’’ spawned by their reinvention of prisoner former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, action, virtually all were the small fry of en- who cleared the use of interrogation tech- listed personnel. While 17 have been thrown interrogation policies? niques in Iraq that violated Geneva Conven- Privates and Corporals in the Army Guard out of the Army, seven low-ranked soldiers tions. have faced punishment that range anywhere and Reserves are not responsible for the The judge in England’s case dismissed from forfeiting half a month’s pay to—in one atrocities at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere. They charges against her because of testimony in- case—10 years in prison. One general, Janis were only operating in an atmosphere created, dicating others were to blame. England Karpinski, was demoted and given a written fostered and encouraged by top echelon at should face justice. But the civilian and reprimand. She was in charge of Abu Ghraib the Pentagon and White House. military leaders who sent her to Iraq and prison. Why are we not pursuing those truly respon- who bear larger responsibility for the illegal That’s it. That’s where U.S. accountability sible for these crimes? Harry Truman would and immoral abuses that occurred there ends. Condoleezza Rice, Powell’s successor at should be held accountable as well. fully assume the role of Commander in the State Department, told Europeans dur- ing her visit a few weeks ago that ‘‘bad Chief—not just troop deployment but troop de- [From the Daytona Beach News-Journal, things happened at Abu Ghraib that, as the portment and frankly, the truth. May 10, 2005] president said, make us sick to our stomach. [From the Register-Guard, May 9, 2005] ABU GHRAIB WHITEWASH But the real test of a democratic country is GO HIGHER ON ABU GHRAIB: TOP OFFICIALS On Nov. 4, 2003, Manadel al-Jamadi was how one deals with those.’’ The sickening SHOULDN’T ESCAPE RESPONSIBILITY found dead in the showers of Abu Ghraib test result is the scandal has been lumped on Sooner or later, Pfc. Lynndie England will prison outside Baghdad. Al-Jamadi was a de- the back of just a few lowly soldiers. be convicted for her role in abusing and tainee who, according to a Navy SEAL testi- f humiliating Iraqi prisoners at the infamous fying in a military court a year later, had Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. probably been beaten by interrogators the CAFTA Anyone tempted to shed tears over the night before. Several soldiers posed for pic- The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a prospect of the young Army reservist spend- tures besides the body, grinning and with previous order of the House, the gen- ing time behind bars need only remember the their thumbs up. Five months later CBS tleman from Ohio (Mr. BROWN) is rec- photographs that showed England leering as broadcast those images and many more, in- ognized for 5 minutes. she pointed to the genitals of a male captive, cluding those of naked Iraqi prisoners forced and as she led a naked prisoner around by a into human pyramids by their captors, of Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, leash. prisoners leashed like animals or terrorized today more than 400 union workers and These images shamed both U.S. critics and by dogs and to the seeming entertainment of Members of Congress gathered in front supporters of the U.S. invasion. They also their American captors. of the United States Capitol delivering had a devastating impact on American ef- Whether American soldiers abused detain- a united message: vote ‘‘no’’ on the forts to win support in Iraq and throughout ees ‘‘for their own amusement,’’ as Pfc.