The stench of Abu Ghraib is on the White House, the
stench of the White House is on Abu Ghraib. Al Gore
knows it, you know it, I know it, Sy Hirsch knows it.
Will the network news organizations and major city
newspapers stand up to the Bush cabal or will they let
soldiers take the rap for the demented policies of the
Bush abomination itself?
Michael Hirsh and John Barry, Newsweek: But numerous
critics—not just in the human-rights community, but in
Congress and the U.S. military as well—insist that the
current probes are still too limited to bring full
accountability. Some critics say Donald Rumsfeld's
Defense Department is doing its best to stop
potentially incriminating information from coming out,
that it's deflecting Congress's inquiries and
shielding higher-ups from investigation. Documents
obtained by NEWSWEEK also suggest that Rumsfeld's
aides are trying hard to contain the scandal, even
within the Pentagon. Defense Under Secretary Douglas
Feith, who is in charge of setting policy on prisoners
and detainees in occupied Iraq, has banned any
discussion of the still-classified report on Abu
Ghraib written by Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, which has
circulated around the world. Shortly after the Taguba
report leaked in early May, Feith subordinates sent an
"urgent" e-mail around the Pentagon warning officials
not to read the report, even though it was on Fox
News. In the e-mail, a copy of which was obtained by
NEWSWEEK, officials in Feith's office warn that the
leak is being investigated for "criminal prosecution"
and that no one should mention the Taguba report to
anybody, even to family members. Feith has turned his
office into a "ministry of fear," says one military
lawyer. A spokesman for Feith, Maj. Paul Swiergosz,
says the e-mail warning was intended to prevent
employees from downloading a classified report onto
unclassified computers.
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The Abu Ghraib Scandal Cover-Up?
Bush insists that 'a few American troops' dishonored
the country. But prisoner abuse was more widespread,
and some insiders believe that much remains hidden
Is Rumsfeld's Defense Department obstructing
investigations into abuses at Abu Ghraib (pictured
earlier this month)?
By Michael Hirsh and John Barry
NewsweekJune 7 issue - The meeting was small and
unpublicized. In a room on the third floor of the Old
Executive Office Building last week, Condoleezza Rice
grittily endured an hour's worth of pleading from
leading human-rights activists who want to see a
9/11-style commission created to investigate the abuse
of detainees in the war on terror. According to
participants, the president's national-security
adviser didn't repeat the line that George W. Bush had
delivered to the American people in a speech two days
before: that the scandal was the work of "a few
American troops who dishonored our country." Nor did
Rice try to make the case that by razing Iraq's Abu
Ghraib Prison—a Bush proposal that took even his
Defense secretary by surprise—administration officials
would put the scandal behind them. "I recognize we
have a very grave problem," Rice said, according to
Scott Horton, a New York lawyer at the meeting whose
account was corroborated by another participant.
"There are major investigations going on right now to
fully understand the scope and nature of it."
But numerous critics—not just in the human-rights
community, but in Congress and the U.S. military as
well—insist that the current probes are still too
limited to bring full accountability. Some critics say
Donald Rumsfeld's Defense Department is doing its best
to stop potentially incriminating information from
coming out, that it's deflecting Congress's inquiries
and shielding higher-ups from investigation. Documents
obtained by NEWSWEEK also suggest that Rumsfeld's
aides are trying hard to contain the scandal, even
within the Pentagon. Defense Under Secretary Douglas
Feith, who is in charge of setting policy on prisoners
and detainees in occupied Iraq, has banned any
discussion of the still-classified report on Abu
Ghraib written by Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, which has
circulated around the world. Shortly after the Taguba
report leaked in early May, Feith subordinates sent an
"urgent" e-mail around the Pentagon warning officials
not to read the report, even though it was on Fox
News. In the e-mail, a copy of which was obtained by
NEWSWEEK, officials in Feith's office warn that the
leak is being investigated for "criminal prosecution"
and that no one should mention the Taguba report to
anybody, even to family members. Feith has turned his
office into a "ministry of fear," says one military
lawyer. A spokesman for Feith, Maj. Paul Swiergosz,
says the e-mail warning was intended to prevent
employees from downloading a classified report onto
unclassified computers.
More worrisome, critics say, is that the Pentagon is
investigating itself. Maj. Gen. George Fay, the No. 2
in Army Military Intelligence, is in charge of the
probe into whether his own intel officers directed the
MPs to abuse prisoners. But so far Fay has questioned
no one above the rank of colonel, military and other
sources say. Among those critical of Fay is Sgt.
Samuel Provance, who was formerly in military
intelligence at Abu Ghraib and has told reporters in
recent weeks that the Army is engaged in a cover-up.
"I had to volunteer more information than was being
asked of me [by Fay]. It was like I was adding to his
burden," Provance told NEWSWEEK last week. "There are
so many soldiers directly involved who haven't been
talked to."