NRO's Jed Babbin writes:
"Dated February 26, 2004, the 50-odd-page investigation report, which I have obtained, states that a pattern of prisoner abuse existed for several months. The details are sickening."
Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, the American officer in charge of the facility, claims that she knew nothing of the abuse until after the fact:
"Karpinski is defending herself by passing the blame to others. She told the New York Times that, "...she knew nothing about the abuse until weeks after it occurred and that she was "sickened" by the pictures. She said the prison cellblock where the abuse occurred was under the tight control of Army military intelligence officers who may have encouraged the abuse." Though Karpinski is clearly culpable, she shouldn't shoulder all the blame. Others clearly should — and will — share it." (Emphasis mine - aa.)
If BGen. Karpinski is telling the truth, then this should sound alarm bells about the internal secrecy that we allow in our military establishments, where one hand doesn't know what the other is doing. We all understand the need for legitimate security, but intelligence units must not be allowed to operate in an atmosphere where they think the rules are for the rest of the military but not for them. Read the whole article here.
