Leadership Failures at Pentagon Contributed to Abu Ghraib Abuse

Strategic Insights -

A high-level panel has concluded that leadership failures at the highest levels of the Pentagon, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and military command in Iraq contributed to the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison and other facilities. Defense officials said the report, to be released Tuesday, does not explicitly blame Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, but implies that he and his top civilian and military aides failed to exercise sufficient oversight over detention policies and interrogation practices.

Key Takeaways:

  • The report criticizes the Joint Staff for not recognizing the overwhelming burden on military police officers at Abu Ghraib, while the ratio of prisoners to guards was much lower at the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
  • The panel faults Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the top commander in Iraq at the time, for not paying close enough attention to worsening conditions at Abu Ghraib, delegating oversight to subordinates.
  • The report recommends revamping training and policy for military police operations in counterinsurgencies like those in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  • The panel also criticizes the leadership of Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, commander of the 800th Military Police Brigade at Abu Ghraib, a criticism echoed by Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba's inquiry.
  • The panel members are Harold Brown, a former defense secretary; Tillie K. Fowler, a former Republican congresswoman from Florida and chairwoman of the investigation into sexual misconduct at the United States Air Force Academy; and Gen. Charles A. Horner, a retired four-star Air Force officer who led the air campaign in the Persian Gulf war in 1991.
  • The Senate Armed Services Committee has scheduled two hearings for September 9 to review the findings of the panel and the Army investigation.
  • The panel, led by James R. Schlesinger, a former defense secretary, interviewed only about two dozen people, but focused on senior policy makers and commanders.

Statistics:

  • The panel recommended revamping training and policy for military police operations in counterinsurgencies like those in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  • The panel also recommended improving the oversight and command structure of detention centers.
  • The detention center at Abu Ghraib had a ratio of 34 prisoners to 1 guard in November 2003, while the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had a ratio of 640 to 1.
  • The panel spent eight months reviewing the Abu Ghraib abuse, interviewing about two dozen people.

Sources:

  • "Defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity" (The New York Times)
  • "The Schlesinger panel's report and a high-level Army investigation into the role of military intelligence officials in the misconduct, which is also set to be released this week" (The New York Times)
  • "A report by the Army inspector general last month identified the same issue" (The New York Times)
  • "Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba's inquiry" (The New York Times)
  • "The Senate Armed Services Committee has scheduled two hearings for Sept. 9 to review the findings of the panel and the Army investigation" (The New York Times)
  • "The panel, led by James R. Schlesinger, a former defense secretary, interviewed only about two dozen people, but focused on senior policy makers and commanders" (The New York Times)