Post by bot on Jun 8, 2004 23:19:13 GMT -5
All Iraq Prison Abuse Papers to Senate - Pentagon
Tue Jun 8, 2004 07:03 PM ET
www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5376466
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon claims it has sent to a Senate committee all documents from the Army investigation into Iraqi prisoner abuses omitted from a report sent earlier to Congress, a senator said on Tuesday.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner said the Army sent a memo on Monday "certifying that the committee now has 'a true and accurate copy' of the report by U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba on the sexual humiliation and physical abuse of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.
Warner's office declined to describe the latest batch of documents, as lawmakers try to determine whether the abuses were the work of a few rogue soldiers or resulted from policies set higher up the chain of command.
The Senate committee, which is leading the congressional probe of U.S. abuses of Iraqi prisoners, has been seeking all of the documents since May 13 after lawmakers realized that some 2,000 pages of legal reviews and other documents were not included in its copy of the report submitted by the Pentagon.
Warner said he also sought additional statements and other documents that were not made a part of the Taguba report.
"I continue to believe that the department is complying in good faith with this request, and will continue to monitor its cooperation on these and other matters connected to our oversight of the prisoner abuse situation," Warner, a Virginia Republican, said in a statement.
The Bush administration has contended that the abuses -- revealed to the world by the news media in graphic photographs of naked prisoners stacked in a pyramid, simulating sex acts, or cowering from guard dogs -- were done by a few soldiers who were military police.
Military police officers told Taguba they were acting under orders from intelligence commanders. Seven U.S. Army reservists were charged in the abuses at the prison.
A number of lawmakers are questioning whether the egregious mistreatment resulted from policies set higher up the chain of command, even by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
While some Republicans have argued that the scandal has drawn too much congressional attention, Warner has said he will continue to hold hearings on the matter.
© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.
Tue Jun 8, 2004 07:03 PM ET
www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5376466
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon claims it has sent to a Senate committee all documents from the Army investigation into Iraqi prisoner abuses omitted from a report sent earlier to Congress, a senator said on Tuesday.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner said the Army sent a memo on Monday "certifying that the committee now has 'a true and accurate copy' of the report by U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba on the sexual humiliation and physical abuse of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.
Warner's office declined to describe the latest batch of documents, as lawmakers try to determine whether the abuses were the work of a few rogue soldiers or resulted from policies set higher up the chain of command.
The Senate committee, which is leading the congressional probe of U.S. abuses of Iraqi prisoners, has been seeking all of the documents since May 13 after lawmakers realized that some 2,000 pages of legal reviews and other documents were not included in its copy of the report submitted by the Pentagon.
Warner said he also sought additional statements and other documents that were not made a part of the Taguba report.
"I continue to believe that the department is complying in good faith with this request, and will continue to monitor its cooperation on these and other matters connected to our oversight of the prisoner abuse situation," Warner, a Virginia Republican, said in a statement.
The Bush administration has contended that the abuses -- revealed to the world by the news media in graphic photographs of naked prisoners stacked in a pyramid, simulating sex acts, or cowering from guard dogs -- were done by a few soldiers who were military police.
Military police officers told Taguba they were acting under orders from intelligence commanders. Seven U.S. Army reservists were charged in the abuses at the prison.
A number of lawmakers are questioning whether the egregious mistreatment resulted from policies set higher up the chain of command, even by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
While some Republicans have argued that the scandal has drawn too much congressional attention, Warner has said he will continue to hold hearings on the matter.
© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.