Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Tuesday, May 11, 2004 |
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WASHINGTON/LONDON, MAY 10. Fresh revelations about abuse at the Abu Ghraib jail near Baghdad — with photographs of a naked and cowering prisoner in front of barking dogs — overwhelmed the Bush administration's efforts to contain the prisoner abuse scandal yesterday and placed the future of the Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, in further jeopardy. The photographs, which appeared in the New Yorker magazine, undermined White House efforts to contain the scandal by announcing the first prosecution of a soldier from Abu Ghraib prison. Misgivings about the Pentagon leadership came from unexpected quarters yesterday. A series of interviews with senior officers in yesterday's Washington Post painted a disturbing portrait of a military establishment harbouring grave doubts about the leadership. The misgivings did not directly address the abuse scandal. However, the furore about the treatment of prisoners appears to have crystallised discontent about Mr. Rumsfeld's strategy for post-war Iraq, and his abrasive management style. One general told the Post that America would lose the war in Iraq unless it had a radical change of course, and he put the blame for the debacle directly on Mr. Rumsfeld, and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz. ``I do not believe we had a clearly defined war strategy, end state and exit strategy before we commenced our invasion,'' he said. ``Had someone like Colin Powell been the chairman (of the joint chiefs of staff), he would not have agreed to send troops without a clear exit strategy. The current OSD (Secretary of Defence) refused to listen or adhere to military advice.'' A special forces officer told the paper: ``Rumsfeld needs to go, as does Wolfowitz.'' With the release of the New Yorker photographs — whose existence had not been known to the Pentagon — the White House also faces the reality that there could be further surprises in store. That destroys White House hopes that repeated apologies for the abuse from President George Bush and other administration officials, would lay the matter to rest. It also undermines efforts to show that the Pentagon will deal firmly with those accused of abusing prisoners. Several said that scandal was putting the entire project in Iraq in peril, and jeopardising America's standing in the Muslim world. The normally combative defence chief offered an unaccustomed apology to Congress on Friday in the hopes of calming demands for his resignation. But he does not seem to have been convincing.
The Justice Department is poised to open a criminal investigation into allegations that CIA officers were involved with a group of Navy Seals who beat an Iraqi prisoner to death.
Guardian Newspapers Limited,2004.
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