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Abu Ghraib report blames top civilian, military leaders

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, AUG. 24. An independent high-level panel has come to the conclusion that leadership failure at the highest levels of the Pentagon is to be blamed for the scandalous abuse of detenus at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

The panel's report, which will be released later today, will not point an accusing finger at the top civilian leadership at the Department of Defence, like the Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, but will fault him and his top aides for not properly monitoring the range of policies and practices in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.Apart from the Schlesinger report that is due today, another report from a high-level army investigation on the role of military intelligence officials at Abu Ghraib is expected on Wednesday.

Sanchez criticised

Media reports on the Schelsinger panel say that it will criticise the top commander, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, for not paying sufficient attention to Abu Ghraib and Maj. Gen. Janis Karpinski, the top commander at the prison.

Meanwhile, Staff Sgt. Ivan Fredrick will plead guilty to one or two charges against him at a pre-trial hearing on the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib. He faces five charges, including failing to protect detenus from abuse, cruelty and committing indecent acts.

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