Abu Ghraib

Via Reuters:

[. . .]

The Post quoted unnamed senior defense officials as saying the investigation led by Maj. Gen. George Fay found that a combination of leadership failures, confusing policies, lack of discipline and "absolute confusion" at the prison led to the abuse.

[. . .]

What the fuck was going on there? "Absolute confusion"? Man, I was in the military for eight years (6 active, 2 reserve) and never did absolute confusion reign. Don't get me wrong, some fucked up shit went on, but nothing like the lack of command structure in place at Abu Ghraib. Shit, even when we were getting shot at and all Hell was breaking loose, we kept our heads.

[. . .]

"Command should have paid more attention to the issue," one official told the Post. "Signals, symptoms of abuse weren't fully vetted to the top."

However, the investigation stopped short of saying that soldiers were ordered to abuse detainees and no Army officers were likely to face criminal charges, the paper said.

[. . .]

Yeah, okay, these enlisted weenies did this all on their own. This was a leaderhip problem, pure and simple and I wanna see some officers swing. What happened to that one-star who was running the show? What happened to the MP commander? They didn't know what was going on? Bullshit.

And Lambert at Corrente asks a pertinent question:

But what was done with the Abu Ghraib intelligence, including the photos and the video of screaming boys being raped? Follow the bytes, because they should lead, probably through Republican operatives in the RNC/CPA, right to the West Wing.

Gee, I wonder why Bush wanted to raze Abu Ghraib? How right the courts were to preserve Abu Ghraib as a crime scene!

You betcha.

And now they're after the medics too. From Lean Left:

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I'm sure these doctors were just "a few bad apples," and any idea that there was a systemic problem here is ludicrous. And if you buy that, I've got a bridge to sell you.

I honestly wonder how many more reports like this can come out before mainstream conservatives are forced to admit that the handling of Iraq by this administration has been an unmitigated disaster. [my emphasis]

And Lambert's cohort Xan has more:

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Army Spc. Luciana Spencer is a good example of the problem. A military interrogator, Spencer was cited in the Taguba report for forcing a detainee to strip and walk back to his cell naked, in an effort to humiliate him. In a still-classified sworn statement, she also admits to hearing other interrogators instructing the military police to abuse prisoners, and once witnessed Spc. Charles Graner slapping a detainee. Asked why she didn't report Graner, Spencer told investigators that she didn't know that what he had done constituted abuse.

[. . .]

Again I ask. Where were the officers and why aren't they being held responsible?