| Bush apologizes to jordan king for iraqi prisoner abuse { May 6 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active) http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1083839228168&call_pageid=1045739058633&col=1045739057805http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1083839228168&call_pageid=1045739058633&col=1045739057805
May 6, 2004. 06:45 PM Bush apologizes for Iraq prisoner abuse 'I should have known about the pictures and the report,' he tells reporters
WASHINGTON (CP) - President George W. Bush finally apologized today for the sadistic treatment of Iraqi war prisoners by U.S. soldiers in a gruesome scandal threatening to harm his re-election bid. He also delivered a public jab at U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for not informing him of the extent of abuse, including graphic pictures of hooded, naked Iraqis and their smiling captors, and an internal Pentagon report completed two months ago.
"I should have known about the pictures and the report," said Bush, who still described Rumsfeld as "a really good secretary" who'll "stay in my cabinet," despite the demands of top Democrats for his resignation.
The president emerged from a meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah and tried to placate Arabs around the world and many Americans who've called on him to apologize.
"I told him I was sorry for the humiliation suffered by the Iraqi prisoners and the humiliation suffered by their families, said Bush, adding the photographs taken at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison "made us sick to our stomachs."
It's hard to imagine why Bush wouldn't have been informed of the volatile photos taken by soldiers, first aired last week on CBS.
White House spokesman said Bush was told the military was investigating abuse allegations but he can't remember when.
The military issued a January news release on their inquiry but did little public follow-up.
But the Pentagon was clearly aware of how the pictures would play in public. Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, asked the network to hold its documentary for two weeks during a particularly bad stretch of attacks in the Iraqi city Falluja.
The Washington Post newspaper released more pictures today that included a U.S. soldier holding a dog leash tied around the neck of a naked Iraqi lying on the floor of Abu Ghraib.
"Any decent soul doesn't want a human being treated that way," said Bush.
"It's a stain on our country's honour and our country's reputation."
The Iraqi Governing Council, which had demanded an apology from Bush, is insisting on public trials and harsh sentences for those responsible.
"There must be respect for the people of Iraq, if they expect to have normalized relations after we have freedom and self-rule," council member Muhsin Abdul Hamid said today.
There are worries about the scandal's impact on the orderly transfer of partial sovereignty in Iraq on June 30 and fear it may spark retaliatory torture and bloodshed.
With the argument that Iraq posed an immediate danger to the United States discredited, the Iraq conflict has been framed by Bush for months in terms of liberating victims of captive Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's regime.
So, the deaths and human rights abuses of Iraqis by Americans are doubly embarrassing for the administration.
And the International Red Cross said today it repeatedly asked U.S. authorities to do something about reported abuse at the Iraq prison since last year.
The scandal involves at least 14 prisoner deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan and 10 abuse cases.
Army officials disclosed Wednesday the deaths of two Iraqi prisoners have already been ruled homicides. One soldier was court-martialled and discharged, while a CIA interrogator's case is before the U.S. Justice Department.
So far, six military police could face courts-martial and seven others have been reprimanded.
Legislators are furious they weren't informed. Rumsfeld is scheduled to answer to them Friday at the Senate armed services committee.
"We told him that he needs to be prepared to come forward with some facts and to expect south tough questioning," said Republican Senator Wayne Allard, who met today with Rumsfeld.
Republican Senator John McCain is one of several politicians who want the prison razed. It was notorious as a torture site under Saddam.
He also called for a close look at procedures at the U.S. military prison at Guantanmo Bay, Cuba, "not only as far as treatment of prisoners is concerned, but holding them indefinitely."
The Pentagon report on Abu Ghraib blamed inadequate training and too few troops, leading to a breakdown in command.
The prison's former supervisor and at least one lawyer for a U.S. soldier have pointed fingers at zealous military intelligence officers who encouraged abusive tactics to extract information.
Critics also blame the atmosphere created by a new class of prisoners in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. They are not technically prisoners of war and aren't covered by international laws like the Geneva Conventions.
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