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Military police photograph female soldiers while showering Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040506-121806-5973r.htm"Also yesterday, U.S. officials said the head of a U.S. military police unit at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison is under investigation on charges in November that he secretly had photographed naked female American soldiers while they showered. "
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040506-121806-5973r.htm
Bush vows to bring abusers 'to justice'
By Joseph Curl
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
President Bush yesterday pledged to the Arab world that U.S. soldiers who abused Iraqi prisoners "will be brought to justice" and declared that "the people in the Middle East must understand that this was horrible."
In interviews with two Arabic-language TV stations, the president said the mistreatment of prisoners, captured in photographs that show grinning soldiers abusing naked Iraqis at a prison once used by Saddam Hussein's torturers, is "abhorrent."
"It's a matter that reflects badly on my country. Our citizens in America are appalled by what they saw, just like people in the Middle East are appalled," Mr. Bush told the United Arab Emirates-based Al Arabiya network.
Meanwhile yesterday, the accusations of abuse against U.S. forces in the Middle East continued, with the number of prisoner deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan under U.S. investigation or already blamed on Americans rising to 14.
An intelligence official told reporters that the CIA inspector general is investigating two other deaths involving the agency's interrogators.
One took place at an Afghan prison near the Pakistan border in June 2003 and involved an independent contractor working for the CIA. The other death occurred at an unspecified location in Iraq and involved a CIA interrogator, the official said on the condition of anonymity.
The deaths come on top of the 10 deaths, in which the military said it is conducting criminal investigations, plus two others already ruled as homicides.
Also yesterday, U.S. officials said the head of a U.S. military police unit at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison is under investigation on charges in November that he secretly had photographed naked female American soldiers while they showered.
Capt. Leo Merck, 32, a member of the California National Guard who commanded the 124-member 870th Military Police Company, is under U.S. Army investigation and has been relieved of duty, they told Reuters news agency.
"He was their commander, and he led them into Iraq. While he was there, this alleged incident happened," California National Guard spokesman Andrew Hughan said. "The U.S. Army justice system is working its wheels."
The White House sent conflicting messages yesterday as to whether the president was apologizing for the clear abuses depicted in the photographs, which have caused a firestorm of condemnation in the Arab world.
In his interviews with Al Arabiya and the U.S.-established Al Hurra network, Mr. Bush never used the words "sorry" or "apologize."
"We've already said that we're sorry for what occurred, and we're deeply sorry to the families and what they must be feeling and going through as well," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. "The president is sorry for what occurred and the pain it has caused."
Asked why Mr. Bush had not used those words in the two interviews, Mr. McClellan said: "I'm saying it now for him."
The two interviews in the White House Map Room — the one with Al Hurra running 13 minutes, and the Al Arabiya meeting lasting 11 minutes — illustrated the Arab anger at the United States over the mistreatment of prisoners.
The first question of the day, from Al Hurra, was: "Evidence of torture of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. personnel has left many Iraqis and people in the Middle East and the Arab world with the impression that the United States is no better than Saddam Hussein regime."
But Mr. Bush, looking somber and a bit angry at times, rejected that comparison.
"It's very important for people, your listeners, to understand, in our country that when an issue is brought to our attention on this magnitude ... we act in a way where leaders are willing to discuss it with the media," he said.
"A dictator wouldn't be answering questions about this," he said. "A dictator wouldn't be saying that the system will be investigated and the world will see the results of the investigation."
The president said he has asked military leaders and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to "find the truth" about whether the problems at Abu Ghraib, where U.S. forces hold up to 4,000 prisoners, is systemic.
He expressed confidence in Mr. Rumsfeld's leadership at the Pentagon and resisted Democrats' demands to fire him.
"Of course, I've got confidence in the secretary of defense," Mr. Bush said.
"I talked to the secretary of defense this morning," he said. "I said: Find the truth, and then tell the Iraqi people and the world the truth. We have nothing to hide."
Contrary to reports that Mr. Rumsfeld would huddle privately with lawmakers on Capitol Hill yesterday, the defense secretary instead agreed to testify publicly before the Senate Armed Services Committee tomorrow.
Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., Delaware Democrat and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Mr. Rumsfeld should resign if he's found culpable in any way.
"If it goes all the way to Rumsfeld, then he should resign," he said yesterday on NBC's "Today" show.
"I mean, look, every single solitary decision made almost since the fall of Saddam Hussein has been mistaken," Mr. Biden added. "Who is making these decisions? It's not the president of the United States of America. He ultimately makes decisions based on information presented to him by top officials in his administration."
White House officials said the president would not fire Mr. Rumsfeld, although heads might roll further down the chain of command.
Mr. McClellan spent much of the day fielding reporters' questions about when Mr. Rumsfeld informed the president about the case. The spokesman said Mr. Bush was notified "some time after Secretary Rumsfeld became aware of it," although he was not more specific.
"He was aware that investigations were under way looking into this matter," Mr. McClellan said of the president. "He learned more about the precise nature through some of the media reports, and that's when he started asking some additional questions of Secretary Rumsfeld."
Mr. Bush said he learned about the existence of the photos when they were shown last week on television and made his anger clear, saying mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners is "more than an allegation, in this case, actual abuse. We saw the pictures."
With the transfer of power to Iraqis set for June 30 and the presidential election less than six months away, Mr. Bush faces a test to maintain order in Iraq and stay on message in his campaign.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry criticized the president yesterday, saying his administration and the Pentagon were slow to respond to the accusations.
"The horrifying abuse of the Iraqi prisoners which the world has now seen is absolutely unacceptable and inexcusable and the response by the administration, certainly the Pentagon, has been slow and inappropriate," the Massachusetts senator said during a campaign swing in California.
He also said he has called for Mr. Rumsfeld's removal for months.
Although the president did not offer an apology, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday, "We are deeply sorry for what has happened."
Yesterday, the commander of U.S.-run prisons in Iraq, Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, apologized for the "illegal or unauthorized acts" of U.S. soldiers.
"I would like to personally apologize to the people of Iraq for a small number of leaders and soldiers," Gen. Miller told reporters touring the facility near Baghdad. "I personally guarantee that this will not happen again."
Senior military officials braced for broader investigations.
"I expect that as these investigations track down all the possible leads ... as they chase the various elements, more people come forward," Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said yesterday on CBS. "So there will be more investigations. Where that will lead, I don't know."
For his part, Mr. Bush said he understands Arab anger over the photographs, but said some of the criticism comes from people who are hostile to U.S.-led efforts to transform Iraq anyway.
"I think people in the Middle East who want to dislike America will use this as an excuse to remind people about their dislike."
•Bill Sammon and Charles Hurt contributed to this report.
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