June 18, 2004

Army Lt. Col. Steven Jordan, the top military intelligence officer at Abu Ghraib when abuses occurred, said he was under intense pressure from the White House

Three more US soldiers have died in Iraq. For what? Drip, drip, drip...Abu Ghraib, Plame, the WMDs lies, the Iraq-Al Qaeda lie, Halliburton, pre-9/11, post-9/11..,drip, drip, drip...

CBS/AP: In a sworn statement to Army investigators
obtained by USA Today, Army Lt. Col. Steven Jordan, the top military intelligence officer at Abu Ghraib when abuses occurred, said he was under intense pressure from the White House, Pentagon and CIA last
fall to get better information from
detainees...Jordan's statement said he was reminded of
the need to improve intelligence "many, many, many
times" and the pressure included a visit to the prison
by an aide to White House national security adviser
Condoleezza Rice, the paper reported.

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http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/30/iraq/main614905.shtml

Prison Officer Says He Felt Heat

WASHINGTON, June 18, 2004


(CBS/AP) An Army intelligence officer claims the
abuses at Abu Ghraib took place after interrogators
came under pressure from Bush administration
officials.

In a sworn statement to Army investigators obtained by
USA Today, Army Lt. Col. Steven Jordan, the top
military intelligence officer at Abu Ghraib when
abuses occurred, said he was under intense pressure
from the White House, Pentagon and CIA last fall to
get better information from detainees.

He also said he had worked out a procedure with CIA
interrogators to hide five or six inmates from Red
Cross inspectors in October, the newspaper reported in
Friday editions.

Jordan's statement said he was reminded of the need to
improve intelligence "many, many, many times" and the
pressure included a visit to the prison by an aide to
White House national security adviser Condoleezza
Rice, the paper reported.

To rebut Jordan's account, the White House arranged an
interview with White House homeland security adviser
Fran Townsend before, but in anticipation of, the
newspaper's publication.

Townsend, who last fall was Rice's deputy for
combating terrorism, told The Associated Press she
visited Abu Ghraib and even walked through a cellblock
but "we never discussed interrogation. We never
discussed interrogation techniques. That wasn't the
focus."

"I did not go there to pressure them to do anything
they weren't doing," Townsend added. "I really wanted
to understand how they were taking the information
they had and what they were doing with it so that I
could ^=… think through how we could make that
dissemination of information most effective."

In other developments:


Jack Goldsmith, the Assistant Attorney General for the
Office of Legal Counsel, announced on Thursday that he
was resigning at the end of July. The Office of Legal
Counsel is embroiled in a dispute over Bush
administration memos that contend neither the
president, nor anyone acting on his orders as a
wartime commander-in-chief, can be held liable under
anti-torture laws. Goldsmith was a Pentagon adviser
when a similar memo was drafted there. Goldsmith said
he was resigning to return to academia.


A former Army ranger hired by the CIA to conduct
interrogations was charged Thursday with assaulting an
Afghan detainee who died after two days of beatings,
the first time civilian charges have been brought in
the investigation of prisoner abuse in Iraq and
Afghanistan.


Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told reporters he
ordered an alleged member of an Iraqi militant group
held without notifying international authorities in a
timely fashion, as required under the Geneva
Conventions. He did so at the request of CIA Director
George Tenet. The defense secretary said such a
decision would be made to prevent the prisoner's
interrogation from being interrupted.

The Bush administration has been stung by harsh
criticism at home and abroad over mistreatment of
prisoners, most notably at the Abu Ghraib prison in
Iraq. The Defense Department and other agencies are
investigating abuse allegations.

No civilians have been charged in connection with Abu
Ghraib, though Ashcroft said the Defense Department
had referred one case to the Justice Department for
investigation. Seven soldiers were charged by the
military.

A four-count grand jury indictment was handed up in
Raleigh, N.C., against David A. Passaro, 38, for the
June 21, 2003, death of Abdul Wali. Attorney General
John Ashcroft said Passaro was accused of "brutally
assaulting" Wali at a U.S. base in Asadabad,
Afghanistan.

Wali, the prisoner who died last year in Afghanistan,
was described as having participated in rocket attacks
against a U.S. base in mountainous northeast
Afghanistan about five miles (eight kilometers) from
the border with Pakistan. Al Qaeda and Taliban
fighters are active in the region, Ashcroft said.

U.S. officials wanted to talk to Wali, and on June 18,
2003, he came to the base gate to surrender, according
to court documents. Wali died in a cell at the base
after two days of beatings by Passaro, who used "his
hands and feet and a large flashlight," the indictment
alleged.

Passaro is charged with two counts each of assault and
assault with a dangerous weapon — the flashlight. He
faces a total of up to 40 years in prison, if
convicted, and up to a $1 million fine. Federal law
allows civilian charges to be brought against U.S.
citizens for crimes overseas.

Passaro was arrested Thursday and ordered held without
bond after a brief initial appearance before a federal
magistrate in Raleigh. Passaro, who was shackled
around his wrists and legs in the courtroom, will have
a detention hearing Tuesday.

"We were stunned today when he was picked up," said
Passaro's attorney, Gerald Beaver. "We've been in
consultation with the government since March and it
was my understanding that he would be allowed to
surrender if there were any indictments."

Wali's case initially was referred to the Justice
Department by the CIA in November.

Ashcroft said the indictment sends a message that "the
United States will not tolerate criminal acts of
brutality" against detainees.

U.S. officials said Passaro's contract with the CIA
began in December 2002 and that he arrived at the
Afghan base in mid-May 2003, only a few weeks before
the alleged abuse occurred.

In a statement, the U.S. Army Special Operations
Command at Fort Bragg said Passaro was arrested at the
post Thursday morning. Passaro, a former Special
Forces medic, was on leave from a civilian Army
medical job at Fort Bragg while doing the contract
work for the CIA, it said.

Wali's is among three detainee deaths being
investigated by the Justice Department and CIA's
inspector general in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Justice
Department declined to bring charges in a fourth
death.

CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield noted that the
allegations were promptly reported after the death
occurred. Ashcroft said Passaro was returned to the
United States shortly after Wali died.

©MMIV CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten,
or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to
this report.


Posted by richard at June 18, 2004 07:59 PM