The Times
details how the 519th Military Intelligence Battalion brought interrogation practices developed in Afghanistan to Abu Ghraib prison.
The interrogation center at Abu Ghraib prison was run by a military intelligence unit that had served in Afghanistan and that had taken to Iraq the aggressive rules and procedures it had developed for the Afghan conflict, according to documents and testimony.
The Times' Neal Lewis also
writes today how in late 2001 and early 2002 Justice Department lawyers crafted legal strategies to exempt US officials from the federal War Crimes Act. Alberto Gonzales then endorsed that Justice Department advice in his 1/25/02 memo to Mr. Bush. Even though that memo warned Mr. Bush that the U.S. risked "widespread condemnation from our allies" should the US try to avoid jurisdiction from the Geneva Convention; he made the call to exempt Afghanistan detainees from the Geneva Convention protection. This ill-advised policy regarding Afghan detainees clearly contributed to the torture in Iraq. The Washington Post editorial page called Bush out yesterday to finally change his disastrous detainee policy. These new revelations closely connecting the torture and his policies require more than that. Mr. Bush established the legal environment tolerant of torture. He needs to take personal responsibility for the torture. Mr. Bush is hiding in the White House while our soldiers and country suffer the consequences of his failed detention policy.