Memo Gave Intelligence Bigger Role (signed by Sanchez)

[UpInArms]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43708-2004May20.html

Shortly before the physical abuses of Iraqis were photographed in Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad last year, the top U.S. military official in Iraq signed a classified memorandum explicitly calling for interrogators to assume control over the "lighting, heating . . . food, clothing, and shelter" of those being questioned there.

The Oct. 12, 2003, memorandum signed by Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez called for intelligence officials at the prison to work more closely with the military police guarding the detainees to "manipulate an internee's emotions and weaknesses."

This memo and the deliberations that preceded it were completely shrouded from public view at the time, but now lie at the heart of the scandal that erupted last month over the abuses at Abu Ghraib. Under congressional prodding, the administration has provided a fuller chronology of the events leading up to its approval.

<snip>

The backdrop for the policy was an event that occurred on May 1, 2003. President Bush landed that day on the deck of the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier off San Diego and declared that major combat operations were over. His declaration had direct but unpublicized consequences for those detained in Iraq, military officials say: It meant they were no longer to be treated as prisoners of war, but instead as civilians held by an occupying power.

<snip>

In a memo signed on Aug. 18, 2003, the Pentagon's Joint Staff -- acting on a request from Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and his top intelligence aide, Stephen A. Cambone -- ordered Army Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller to conduct an inspection there. Miller, who oversaw the interrogation efforts at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, finished his tour on Sept. 9 and left behind his own list of interrogation techniques.

...more...

[UpInArms]

1. here's a link from September 2003

http://www.iraqwatch.org/government/US/Pentagon/us-dod-rumsfeldbremer-090603.htm

BRIEFING BY DONALD H. RUMSFELD
DEFENSE SECRETARY,
LT. GEN. RICARDO SANCHEZ, &
AMBASSADOR L. PAUL BREMER III

U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

September 6, 2003



Secretary Rumsfeld: Good afternoon.

I'm pleased to be back in Iraq. I was here in April and have now been here for the past two days and had meetings with Ambassador Bremer and with General Sanchez and with the American forces throughout the country. I met with the new leader of the Polish Division and must say that I've noticed a good many changes since April.

<snip>

The once-privileged elite of the brutal regime are now, in many cases, common prisoners. Some 42 of the 55 Most Wanted have been captured. As confidence grows, more and more Iraqis are coming forward and working with General Sanchez and his people to find weapon caches, to provide information about people that are being sought for crimes, and to assist the coalition.

...more...

[Eloriel]

2. It's beginning to feel a lot like --

WATERGATE

with the drip, drip, drip.

I LOVE it. Bring it on. (Well, I don't love the torture, of course, just the revelations.)

[napi21]

3. Do you realize how many stupid people in the US who won't

be able to figure out what this means?

I see it as linking the abuse activities to Rummy & Bush, but listen to C-Span in the morning. There are whole lot of callers who think "these people are trying to kills, so who cares what's done to them". I think they would jump on that excuse of "major combat over...not prisoners anymore" idea. That gives justification to their opinion.

[Spazito]

4. I am beginning to think there are other memos...

that are going to come out, one by one,each one more incriminating and reaching higher up the chain.

[shraby]

5. IF they haven't been

shredded already.

[maddezmom]

9. here's one that implicates the Justice Dept.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=571318

By NEIL A. LEWIS

Published: May 21, 2004


QASHINGTON, May 20 — A series of Justice Department memorandums written in late 2001 and the first few months of 2002 were crucial in building a legal framework for United States officials to avoid complying with international laws and treaties on handling prisoners, lawyers and former officials say.


The confidential memorandums, several of which were written or co-written by John C. Yoo, a University of California law professor who was serving in the department, provided arguments to keep United States officials from being charged with war crimes for the way prisoners were detained and interrogated. They were endorsed by top lawyers in the White House, the Pentagon and the vice president's office but drew dissents from the State Department.

The memorandums provide legal arguments to support administration officials' assertions that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to detainees from the Afghanistan war. They also suggested how officials could inoculate themselves from liability by claiming that abused prisoners were in some other nation's custody.

`snip~

One of the memorandums written by Mr. Yoo along with Robert J. Delahunty, another Justice Department lawyer, was prepared on Jan. 9, 2002, four months after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. The 42-page memorandum, entitled, "Application of treaties and laws to Al Qaeda and Taliban detainees," provided several legal arguments for avoiding the jurisdiction of the Geneva Conventions.

~snip~

The memorandum, addressed to William J. Haynes, the Pentagon's general counsel, said that President Bush could argue that the Taliban government in Afghanistan was a "failed state" and therefore its soldiers were not entitled to protections accorded in the conventions. If Mr. Bush did not want to do that, the memorandum gave other grounds, like asserting that the Taliban was a terrorist group. It also noted that the president could just say that he was suspending the Geneva Conventions for a particular conflict.

~snip~
more: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/21/politics/21MEMO.html

[maddezmom]

6. coverup in progress by Sanchez

<<But on May 13, after photos of the abuses had provoked a political firestorm, Sanchez signed another memo, which replaced the Oct. 12 policy and explicitly rules out any approval of "stress positions," as well as other, unspecified, aggressive techniques.>>

[maddezmom]

7. kick

:)

[Just Me]

8. Well, it looks like "someone" is pulling hard on that rope,...

,...of the chain-in-command. Man, there is some really amazing and awesomely damaging evidence just flowing out from all corners. This article clearly ties Rummy - Cambone - Miller - Sanchez together. With Myers' role being to shut up the media long enough for everyone to scramble.

[ConcernedCanuk]

10. Silly question - for a war to be over, doesn't someone have to surrender?

.
.
.

I know Saddam and his gang are no longer in control, but is being defeated the same as surrendering?

Did somebody "surrender" that I missed?

I've always had a problem with "the war is over" and "post-war Iraq" statements.

I mean, just because the Boy King says so . . . means what ? :shrug:

These detainees really ARE prisoners of war, no?

So much confusion, so many lies . . .

(sigh)

[maddezmom]

11. more about Sanchez, the chart and Capt. Woods

The unsigned Sept. 10 draft authorized approaches spelled out in Army Field Manual 34-52 and other widely used interrogation techniques, as well as sensory deprivation, which could mean the hooding of prisoners.

On Sept. 14, General Sanchez approved the first formal policy for Iraq that allowed the use of "sleep management" techniques, like limiting prisoners to four hours' rest each 24 hours, and stress positions, including standing or crouching for up to an hour at a time, Senate aides said.

~~
That policy was sent to the Central Command and to other military, legal and intelligence experts for review. On Oct. 12, in response to objections from military lawyers, General Sanchez issued a second, much narrower policy that Colonel Warren said Wednesday complied with the Geneva Conventions.

Most of the harsher methods that had been automatically authorized in the Sept. 14 directive, like long-term isolation of a prisoner, were dropped in the October version, except in cases in which General Sanchez sanctioned them.

The Oct. 12 directive also ordered that interrogators take control of the "lighting, heating, and configuration of the interrogation room, as well as food, clothing and shelter" given to those questioned at Abu Ghraib, a Senate aide said. The memo directed interrogators to work closely with military police guarding the prisoners to "manipulate internees' emotions and weaknesses" to gain their cooperation.
~~~
more: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/21/politics/21ABUS.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5062&en=7bfb6ae6a6962a9e&partner=GOOGLE&ex=1085716800