Army criticized over Abu Ghraib probe
Report: All but one commanding officer cleared
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Army drew fire Saturday for its reported findings in an internal investigation of the Abu Ghraib prison abuses -- a probe that senior Pentagon officials told CNN cleared four top Army officers in Iraq of any wrongdoing.
"This just proves that the Army cannot investigate itself," Reed Brody, legal counsel for Human Rights Watch, told CNN. "If the U.S. is going to wipe away the stain of Abu Ghraib, there has to be an independent investigation that looks at the responsibility of all those people who ordered or who tolerated torture, no matter where they are in the chain of command."
The findings of the investigation have not yet been released.
The Washington Post, citing government officials familiar with the findings, reported Saturday that the only officer who will face discipline is Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski. She was commander of the 800th Military Police Brigade, which included the soldiers who have so far been convicted in connection with abuses at the prison. The newspaper said Karpinski will receive an administrative reprimand for dereliction of duty, one that could end her military career.
"It continues to seem that she has been singled out, or targeted, for responsibility for Abu Ghraib," Karpinski's military criminal defense attorney, Neal Puckett, told CNN. "She feels like it's a shared responsibility. She accepts her part of the responsibility, but it's a shared responsibility throughout the chain of command, not just her."
Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who at the time was commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, was cleared of wrongdoing, senior Pentagon officials said.
It remains to be seen whether Sanchez will be further tainted. He handed over command of U.S. forces in Iraq to Gen. George Casey in July and called Abu Ghraib "a defeat for the coalition."
Also receiving no punishment are Sanchez's former top deputy, Maj. Gen. Walter Wojdakowski; Sanchez's former intelligence chief in Baghdad, Maj. Gen. Barbara Fast; and Sanchez's top legal adviser at the time, Col. Mark Warren.
Sen. John Warner, a Virginia Republican and chairman of the Armed Services Committee, has said he will hold a hearing on whether the investigations went far enough in determining the extent of Army leadership's involvement.
Army response
Army officials are defending the investigation.
"In response to public expectations about senior leader punishment even before findings have remained public: We are doing what our citizens expect us to do for any citizen -- protecting their rights while ensuring we find and act appropriately on the truth," said a statement issued by Brig. Gen. Vincent K. Brooks. "We will not rush to judgment in these cases or in any others.
"The thoroughness of the investigative process preserves the rights of all individuals involved while ensuring that the presumption of innocence must be disproved by facts before any allegation is determined to be substantiated, and that must precede any potential action," Brooks said. "The recommendations and decisions are consistent with, and appropriate to, the findings of these very thorough investigations."
Maj. Elizabeth Robbins, U.S. Army spokeswoman, said the Army is briefing members of Congress on the investigation, and "we are currently not addressing questions on the findings until we have addressed the questions of Congress."
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said, "The U.S. does not tolerate wrongdoing when it comes to detainees. When we find it, we act to hold those responsible to account and take steps to prevent it from happening again."
Previous probes
A report issued in August -- dubbed the Fay report after the Army general who compiled it, Maj. Gen. George Fay -- found 44 instances of abuse at the prison, some of which amounted to torture.
The report criticized Sanchez for his handling of the situation. It did not find him culpable, but did find him "responsible for the things that happened," Gen. Paul Kern, the appointing authority of the investigation, said at the time. He said Sanchez put great emphasis on getting intelligence from prisoners to stop insurgent attacks against U.S.-led coalition forces.
He said the report found that the abuse was the result of several contributing factors, ending in "a lack of discipline and lack of leadership."
Two other reports reached similar conclusions.
An independent four-member panel headed by former Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger blamed abuses at Abu Ghraib and other prisons on a failure of leadership throughout the chain of command.
Schlesinger's panel released the results of its investigation in August, the same week Fay and Kern released their report. Schlesinger said at the time that the higher chain of command held direct and indirect responsibility but noted that there was "no policy of abuse."
"Quite the contrary," Schlesinger said. "Senior officials repeatedly said that in Iraq, Geneva regulations would apply."
A report last year by Army Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba found "a failure in leadership ... from the brigade commander on down."
He also noted that he had found "friction" between Karpinski and military intelligence brigade commander Col. Thomas Pappas, and was concerned because information about what was going on in the prison had not reached the MP brigade command.
Pappas' case and that of Lt. Col. Stephen Jordan, who directed the prison's interrogation center, are being considered by field commanders, according to The Associated Press. The two men could face criminal charges.
So far, six soldiers have been sentenced to prison terms, ranging from six months to 10 years, demoted and dishonorably discharged. One soldier was dismissed. The courts-martial of two other soldiers are pending.
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux and Kathleen Koch contributed to this report.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
