Friday, April 14, 2006

Rumsfeld Directly Linked to Inhumane Treatment of Gitmo Detainee

Salon.com reports today, in an article titled "What Rumsfeld Knew", that the Secretary of Defense took a personal interest in the interrogation of Gitmo detainee Mohammed al-Kahtani resulting in "degrading and abusive" treatment when the soldiers involved employed Rumsfeld's policies.

Kahtani was forced to stand naked in front of a female interrogator, was accused of being a homosexual, and was forced to wear women's underwear and to perform "dog tricks" on a leash. He received 18-to-20-hour interrogations during 48 of 54 days.

The Salon reporters secured a copy of the "Dec. 20, 2005, Army inspector general's report" via a FOIA request related to the now infamous former Gitmo commander Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller. The report uncovers that Rumsfeld had weekly communications with Miller about the interrogation of Kahtani.

In April 2005, Schmidt completed his report on detainee abuse at Guantanamo, which he co-authored with Brig. Gen. John T. Furlow. They recommended that Miller be "admonished" and "held accountable" for the alleged abuse of Kahtani. But that recommendation was rejected by Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, the current head of the Southern Command, who said Miller had not violated any law or policy.

That's because the Rumsfeld policies at the time included the following:

On Dec. 2, 2002, Rumsfeld approved 16 harsher interrogation strategies for use against Kahtani, including the use of forced nudity, stress positions and the removal of religious items. In public statements, however, Rumsfeld has maintained that none of the policies at Guantanamo led to "inhumane" treatment of detainees.

Miller has denied knowing the details of Kahtani's interrogations, but that is obviously highly unlikely considering his direct pipeline to Rumsfeld.

Nonetheless, several days later Rumsfeld revoked the harsher interrogation methods, apparently responding to military lawyers who had raised concerns that they may constitute cruel and unusual punishment or torture.

If military lawyers had to reign in Rummy, even considering the fact that the administration had decided that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to "enemy combatants", obviously Rumsfeld's policies were beyond the pale.

Just one more reason to call for his resignation - as if anybody needed another one.

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