U.S. Knew of Suspected Iraq Abuse in 2003

Senior U.S. Army generals in Iraq were told in December 2003 that special operations troops and CIA personnel were suspected of abusing Iraqi prisoners -- four months before the scale of prisoner abuse became public in television photos that shocked the world. The December 2003 report on suspected prisoner abuse, confirmed by U.S. officials on Wednesday, also showed the U.S. leadership in Iraq had clues about prisoner treatment before photographs of detainees being abused at Abu Ghraib jail emerged within the military in the middle of January. But officials disputed the notion that the warning had been ignored. "It's indicative that there were some troubling signs, and actions were taken early on. It got overcome by other investigations (after the Abu Ghraib abuse became known). But it was not ignored," an Army official said. When the abuse photographs, including ones showing a U.S. female soldier holding a naked prisoner on a leash, were shown on U.S. television, they prompted calls by political opponents and human rights activists for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign. The Pentagon said it was investigating but the existence of the 2003 report was not revealed. [more]

• Rumsfeld to stay in charge of defense [more]
• Pictured above: Donald Rumsfeld. Truly a sick MF.