The following editorial appeared in the Seattle Times on Thursday, Aug. 5:

For all the horror of the Army’s first shocking report on the conditions at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison, its blunt assessments were evidence of the military confronting its own mess.

Now a new, second report is a shameful retreat from the truth. The remedy is an outside, independent review of the Army’s performance and a full airing of orders covering the treatment and interrogation of prisoners.

Late last month, the Pentagon released its findings from the investigation of 94 brutal incidents in U.S.-run prison facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan. None were due to “systemic” problems in either location, the Army’s inspector general told an incredulous Senate Armed Services Committee.

In the same self-exonerating breath, the report also noted the soldiers, who acted as jailers for 50,000 persons, were inadequately trained for the task, poorly supervised and issued vague orders. But no missteps by higher-ups.

All the physical abuse, sexual degradation and numerous fatalities were described as aberrations at the hands of a few low-ranking soldiers (one, Pfc. Lynndie England, is undergoing a military preliminary hearing). No senior officers or Army operational doctrine regarding the interrogation and treatment of prisoners were responsible for what was captured on digital cameras, we are told.

A lot of eyes are rolling and very few heads are nodding agreement. The report presented by Lt. Gen. Paul T. Mikolashak cannot be left to stand as a model for subsequent inquiries. Independent investigators sponsored by Congress and outside the Pentagon are needed.

This latest report runs headlong into the findings of Army Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba and the findings issued by the Red Cross.

Taguba had put the Army on a painful but honorable path. This report is a shameful retreat. Its stealth nature was aptly on display with its hasty and simultaneous release with the final report of the Sept. 11 commission.

The horrors of Abu Ghraib defy cover-up and camouflage.

Copy the Story Link