President tells Rumsfeld: 'You're doing a superb job'

By Craig Gordon
Newsday

GERALD HERBERT / AP President Bush, left, Vice President Dick Cheney, center, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld emerge from a military briefing in the defense secretary's office at the Pentagon yesterday.

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Related stories U.S. forces raze cleric's office 3 U.S. soldiers die in Iraq Other links Images from Iraq: Should the media publish graphic images of violence and prisoner abuse?

Bush saw more than a dozen images blown up into 8-inch by 10-inch color prints, a "representative sample" of the abuse seen in hundreds of pictures now part of criminal investigations at Abu Ghraib prison, one senior Defense official said.

"The president's reaction was one of deep disgust and disbelief that anyone who wears our uniform would engage in such shameful and appalling acts," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. "It does not represent our United States military, and it does not represent the United States of America."

Pentagon officials are considering whether to release any or all of those images publicly, as a way to blunt a continuing drip of media leaks that could further inflame public opinion in the Arab world and at home.

Photographs of prisoner abuse NOTE: These images are graphic and may be disturbing. They have been provided as part of a news service and have not been independently verified. · See images

Bush's backing of Rumsfeld came the same day the International Committee for the Red Cross made public its report on the abuses of prisoners at the U.S.-run prisons and jails, including Abu Ghraib near Baghdad.

The report, which had been presented to U.S. officials in February but had not been released to the public, said problems extended beyond physical mistreatment in prison cellblocks, but also involving thousands of arrests without evidence of wrongdoing and abuse of suspects starting from the moment of detention.

In the report, the Red Cross stated that some military-intelligence officers estimated that 70 percent to 90 percent of "the persons deprived of their liberty in Iraq had been arrested by mistake." It said the arrest and detention practices employed by U.S.-led forces in Iraq "are prohibited under International Humanitarian Law."

Bush's comments — far stronger than those he made last week — signal that the White House has decided to close ranks behind the defense secretary, just four days after Bush said that Rumsfeld should have alerted him to the abuse photos sooner.

"You are courageously leading our nation in the war against terror. You're doing a superb job. You are a strong secretary of defense, and our nation owes you a debt of gratitude," Bush said, with Rumsfeld at his side.

Bush traveled to the Pentagon with his full national-security team, including Vice President Dick Cheney, national-security adviser Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of State Colin Powell, for what was described as a previously scheduled briefing.

Bush received a briefing on Iraqi operations by teleconference from Gen. John Abizaid, head of U.S. Central Command, and later said he was sticking by his plan to turn over limited sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government June 30.

Later, in an interview with the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service, the president said that while Americans will focus on the photos, the administration must focus on the mission.

"Look, the world will see that the American people are disgusted by the behavior of a very few people," Bush said. "The troops need to hear from me that I understand that those over there in the Iraqi theater are good, decent, honorable citizens who are not only fighting the bad guys, but are making life better for the innocent people of Iraq."

In an editorial yesterday, the Army Times, a newspaper that reports on the U.S. military, said that responsibility for the scandal lies at the highest levels of the Pentagon, including Rumsfeld and Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Both men are guilty of "professional negligence," the editorial said.

"This was not just a failure of leadership at the local commander level," it said. "This was a failure that ran straight to the top. Accountability here is essential — even if that means relieving top leaders from duty in a time of war."

In the Middle East, Arab commentators reacted with disbelief at Bush's robust backing of Rumsfeld.

"After the torture and vile acts by the American army, President Bush goes out and congratulates Rumsfeld. It's just incredible. I am in total shock," said Omar Belhouchet, editor of the Algerian national daily El Watan.

"Bush's praise for Rumsfeld will discredit the United States ... and further damage its reputation, which is already at a historic low in the Arab world," he added.

"After Mr. Bush's decision to keep Rumsfeld, all their apologies seem like lip service," said Dubai-based political analyst Jawad Anani.

"The United States is spending so much money ... to improve its image in the Arab world. ... How can it reconcile that with keeping a man who has insulted every Arab through the abuses of Iraqi prisoners," said Anani, a former Jordanian foreign minister.

However, Michael Cox, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics, said the repercussions of firing Rumsfeld would have been very significant for Bush.

"This has been Rumsfeld's war, and I suppose the political symbolism of trying to get rid of Rumsfeld would be huge," he said.

Facing international outcry, U.S. officials plan to dramatically reduce the number of Iraqis in military custody, from more than 8,000 to fewer than 2,000, according to people with knowledge of the issue.

The 24-page Red Cross report describes a pattern of excessive force used by U.S. soldiers during raids at homes or businesses, frequently occurring after midnight. The Red Cross wrote that "ill-treatment during capture was frequent" and that it often included "pushing people around, insulting, taking aim with rifles, punching and kicking and striking with rifles."

Such tactics, which "seemed to reflect a usual modus operandi," the report says, "appeared to go beyond the reasonable, legitimate and proportional use of force required to apprehend suspects or restrain persons resisting arrest or capture."

The Red Cross said it had issued warnings "throughout 2003" that U.S. forces were behaving brutally toward Iraqis and committing human-rights violations that were "in some cases tantamount to torture."

But evidence of abuse continued, suggesting that it "might be considered as a practice tolerated" by the U.S.-led occupation forces, the report said.

Maltreatment of Iraqis often begins when occupation troops arrive to arrest them, the report said. "Arresting authorities entered houses, usually after dark, breaking down doors, waking up residents roughly, yelling orders. ... Treatment often included pushing people around, insulting, taking aim with rifles, punching and kicking and striking with rifles," it said.

Troops have often handcuffed residents and forced them out of their homes in pajamas or underwear, denying them "the opportunity to gather a few essential belongings such as clothing, hygiene items, medicine or eyeglasses," the report said.

The Red Cross says many Iraqis report that troops steal cash and jewelry they find in homes. With no effective banking system in Iraq, families keep their savings hidden at home.

Prisoners under interrogation have reported being deprived of sleep, food or water, being handcuffed or tied in agonizing positions or forced to spend hours in the sun amid heat of 120 degrees or more.

Red Cross monitors found some prisoners at Abu Ghraib were kept for days, naked in solitary confinement in cells kept entirely dark, "a serious violation" of the Geneva Conventions, the report said. Intelligence officers at the prison told the monitors that this treatment was "part of the process" of interrogation.

In a report issued by U.S. Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, who investigated the treatment of captives, other abuses cited included a male guard having sex with a female detainee and male captives sodomized with a pole or stick.

Taguba will be the lead-off witness at a hearing today before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Also scheduled to testify is Undersecretary of Defense Stephen Cambone, who oversees military intelligence, and other Pentagon military brass.

The role of higher-ranking military or intelligence officers is central to the ongoing investigation. One senior military official said that military-intelligence officers felt pressure from their superiors to "turn up the heat" on Iraqi prisoners after early interrogations hadn't yielded much useful information.

Material from The Associated Press, Reuters, The Washington Post and Knight Ridder Newspapers is included in this report.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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