Army files reveal rulings in abuse cases

WASHINGTON — Videos from Iraq compiled by a Florida National Guardsman and called "Ramadi Madness" appeared to show one soldier kicking a wounded, cuffed prisoner and another striking a detainee with a rifle butt, yet Army investigators found no cause to charge anyone with abuse, according to 1,200 pages of Army documents released yesterday in response to a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Army officials said the documents summarized 13 investigations, none of which resulted in abuse charges. A number were closed due to insufficient evidence. The investigation found that " 'Ramadi Madness' contained footage of inappropriate rather than criminal behavior," according to a summary of the investigation, dated Dec. 28, 2004. Ramadi is a city in Iraq's Sunni Triangle.

Jameel Jaffer, an attorney with the ACLU, called the Army documents "further evidence that abuse of detainees was widespread in Iraq and Afghanistan. In some small number of cases, low-ranking soldiers have been punished. In light of the hundreds of abuses we now know to have taken place, it's increasingly difficult to understand why no senior official, civilian or military, has been held accountable."

The ACLU, along with Human Rights First, sued Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld this week in connection with some alleged abuses of prisoners.

Pentagon official sees rebuilding progress

WASHINGTON — The rebuilding of Iraq has gained fresh momentum in recent weeks, but violence by insurgents remains a threat, the Pentagon official overseeing most of the reconstruction said yesterday.

"While I'm encouraged, I certainly don't think the worst is over," said Charles Hess, director of the Iraq Project and Contracting Office in Baghdad, which is responsible for $13.7 billion of the $18.4 billion that Congress approved in November 2003 for rebuilding the country.

"My suspicion is that the insurgents will regroup and try to figure out other ways to get at the heart of the infrastructure," Hess said. "But for right now I think progress can be made."

Hess said about $3.6 billion has been spent. That is more than double the $1.7 billion reported four months ago. The number of projects reported to be under way has grown during that four-month span from 873 to 1,955.

Much of the money has been spent on things other than the rebuilding of Iraq's decrepit infrastructure, however. Bill Taylor, director of the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office, said yesterday that the largest single category of work so far has been the equipping of Iraqi security and law-enforcement officers.

Cleric-backed alliance loses 2 members

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Two minor National Assembly members from the United Iraqi Alliance, the cleric-backed Shiite Muslim coalition that won 140 seats in the 275-seat assembly, yesterday announced their withdrawal from the alliance, saying the group was focusing too much on religion.

If the discontent deepens, the cleric-backed Alliance could lose more seats to a secular bloc that's gathering steam under the stewardship of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. A two-thirds majority is necessary for most major decisions by the assembly, which is to choose a government and write a constitution.

Ali Hashem Youshaa, who represents a small group of southern tribesmen, and Abdel Karim al Mohammedawi of Hezbollah, which is unrelated to the militant Lebanese group Hezbollah, said they expected other members to withdraw unless Alliance leadership included secular and moderate politicians in the deal making.

Some prominent parties, including the Iraqi National Congress, led by one-time Pentagon favorite Ahmad Chalabi, have threatened to leave the Alliance over what one spokesman called "the arrogance" of two Iran-backed groups: the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and the Dawa Party, whose leader is the top contender for prime minister.