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-Caveat Lector- Steven Aftergood
TORTURE REPORT MAY HAVE BROKEN CLASSIFICATION RULES
Wed May 5, 2004 17:17
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?disc=149495;article=54418;title=APFN
SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2004, Issue No. 42
May 5, 2004
** TORTURE REPORT MAY HAVE BROKEN CLASSIFICATION RULES
** ABU GHRAIB AND THE FAILURE OF STRATEGIC INFLUENCE
** CONGRESS PERFORMED CLASSIFICATION POLICY REVIEW (OR NOT)
TORTURE REPORT MAY HAVE BROKEN CLASSIFICATION RULES
By classifying an explosive report on the torture of Iraqi
prisoners as "Secret," the Pentagon may have violated official
secrecy policies, which prohibit the use of classification to
conceal illegal activities.
The report, authored by Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, found that
"between October and December 2003, at the Abu Ghraib Confinement
Facility, numerous incidents of sadistic, blatant, and wanton
criminal abuses were inflicted on several detainees."
"The allegations of abuse were substantiated by detailed witness
statements and the discovery of extremely graphic photographic
evidence," Gen. Taguba wrote.
These specific observations, and the report as a whole, were
classified "Secret / No Foreign Dissemination."
Why the secrecy?
"There's clearly nothing in there that's inherently secret, such
as intelligence sources and methods or troop movements," an astute
reporter noted at a Pentagon press briefing on May 4. "Was this
kept secret because it would be embarrassing to the world,
particularly the Arab world?"
"I do not know specifically why it was labeled Secret," replied
Gen. Peter Pace.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he did not know why it was
classified, either. "You'd have to ask the classifier," he said.
http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/2004/05/dod050404.html
But the classification may have been more than simply unnecessary.
It might have been a violation of official policy, which forbids
the use of secrecy to cover up crimes:
"In no case shall information be classified in order to ...
conceal violations of law, inefficiency, or administrative error
[or to] prevent embarrassment to a person, organization, or
agency...," according to Section 1.7 of Executive Order 12958, as
amended by President Bush (EO 13292):
http://www.fas.org/sgp/bush/eoamend.html#1_7
In a lawyerly reading, the Pentagon might respond that the
document was not specifically classified "in order" to conceal
violations of law, even though that was the direct consequence,
but for some other purpose.
The fact remains that classification served to conceal illegal
activity for months, if not longer.
Furthermore, there is no effective mechanism to enforce even the
executive branch's own standards and policies on classification.
Rather, the Abu Ghraib torture scandal came to light through an
unauthorized disclosure of classified information, for which one
must be sadly grateful.
The report on torture at Abu Ghraib prison is apparently still
classified. But it is now widely available on the internet,
including here:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/library/reports/2004/800-mp-bde.htm
ABU GHRAIB AND THE FAILURE OF STRATEGIC INFLUENCE
Disclosure of the torture of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers
at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq has dealt a profound blow to U.S.
government efforts to communicate a positive, constructive
message to the Islamic world.
The excellence of current communications technologies was supposed
to give the U.S. an advantage in exercising influence abroad.
Instead, all of the latest technologies of global communication
have been harnessed to transmit images of U.S. torture and sexual
humiliation to every corner of the globe. Probably never before
has such documentation of human rights abuses been disseminated
so widely and so quickly.
That wasn't part of the plan.
The development of "information operations" as a tool of American
foreign policy was discussed and critiqued in two research
reports written last year by U.S. Army officers.
"No wizardry in communications can make bad policy decisions or
actions palatable [to foreign audiences]. However, having a
competent strategic influence campaign is essential to U.S.
victory in the War on Terrorism," wrote Lt. Col. Susan L. Gough.
Yet "the initial strategic influence efforts of the Bush
Administration ... revealed a typically American myopic
viewpoint: Americans assume that other people think as they do
and want the same things that American do -- that other people
want to be like Americans."
See "The Evolution of Strategic Influence by Lt. Col. Susan L.
Gough, U.S. Army War College, April 2003:
http://www.fas.org/irp/eprint/gough.pdf
In a more upbeat assessment, Col. Brad M. Ward asserted in another
Army War College study that "The Department of Defense maintains
very robust and relatively sophisticated influence mechanisms to
inform and influence foreign audiences at the operational and
tactical levels during peacetime and in war."
See "Strategic Influence Operations -- The Information
Connection," by Col. Brad M. Ward, April 2003:
http://www.fas.org/irp/eprint/ward.pdf
But it is not clear that the Bush Administration has a compelling
message to offer the Arab world.
The new U.S.-funded Arabic satellite TV station, Al Hurra, last
week included in its programming a profile of actress Goldie
Hawn, "which will certainly do little to advance the cause of
democracy in the Arab and Muslim worlds," wrote independent
critic Stephen Schwartz.
See "Mideast Media Mess" by Stephen Schwartz,
TechCentralStation.com, May 3:
http://www.techcentralstation.com/050304B.html
CONGRESS PERFORMED CLASSIFICATION POLICY REVIEW (OR NOT)
Congress has completed the review of classification policy that
was recommended last year by the Congressional Joint Inquiry into
September 11, said Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Pat
Roberts in a speech this week. But he may be mistaken.
The classification system is in need of significant reform, the
Congressional Joint Inquiry indicated in one of its nineteen
recommendations, made public in July 2003.
"Congress should ... review the statutes, policies and procedures
that govern the national security classification of intelligence
information and its protection from unauthorized disclosure.
Among other matters, Congress should consider the degree to
which excessive classification has been used in the past and the
extent to which the emerging threat environment has greatly
increased the need for real-time sharing of sensitive
information," according to Recommendation Number 15.
That has now been accomplished, said Sen. Roberts in a May 3
speech at Kansas State University.
"Congress has implemented four [of the 19] changes: a national
watch-list center, a terrorist information fusion center,
oversight of the Patriot Act, and a review of classification
policy."
http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2004_cr/roberts050304.html
This is "good news," he said.
But it's not good news, because intelligence classification policy
is unchanged. CIA classification practices are as arbitrary and
poorly justified as ever. The Congressional review of
classification, if it occurred, has left the world as it was.
However, it may not have occurred.
"I am not aware of any classification policy review having been
done," said Bill Duhnke, the staff director of the Senate
Intelligence Committee.
"I think the Chairman must have misspoken," he told Secrecy News.
_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the
Federation of American Scientists.
To SUBSCRIBE to Secrecy News, send email to
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Secrecy News is archived at:
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_______________________
Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
web: http://www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
voice: (202) 454-4691
=======================
General Billy Mitchell
a brief biography
Our chapter was named to honor the late General William (Billy) Mitchell, a United States military aviation pioneer - aviator, tactician, innovator, and engineer. He was stationed in San Antonio, Texas, circa 1925. General Mitchell was the first United States Army officer to serve in World War I. His varied assignments included that as Chief of the Signal Corps' Air Section, where he worked relentlessly to develop new facilities for military flight instruction. General Mitchell spoke the truth, as he saw it, to protect the most precious commodity on earth: FREEDOM.
http://www.bmcaoc.org/GenBM.htm
===================================
GEORGE BUSH GAVE LICENSE TO TORTURE by Ditching War-Crimes Treaty
PHXNews, AZ - 51 minutes ago
... of sequence because it is so timely now that US war crimes in Iraq have become ... One US serviceman struck an Iraqi POW on the head with a rock, killing him, and ...
Results 1 - 10 of about 96 for APFN IRAQ POW.
>
ARTICLE 15-6 INVESTIGATION OF THE 800th MILITARY POLICE BRIGADE
BACKGROUND
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/Prison_abuse_report.pdf
1. (U) On 19 January 2004, Lieutenant General (LTG) Ricardo S. Sanchez, Commander,
Combined Joint Task Force Seven (CJTF-7) requested that the Commander, US
Central Command, appoint an Investigating Officer (IO) in the grade of Major
General (MG) or above to investigate the conduct of operations within the 800th
Military Police (MP) Brigade. LTG Sanchez requested an investigation of detention
and internment operations by the Brigade from 1 November 2003 to present. LTG
Sanchez cited recent reports of detainee abuse, escapes from confinement facilities,
and accountability lapses, which indicated systemic problems within the brigade and
suggested a lack of clear standards, proficiency, and leadership. LTG Sanchez
requested a comprehensive and all-encompassing inquiry to make findings and
recommendations concerning the fitness and performance of the 800th MP Brigade.
http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?disc=149495;article=54376;title=APFN
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