Rumsfeld Apology

[Lindaloo]

Rumsfeld Apologizes to Abused Prisoners
By Charles Mahaleris
Talon News
May 6, 2004

NEW YORK (Talon News) -- Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on Wednesday apologized to those who had been "abused" by American troops while imprisoned.

He made the apology during an interview with Matt Lauer on NBC's "Today" show after widely publicized photos of soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners sparked a loud outcry from Democrats, Republicans, foreign allies, and coalition partners. He not only apologized but called the actions "un-American."

Rumsfeld said, "Well, anyone who sees the photographs does, in fact, apologize to the people who were abused. That is wrong. It shouldn't have happened. It's un-American. It's unacceptable."

He continued, "The task for me, as the responsible person in the Department of Defense, is to see that if it's an isolated instance that it's punished under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. If it's systemic, if there's something broader than that, obviously we have to undertake the kinds of investigations we're taking to see if other individuals conceivably have behaved that way."

Rumsfeld told Lauer that the first time officials became aware of the abuses was on January 13 after a soldier had witnessed the abuses "reported them up his chain of command to his superior out there in Baghdad area." Central Command announced the occurence on January 16 and began an investigation into the allegations.

Lauer asked Rumsfeld who was responsible for these abuses ultimately.

Rumsfeld responded, "Well, clearly it's the United States Army and the Central Command have the responsibility for the management of the prisons in that part of the world. And they are determining responsibility at the present time. And there have already been some criminal actions undertaken."

He also said that there were two separate operations being conducted at the Abu Ghraib prison: detention of prisoners and interrogation of prisoners. Each fell under a separate command structure.

One exchange between the Lauer and Rumsfeld was sharp.

LAUER: You've talked about the war of ideas. How do these photos, how do these incidents, impact that war of ideas?

RUMSFELD: Harmful.

LAUER: Just one word?

RUMSFELD: Well, I've responded. I don't know what else one can say. There's no question that when any citizen, soldier or civilian, breaks the law, abuses people in a manner that's inconsistent with the way people are trained and taught and with the way decent human beings behave, then that's harmful to the United States.

Lauer asked if Rumsfeld thought this was an isolated case while the military is conducting some 20 investigations.

Rumsfeld replied, "We wouldn't be conducting these investigations if we thought we knew the answers. We don't know the answers. And that's why, starting last January, at the first indication of this, these investigations were initiated."

Source GOPUSA.