The New Yorker : "The roots of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal lie not in the criminal inclinations of a few Army reservists but in a decision, approved last year by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, to expand a highly secret operation, which had been focussed on the hunt for Al Qaeda, to the interrogation of prisoners in Iraq. Rumsfeld's decision embittered the American intelligence community, damaged the effectiveness of elite combat units, and hurt America's prospects in the war on terror.
According to interviews with several past and present American intelligence officials, the Pentagon's operation, known inside the intelligence community by several code words, including Copper Green, encouraged physical coercion and sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners in an effort to generate more intelligence about the growing insurgency in Iraq. A senior C.I.A. official, in confirming the details of this account last week, said that the operation stemmed from Rumsfeld's long-standing desire to wrest control of America's clandestine and paramilitary operations from the C.I.A."
Very interesting take on things. Basically Rumsfeld sees the State Department and CIA as being too bureaucratic, weak and slow moving, which they are. Therefore he created a black ops program to hunt down and kill top Al Qaeda leaders. After some victories in Afghanistan, it was decided to involve this group of ex special forces soldier in the effort to interrogate prisoners in Iraq and help stem the insurgency. Despite being successful in gaining actionable information, the use of these special black ops forces to interrogate prisoners who increasingly were not high level terror suspects, but just Iraqis in the wrong place at the wrong time, has put the entire black ops program at risk of discovery, as the press swarms over the prison abuse scandal. A regrettable affair, from many different standpoints.
According to interviews with several past and present American intelligence officials, the Pentagon's operation, known inside the intelligence community by several code words, including Copper Green, encouraged physical coercion and sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners in an effort to generate more intelligence about the growing insurgency in Iraq. A senior C.I.A. official, in confirming the details of this account last week, said that the operation stemmed from Rumsfeld's long-standing desire to wrest control of America's clandestine and paramilitary operations from the C.I.A."
Very interesting take on things. Basically Rumsfeld sees the State Department and CIA as being too bureaucratic, weak and slow moving, which they are. Therefore he created a black ops program to hunt down and kill top Al Qaeda leaders. After some victories in Afghanistan, it was decided to involve this group of ex special forces soldier in the effort to interrogate prisoners in Iraq and help stem the insurgency. Despite being successful in gaining actionable information, the use of these special black ops forces to interrogate prisoners who increasingly were not high level terror suspects, but just Iraqis in the wrong place at the wrong time, has put the entire black ops program at risk of discovery, as the press swarms over the prison abuse scandal. A regrettable affair, from many different standpoints.
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