Report faults officials in prison abuse scandal

One of the accused soldiers will plead guilty after an agreement was reached.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon's most senior civilian and military officials share a portion of blame for creating conditions that led to the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq, according to a new report.
The report, by a commission appointed by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, was briefing Rumsfeld on its findings and recommendations today in advance of a Pentagon news conference to release the details. The commission was headed by James Schlesinger, a former secretary of defense.
A person familiar with the report said it implicitly faulted Rumsfeld and Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, by finding that those responsible for the military prison system in Iraq were operating under confusing policies on allowable interrogation techniques. The person discussed some aspects of the report on condition of anonymity.
Others at fault
Also faulted is Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who was the top field commander in Iraq at the time of the reported abuses last fall.
Sanchez also takes a portion of the blame in a separate Army investigation that looked specifically at the role of military intelligence soldiers. That probe has been completed and is expected to be publicly released as early as Wednesday.
The Army report, initially headed by Maj. Gen. George Fay, says at least two dozen lower-ranking military intelligence soldiers, as well as civilian contractors, were responsible for the abuses, which were depicted in photographs and videos taken by U.S. soldiers.
The New York Times said in today's editions the report also blames Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski -- commander of the 800th Military Police Brigade at Abu Ghraib -- for faulty leadership. She has been faulted in other investigation reports but has denied knowing about any abuses until they became public.
The Schlesinger commission interviewed Rumsfeld twice during its investigation, which began in May. The three other commission members are former defense secretary Harold Brown, former Republican Rep. Tillie Fowler of Florida and retired Air Force Gen. Charles Horner.
Agreement reached
Meanwhile, the lawyer of one of the U.S. Army reservists accused of abusing Iraqi detainees at the prison said today that military prosecutors have agreed to drop some of their charges after the soldier agreed to plead guilty to the rest.
Staff Sgt. Ivan L. Frederick did not enter a plea when he went before a military judge in Mannheim, Germany, during a pretrial hearing today.
But his lawyer, Gary Myers, told reporters afterward that Frederick would plead guilty to some charges against him at an Oct. 20 sentencing hearing in Baghdad. He would not say which charges.
"An agreement has been reached," Myers said. "Some of the initial charges have been dismissed, some remain. [To] those that remain, Staff Sgt. Frederick will plead guilty."
"He's taking responsibility for certain acts," Myers said. The lawyer refused to elaborate or to say whether his client would spend time in prison.
Frederick is charged with maltreating detainees, conspiracy to maltreat detainees, dereliction of duty and wrongfully committing an indecent act. He issued a statement Monday saying he would plead guilty to some offenses.
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