Rumsfeld sees site of POW abuses

The defense secretary said he wants to ensure abuses don't happen again.
ABU GHRAIB, Iraq (AP) -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, making a surprise visit to the Iraqi prison at the center of the abuse scandal, said today that lawyers are advising the Pentagon not to publicly release any more photographs of Iraqi prisoners being treated badly by U.S. soldiers.
He also dismissed as "garbage" any suggestion the Pentagon tried to cover up the prison abuse.
After meetings in Baghdad, the defense secretary traveled to the Abu Ghraib prison, where American military police sexually humiliated and abused Iraqi prisoners last fall, according to photos of the abuse that have stunned the world.
"As far as I'm concerned, I'd be happy to release them all to the public and to get it behind us," Rumsfeld told reporters traveling with him from Washington. "But at the present time I don't know anyone in the legal shop in any element of the government that is recommending that."
Violating Geneva Convention
The government lawyers argue that releasing such materials would violate a Geneva Convention stricture against presenting images of prisoners that could be construed as degrading, Rumsfeld said while en route to the Iraqi capital on a trip that was not announced in advance because of security concerns.
Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, who runs the prison system in Iraq, defended his role in advising U.S. authorities last fall on how to set up a detention and interrogation system that would produce useful intelligence on people involved in the insurgency.
"I'm absolutely convinced we laid down the foundations for how you detain people humanely," he said. Miller had commanded the U.S. prison compound at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where hundreds of suspected terrorists are still detained from the Afghanistan war.
Miller said he plans to reduce the prisoner population at Abu Ghraib from the 3,800 who are there now to as few as 1,500 by June 15. In January, there were about 7,000 prisoners there.
Prevention goal
Speaking later to U.S. troops, Rumsfeld said his trip was aimed in large part to ensure such abuses "will not happen again."
He said the situation "sullied the reputation of our country. I was stunned. It was a body blow. And with six or seven investigations under way and a country that has values and a military justice system that has values, we know that those involved, whoever they are, will be brought to justice."
"It's important for each of you to know that that is not the values of America, and it's not your values, and I know that, and you know that, and your families know that," he said.
Rumsfeld was accompanied by Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and several lawyers on a trip designed to reassure U.S. troops that the prisoner abuse scandal has not weakened public support for their mission and to get firsthand reports from the most senior commanders.
Tough questioning
Neither hid his feelings about the tough questioning he endured from members of Congress over the prison abuses.
"I'm really glad to be here," Myers said.
Before taking questions from soldiers, Rumsfeld said, "It's generally a lot more fun here than it is back home."
The Pentagon officials arranged meetings with the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, and other senior commanders.
Rumsfeld's trip followed President Bush's visit Monday to the Pentagon, where he got an update from commanders in Iraq and declared his unwavering support for Rumsfeld, who has taken a lot of criticism from members of Congress for his handling of the scandal. Some Democrats have called for his resignation, but Rumsfeld gave no indication Wednesday that he was considering quitting.
Violence resounds
Meanwhile, heavy gunfire and huge explosions resounded today in Karbala as American forces battled Iraqi militiamen near a gold-domed shrine that is one of the most sacred sites for Shiite Muslims. Thick smoke rose over the city center.
Fighters loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr regrouped in alleys north of Imam Hussein shrine. Smoke drifted over the shrine, apparently from a nearby a power generator that had been set afire.
Fighting also raged near the city's Imam Abbas shrine. American forces are concerned that any damage to the two shrines could enrage Iraq's majority Shiite population as the United States tries to stabilize Iraq ahead of a transition to sovereignty June 30.
Imam Hussein was the son of the Shiites' most revered saint, Imam Ali Ibn Abu Talib, the prophet Mohammed's cousin and son-in-law. Hussein was killed in a 7th century battle with the army of a Muslim Sunni leader, and Shiites view his death as the defining moment of their history.
Abbas, the namesake of Karbala's other prominent shrine, was a half brother of Hussein.
Residents said the fighting, which began Tuesday night, left many homes destroyed and shops gutted by fire, and many families fled to safer areas of the city. In some cases, men stayed while women and children left.
Soldier, Marine killed
The U.S. military said a soldier was killed when a roadside bomb exploded beside his military convoy in Baghdad on Wednesday, and a U.S. Marine died of wounds suffered during security operations in western Anbar province on the same day.
The Marine was assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, which is based in Anbar, an area that includes Fallujah, Ramadi and other insurgency flashpoints.
As of Wednesday, 773 U.S. service members had died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq last year, according to the Defense Department. Of those, 563 died from hostile action and 210 died of nonhostile causes.
It was unclear whether the deaths reported today were included in the Defense Department figures.
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