Top soldier vows complete probe
Lawmakers viewed more pictures of Iraqi prisoner abuse and humiliation.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The top military commander in Iraq told Congress today that the abuse of prisoners in Iraq will be investigated thoroughly up the chain of command, "and that includes me."
Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez said continuing investigations may result in additional criminal charges in connection with the abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison.
Appearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, he also said those investigations may lead to additional proceedings in cases handled so far by administrative action.
Afghanistan, too
Seated next to Sanchez, his superior officer acknowledged the abuse of prisoners in Afghanistan, too.
Gen. John Abizaid, commander of the U.S. Central Command, also pledged a vigilant pursuit of Abu Ghraib investigations wherever they may lead.
Shortly before the committee hearing, Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits was sentenced in Iraq to a maximum penalty of one year in prison, a reduction in rank and a bad conduct discharge for his role in the abuse at Abu Ghraib.
His was the first court-martial in the wake of the scandal that has shaken the Bush administration and coincided with an erosion in public support for the war.
Abizaid and Sanchez testified on Capitol Hill along with Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, the deputy commander of prison operations in Iraq.
Hearings criticized
The hearings themselves became the subject of controversy on Tuesday when a Republican House committee chairman said they were "disserving" the military effort in Iraq.
The Senate committee is "basically driving the story" of prisoner abuse, said California Rep. Duncan Hunter, who heads the House Armed Services Committee.
Without mentioning Hunter, Sen. John Warner, R-Va., said at his committee's hearing that the Congress is a "coequal branch of government" under the Constitution and properly was looking into the abuses.
President Bush, in recent days, has stressed repeatedly that neither the prison abuse nor the insurgency in Iraq will interfere with administration's plans to transfer political control to an interim Iraqi government June 30.
Asked about that date, Abizaid said somberly, "It is achievable -- but it needs to emerge soon as to who is going to be in charge [among the Iraqis] -- what their names are and what they're going to do."
Taking control
The administration has said it is working with a U.N. envoy to come up with names for an interim government to take control then. Administration officials said Tuesday they hoped those names would be chosen by month's end.
The issue has proved delicate. Political factions inside Iraq are jockeying over who should make up that government.
Abizaid's comments are the first whereby an administration official indicated the Iraqis must be chosen soon in order to give the transition a chance of working.
In response to a question, Abizaid also confirmed that 100 or so "high value" detainees in Iraq were being held by an Iraq Survey Group that is responsible for trying to locate weapons of mass destruction. This group is distinct from the forces under Sanchez's command.
Abizaid said these detainees are held apart from other prisoners in part so they could some day be turned over to a new Iraqi government for trial.
More pictures
The hearing was less than an hour old when Warner, the committee chairman, interrupted to announce that the Pentagon had discovered the existence of yet another disk containing pictures of abuse of the Baghdad prison.
He said lawmakers would be permitted to view them.
The Pentagon brought other disks to the Capitol last week for lawmakers to see. Members of Congress emerged grim-faced after viewing the images. Lawmakers expressed shock at what they said were scenes of sadism and of prisoners who forced to assume sexually humiliating positions.
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