Many are asking why and how the photographs and videos from Abu Ghraib got in the hands of a small television station in Australia. The answer may lie in the decisions of the Bush Administration to allow senior officials escape punishment while forcing low-ranking soldiers to take the fall.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld authorized the use of military working dogs during interrogations at Guantanamo Bay when Major General Geoffrey Miller was the base commander. Miller then brought that technique with him in his efforts to “Gitmo-ize” Abu Ghraib.
But just last month, Gen. Miller took the military equivalent of the 5th Amendment and refused to testify at the trial of two soldiers accused of using attack dogs to injure and intimidate prisoners.
Donald Rumsfeld is still Secretary of Defense. General Miller is still in charge of detainee operations in Iraq. But nine low-ranking soldiers have been convicted of abuse, and now these two dog handlers were left to hold the bag. That may be too much for some soldiers in possession of Abu Ghraib photos and videos, and may have led them to seek other avenues to hold high-ranking officials accountable in this tragedy.
— Ken Gude