General who led U.S. forces in Iraq during detainee scandal hails Democrats withdrawal plan

Retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, a former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq whose name was tarnished by the Abu Ghraib scandal, said Saturday that a war funding bill passed by the House on November 14 puts “America on the path to regaining our moral authority” by requiring all government employees, including CIA agents, to abide by the military’s permissible interrogation methods.

Sanchez gave the Democratic radio address but said that he is not speaking on behalf of the Democratic Party. Rather, he described himself “as a retired military officer who is a former commander of the Multi-National Force Iraq.”  

{mosads}At present, the Army Field Manual on Interrogations prohibits the military from using the controversial technique known as water-boarding, but the same rules may not apply to intelligence agencies such as the CIA.

The Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 states that  no “individual in the custody or under the physical control of the United States Government, regardless of nationality or physical location, shall be subject to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.” However, Bush administration officials have claimed that the use of water-boarding is still permissible under that standard, and intelligence officials have admitted to water-boarding captured members of al Qaeda. The Bush administration has battled to have as much freedom as possible in its treatment of terrorist detainees.

House Democrats have sought to curb the controversial tactic with language included in a bill appropriating $50 billion for war operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The language would ensure that the Army Field Manual’s rules apply across the board, including the intelligence agencies.

Democrats also included the goal of withdrawing troops from Iraq by December 2008. The Senate failed to pass a similar bill, and President Bush said he would veto it.

In his address, the general – who is reportedly planning to publish a book – said that he supports the Democrats’ withdrawal plan.

Sanchez said the House bill “makes the proper preparation of deploying our troops a priority and requires the type of shift in their mission that will allow their numbers to be reduced substantially.”
Sanchez also said that aggressive regional diplomacy, political reconciliation and economic hope are the keys to stability in Iraq.

“Yet, as our current commanders in Iraq have recently noted, the improvements in security produced by the courage and blood of our troops have not been matched by a willingness on the part of Iraqi leaders to make the hard choices necessary to bring peace to their country,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez was commander of U.S. forces in Iraq from June 2003 to June 2004. News of the detainee scandal at the Abu Ghraib prison, where soldiers and interrogators were photographed sexually abusing naked detainees and threatening them with dogs, became public during his tenure.

According to a 2004 Pentagon report on the abuses, Sanchez had failed to ensure proper oversight of detention and interrogation operations. He retired last year and was not charged with any misconduct.  Earlier this year, he spoke out against the Bush administration, calling the U.S. mission in Iraq a “nightmare with no end in sight.”

Meanwhile, President Bush on Thanksgiving Day called several members of the armed services serving overseas to thank them for their service. He again gave thanks in his weekly address Saturday “for the blessings of young Americans…who risk their own lives to keep us safe.” While Bush criticized Congress earlier in the week for not meeting its responsibilities toward the troops, he made no reference to that in his weekend address.