President orders tough punishment

President Bush called Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld yesterday morning to make sure that those responsible for abusing and humiliating Iraqi prisoners are punished — a process already under way as the Pentagon took steps likely to end the careers of seven U.S. soldiers.

Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, ordered the most severe level of administrative reprimand to officers involved in the abuse, which was exposed through photos published in newspapers around the world last week and on CBS’ “60 Minutes II.”

Six U.S. military police are facing criminal charges, and Pentagon sources said the probe of the activities at the Abu Ghraib prison will expand in light of the death of an Iraqi detainee in an unrelated incident.

The Army chief of staff senior intelligence officer, Maj. Gen. George R. Fay, is “conducting an investigation into the intelligence practices in Iraq and how we collect intelligence throughout that country,” a defense official told The Washington Times.

The photos have enraged the Arab world, including the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, in the wake of an increase in attacks against U.S. troops less than two months before sovereignty is scheduled to be handed over to Iraqis.

“The president wanted to make sure that appropriate action was being taken against those responsible for these shameful, appalling acts,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. “Our military does not tolerate prisoner abuse.”

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell yesterday called the acts at the prison “despicable,” and the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff applauded the six ongoing investigations.

Mr. Powell said he expected the matter to “be fixed promptly,” stressing that the actions of those soldiers “doesn’t reflect on all of our troops.”

“Most of our troops are doing a great job upholding the highest standards of the service and are doing everything they can to help the Iraqi people,” Mr. Powell said.

According to the defense official, of the seven memorandums issued yesterday, six were reprimands and one was an admonition. Two of the more serious cases were “released for cause” — meaning that those two individuals have been removed from their positions.

These reprimand memos are basically career-killers, the official said, although he did not provide names or specifics.

Sen. John W. Warner, Virginia Republican and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said yesterday he will hold hearings with Pentagon officials “to get to the bottom of this situation.”

“These allegations of mistreatment, if proven, represent an appalling and totally unacceptable breach of military conduct that could undermine much of the courageous work and sacrifice by our forces in the war on terror,” Mr. Warner said in a statement. “This is not the way for anyone who wears the uniform of our armed forces to act.”

Those involved in the abuse — which included making Iraqi prisoners strip naked and form a human pyramid and telling them they were about to be electrocuted — are thought to be mostly reservists and members of the 800th Military Police Brigade.

In a sign that punishment could reach the brass, Army Reserve Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” yesterday with her attorney, Neal Puckett.

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