Iraq: Chain Of Blame: Pointing Fingers

The top brass says the scandal at Abu Ghraib can be blamed on a few bad apples, but did the Pentagon's zealous pursuit of intelligence give a license for abuse?

If you believe Specialist Jeremy Sivits, the MPs in his unit caught on camera tormenting Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison did it for sport. In statements he gave to military investigators looking into the allegations of abuse last January, Sivits depicted a sordid camaraderie in which a handful of young soldiers willingly followed the lead of the older Staff Sergeant Ivan Frederick and Specialist Charles Graner into perverse revelry. Sivits described nights of violence and debauchery, during which soldiers of the 372nd Military Police Company joked and laughed and subjected the prisoners under their control to sexual humiliation and physical...

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