The Case of Donald Rumsfeld and Prisoner Abuse at Abu Ghraib Essay Example for Free

The Case of Donald Rumsfeld and Prisoner Abuse at Abu Ghraib Essay The report on the case of Donald Rumsfeld starts off with Rumsfeld’s hearing (May 7, 2004) with the Senate Armed Services Committees. His response to the question of whether he should resign or not; is â€Å"If I felt I could not be effective, I’d resign in a minute. † The report also gives an account of General Antonio Taguba’s investigation results of Abu Ghraib. He gives a report on the following: Conditions, training, Standard Operating procedures, prison crowding, culture and accountability. In Federalist 41 Madison notes in the Constitution two specific concerns about government power: total power of government over the people and the allocation of power among the entities of government. He states that he does not want unnecessary or improper power given to government be it state or federal. In the case of Donald Rumsfeld and the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib; the soldiers believe they have the power to inflict harsh techniques on the detainees in order to get them to talk. This article will analyze General Taguba’s report. I will examine the problems in this case through the use of theories. CBS’s Sixty Minutes II releases a video with images of torture and abuse; the prisoners endure at the hands of the American soldiers. The video displays naked prisoners crawling on the floor. Some forced into sexual positions; while others are naked and blooded. The media brings this to public awareness worldwide through internet, television and radio shows. Bush and his administration allege that they have no knowledge of the problems or the allegations prior to the CBS airing to television audiences. The Americans and the Arab people express their concern with questions. Who should be accountable for the guards’ actions? Are they instructed to abide by the Geneva Convention? What signals are they receiving from superiors that this behavior is tolerable? DeVreese suggest that how the media frames issues affects how the public perceive the issues. This involves looking at an issue from different perspectives (DeVreese 2004, 36-52). The Taguba Report Major Antonio Taguba is given a directive to investigate the allegations of abuse, the failure in accountability and the escapes. In March 2004, Major Taguba reports that there is a problem in leadership. He confirms the allegations of abuse and disorder in the prison. The Geneva Convention The United States and Iraq is in agreement to the Geneva Convention. Therefore they have obligations to: (a) Treat everyone humanely, regardless of sex, beliefs, race, or status (b) Take no hostages (c) Not engage in treatment of humiliating or degrading (d) Impose executions without court approval While Military officials and most members of Congress, the public and Secretary Rumsfeld are in agreement that the United States Army is in violation of the Geneva Convention at Abu Ghraib, what is uncertain is the question what encourage the actions? Conditions at Abu Ghraib Although (BK) Janis Karpinski is commander of the 800th Military Police Brigade; Taguba’s reports that the brigade is lacking leadership and operational integrity. Taguba findings suggest that top military brass, officials in the Department of Defense or the Bush Administration is closing their eyes or encourage the soldiers’ behavior. Mosher believes that the public sector must maintain a higher standard of integrity and professionalism. (Mosher 1938, 332-342). Training Taguba learns that from the MP personnel to the 320th MP Battalion and the 372nd MP Company has very little to no training or instruction in neither detention/internee operation nor the rules of the Geneva Convention. Although the soldiers say they are trained regularly, there is no documentation to support their statements. Box’s article Running Government Like a Business, shrinking government by contracting out services or returning them to the private sector on the premise that the private sector s more efficient or the assertion that the public sector should simply be smaller(Box 1999,19-43). by the government trying to save money by contracting out; contracting companies are trying to cut cost. Training their workers would cost more money Standard Operating Procedures Within the 800th MP Brigade and its subordinate units there is a lack of knowledge, implementation of the standard operating rules and procedures. Each facility detention, compound, encampment and shift for handling of detainees and criminal prisoner’s procedures differs. There is a need for a check and balance system to maintain compliance. Coopers gives a primary example of accountability problem in war privatization, i. e. , the legal status of contractors. Neither civilian nor military laws cover inappropriate contractor behavior such as torture or unnecessary force resulting in loss of non-combatant life. This is particularly problematic in the Iraq situation where contractors are exempt from local law and they are not bound by U. S. civilian or military law. In some contracts, but not all, contractors who commit a felony are subject to U. S. urisdiction; however, this law does not clearly apply to subcontractors or to third-party nationals and the Pentagon has not written the implementation regulations for the law. In addition, because the contractor has control over day-to-day information concerning the behavior of the employees working in another country, it could be difficult for government prosecutors to secure evidence necessary to investigate an allegation of wrong doing. This is why Tagua saw a lack of training and accountability. The U. S. relieves the responsibility up to the Contracting Companies to train their workers. Prison Crowding Taguba’s report shows the overcrowding of the prisoners is one of the reasons for the poor living condition. The overcrowding is causing identification problem among the leaders in the detainee population who may be organizing the detainee’s escapes and riots. The unrest and overcrowding is due to the lengthy screening and processing and release of detainees who should not be in custody. There are three categories for releasing detainees. (1. ) A detainee can be release if it is determine that detaining them is no longer warrant. 2) If it is determine that a criminal detainee has not part of a terrorist group and that they will not be a danger to society. (3) Detainees accused of committing a crime against the coalition can be release if it is determine that they are no longer a threat to the Coalition Forces. The Detainee Release Authority grants recommendation for releases, but MG Fast regularly denies the board’s recommendations. Culture Operational Journals at different compounds and the 302th Battalion TOC reveal a lot of unprofessional documentations and no chain of command to review them. US civilian contract personnel are not supervising properly. The contractors have open access to the detainees. Accountability The detainees can move from location to another and not be accounted for; due to falsification of process sheets. BK Karpinski reports her findings and recommendations with follow ups and changes regarding the escapes and accountability lapses. Taguba reports that if Karpinski is accurate then the abuse, escapes and accountability lapses may be prevented. Prisoners of War, Terrorists and Enemy Combatants The new era of foreign policy and the promise to define the Bush presidency is a result of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. Bush promise to find and punish the terrorists. The need for the Intelligence to pursue and prevent the terrorist from further attacks on the U. S. puts pressure on the interrogators to accomplish the mission. This relates to Eshbaugh-Soha and Peakes argument that chief executives are rather powerful in setting the policy agenda because Congress, the news media, and the public look to the president for this fact. In order for the president to set the policy agenda, he must command the medias attention so that the media is able to provide information to the public in regards to the presidents initiatives. The best way to do this is in the form of speeches or press conferences, which Bush did. | Because the Taliban and AlQaeda fighters are not under the Geneva Convention; the Administration recommendation to Donald Rumsfeld is to approve 35 full range techniques. Only nine are for exceptional use. the Military lawyer express how that the beginning of these recommendations will cause their ivilian counterparts within the Department of Defense will give approval for getting information about terrorist activity as top priority. Rumsfeld is given a memo by the same Administration warning him of a possible backlash if the nine techniques be used. The Administration also says that if the treatment becomes public, exaggeration and distorting by the media. The media will undermine the support for the war on terrorism. The U. S. officials will be facing human rights prosecution abroad and will be a ploy to have a reason for mistreatment of captured American Soldiers. Weeks later Rumsfeld denies 11 of the 35 techniques. The Media The Financial Times report accusations that official in the Bush Administration set a precedent for abuse and torture. The report reveals congress accusing Bush Administration of sanctioning torture by preparing legal documents that states harsh treatment of detainees is permissible under the United States and International Laws. Financial Times also reports the Statement of U. S. Military Lawyers regarding how they felt shut out of the prison policy. Some of the soldiers say that they are getting mix messages about the rules on prisoners. De Vrees says that news framing involves seeing the issue from either a conflict or an economic consequences perspective He suggests that this framing process determines whether the voter sees the issue as a conflict or economic issue. Here the Financial Times frame the report from a conflict. The government is seen as the ones who gave directives to abuse the detainees. This can hurt the president next election. Bilder and Vagts believes that government attorneys obligations greater than those of private sector attorneys. The client is the entire agency, the entire U. S. government, and the American public. An important difference between the government and private attorney is that the government attorneys advice does not have definitive judicial review. Because of the lack of a safety net in decision making process; there is a greater burden on the government attorney. The Military Lawyers shares with Financial Times how they felt left out of the prison making policy. In Conclusion Although the soldiers were discipline for their participation in the detainee’s abuse; U.  S. government is responsible for the detainees suffering. The U. S. soldiers should have kept their oath and agreement to abide by the Geneva Convention. Donald Rumsfeld did the right thing by resigning. Wilson theory on authority, he suggests that power and discretion must accompany responsibility and that power and discretion need to be provided to the public administrator. He adds that more power creates greater visibility which in turn creates more accountability. As the Defense Secretary he was given more power over the U. S. oldiers; therefore is more accountable. As an Administrator, I would ensure that the soldiers are trained; procedures are in place and adhere to. I would visit the prisons myself and question the detainees, their visitors and other staff to make sure that operational needs are met. Wilson theory on authority, he suggests that power and discretion must accompany responsibility and that power and discretion need to be provided to the public administrator. He adds that more power creates greater visibility which in turn creates more accountability.