The United States Army opened two parallel investigations into disclosures made by Sgt. Clousing about the abuse of power and lack of accountability of the US Military in Iraq. These disclosures have been backed up by investigations conducted by Human Rights Watch. Speaking about the conditions in Iraq, John Sifton from Human Rights Watch said:

The abuse of power in Iraq is not isolated or spontaneous but rather part of a larger pattern of abuse that senior military officials are condoning rather than condemning. Whenever abuses of power by the military in Iraq surface the military has done its best to paint the soldiers as a few bad apples. In fact, the soldiers are victims themselves of poor policies and leadership that guarantees these sorts of things will happen.

“We are pleased that both the 82nd Airborne Command and the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division have begun investigations. The incidents in Iraq described by Sergeant Clousing are serious breaches and merit close scrutiny. Also meriting investigation is their part in a larger pattern” says Attorney David W. Miner, a former Army Judge Advocate.

Co-counsel Lawrence Hildes states that “We are confident that a thorough investigation will verify the truth of Sgt. Clousing’s statements. He is cooperating fully with these investigations and we trust that the Army will act in similar good faith.”

Read the Human Rights Watch report “Leadership Failure - Firsthand Accounts of Torture of Iraqi Detainees by the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division.“

Posted by admin on Tuesday, August 29th, 2006 at 3:17 pm.