The house of cards is coming down. Reuters has two big ones:
CIA Contractor Charged in Afghan Prisoner Death
Rumsfeld Acknowledges Hiding Iraqi Prisoner
Excerpts in extended box.
From the first article:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A CIA contractor was arrested and indicted for the 2003 beating death of a detainee in Afghanistan, the first case against a civilian since the United States faced criticism for prisoner abuse overseas, Attorney General John Ashcroft said on Thursday.
David Passaro, 38, a former Army Ranger who worked as a contractor on behalf of the CIA, was charged in a four-count indictment in the first case the Justice Department has brought since questions arose over mistreatment of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Passaro, who was engaged in paramilitary activities in support of U.S. military personnel, used his hands, feet and a large flashlight to beat an Afghan detainee during interrogations at a U.S. military base near the town of Asadabad close to the Pakistan border, according to the indictment.
"The United States will not tolerate criminal acts of brutality such as those alleged in this indictment," Ashcroft told a news conference. "The types of illegal abuse detailed run counter to our values and our policies."
"Those who are responsible for criminal acts will be investigated and prosecuted, and of course if found guilty, punished," he said.
[snip]
The indictment, returned on Thursday by a federal grand jury in North Carolina, charged Passaro with two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm and two counts of assault resulting in serious bodily injury. [Emphasis added.]
If convicted, Passaro could face up to 40 years in prison and $1 million in fines.
The case was referred by the Justice Department by the CIA and investigated by the CIA's office of inspector general. Ashcroft said the Justice Department had received "additional referrals" from the CIA.
I don't know what kind of teeth those charges really have, but notice that they didn't charge him with violating the Torture Statute. The detainee in question here died 6/21/2003 (in his cell, according to Reuters). So isn't this guy being charged with murder also? Do they not have enough evidence? (Doubt it.)
With being the case, I think this bodes well for the future. They're being forced to prosecute the crimes of the contractors mercenaries.
The piece on Rumsfeld is pretty short.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged on Thursday he ordered the detention of an Iraqi terrorism suspect who was held for more than seven months without notifying the International Committee of the Red Cross, but said the man was "treated humanely."
The fingerpointing has begun. He said CIA asked DOD not to register the man with the ICRC, which doesn't pass the smell test to me. He said the detainee in question was never at Abu Ghraib and is not there now, which smells bad also.
The fingerpointing began when Cheney released the statement the other day pointing out how Rice, Rumsfeld, Tenet, and H. Clinton had said Saddam was linked to AQ. Now this. Looks like CYA from Rumsfeld, and not very good CYA at that. Now the ball's in Tenet's court. What's he going to say about this?