Abu Ghraib taint doesn't slow general's ascent
By SUSAN TAYLOR MARTIN
Published March 17, 2005
The U.S. officer in charge of gathering intelligence in Iraq during the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal got a plum new post Wednesday: head of the Army Intelligence Center at Fort Huachuca, Ariz.
Maj. Gen. Barbara Fast took command of the center - where soldiers learn the proper treatment of prisoners - just a week after the latest investigation into the scandal cited no wrongdoing by her or other higher-ups. Fast's promotion troubles some experts, who question how thorough the investigations have been and why no senior officials have been held accountable.
"It used to be that if you were the captain of a ship and something happened, even if it was not your fault you took responsibility," said Lawrence Korb, assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration. "Here we have a situation where people were in the chain of command when something happened and yet they get another career-enhancing job."
Fast, whose new post reportedly pays $132,100, remains on track to become only the second female three-star general in Army history.
As chief military intelligence officer in Iraq, Fast, 51, was in charge of interrogators who were trying to glean information from prisoners about the growing insurgency. As such, she often visited Abu Ghraib and determined which inmates should be held for questioning. But Fast has never publicly discussed the abuse, and it is unclear how much she knew about it.
The first investigation - made public last spring - had only a brief mention of Fast and put most of the blame on military police. A subsequent report by three generals praised Fast for making changes in intelligence-gathering that facilitated Saddam Hussein's capture and saved American and Iraqi lives.
But another report, by an independent, Pentagon-appointed panel, criticized Fast. It said she had failed to advise Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the top commander in Iraq, on policies for questioning prisoners and "appropriately monitoring" CIA activities at the prison.
In the latest investigation, Vice Adm. Albert T. Church III said he found problems with interrogation techniques. But Church said it was not part of his mission to determine if higher-ups should be held responsible.
"The Church report is among a series of whitewash reports," said Amrit Singh, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union. "All of the evidence we have seen thus far suggests that policymaking officials were in fact responsible for the abuses that took place at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere."
The ACLU, which obtained government documents through the Freedom of Information Act, is suing Sanchez, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and two lower-ranking officers on behalf of several men who say they were tortured and abused.
Although Fast is not a defendant, "it was under her watch that the abuses at Abu Ghraib took place," Singh said. "It is ironic she has been promoted when she was principally involved in interrogation policy for Iraq."
In her new job, Fast is commander of Fort Huachuca, home to 5,500 troops and the U.S. Army Intelligence Center, where soldiers are trained in interrogation techniques. One expert wonders why the Army didn't appoint someone untainted by the events in Iraq.
"It's concerning that the same names keep popping up," said Eugene Fidell, a military justice expert who has taught at Harvard Law School.
Thus far the only officer disciplined in the abuse scandal is Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, a reservist who was in charge of military police at Abu Ghraib. She was suspended from her command and issued an administrative reprimand, which could end her military career.
Sanchez remains on active duty, as does Col. Thomas Pappas, who directly supervised intelligence officers at Abu Ghraib. And Rumsfeld, who approved some of the controversial interrogation methods, continues as defense secretary.
Fidell said there have been so many investigations of prisoner abuse that they have lost focus and eroded public confidence in the process. But he and Korb agree one more probe is needed - this one by a truly independent, nonpartisan panel along the lines of the 9/11 Commission.
Mistreatment of prisoners "contributes to our not-so-great image in the Muslim world," Korb said. "And it will linger unless we have a no-holds barred, let the chips fall where they may kind of investigation."
Susan Taylor Martin can be contacted at susan@sptimes.com