Jonathan Turley makes a powerful case for some more accountability for the detention mess. He points out the following:
True to tradition, promotion rather than punishment has been the fate of most torture-tainted officers in the Abu Ghraib scandal:
• Army Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller has been implicated in the abuses at both Guantanamo Bay and Iraq. He actually ordered Abu Ghraib personnel to “soften up” the prisoners. He was made an assistant chief of staff.
• Maj. Gen. Barbara Fast had knowledge of the abuses in 2003 as the head of military intelligence in Iraq and was accused of pressuring the interrogators. She was given a new position as the commander at the Army Intelligence Center at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., where U.S. and foreign troops are taught interrogation techniques.
• Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez was the ranking officer in Iraq and approved many of the interrogation techniques now deemed abusive. He was returned to his command in Germany of the prestigious Army V Corps.
• The officer who oversaw interrogation at Abu Ghraib, Col. Thomas Pappas, was given a light administrative punishment.
If we cannot yet hold Rumsfeld, Bush and Gonzales responsible, we can surely do better than jailing a few low-level grunts in this scandal.
The Dish 