The Plot Thickens

[SuperScout]

[My thoughts and comments will be inside the brackets.]

'Embittered' Gen. Taguba Had Grudge Against Army, Rumsfeld [Has this goober never heard of the graceful art of Resignation?]

The military investigator who set off a firestorm of controversy with his damaging report accusing U.S. MP's of abusing detainees at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison is said to be "bitter" over what he regarded as the Army's mistreatment of his own father after World War II. [OK, so his father was mistreated after WWII, what the sam hill does this have to do with his current job and responsibilities?]

Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba, author of the now notorious Taguba Report, also recently served under former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, a critic of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who challenged Rumsfeld's early estimates of the number of troops needed to win the Iraq war. [Shinseki was also a holdover, not really up to speed about or happy with the direction the DoD is going, i.e., lighter, faster, directed towards active counter-terrorism roles.]

"General Taguba went out of his way in 2001 to call attention to what he described as the injustice the Army had accorded his father after a two-decade career that began in the Battle of Bataan in 1942, where he fought alongside American forces," the New York Times reports in Tuesday editions.

His father, Staff Sgt. Tomas Taguba, left the Army "without so much as a retirement ceremony to thank him for those 20 years of hard work and faithful service," the son complained at a 2001 Veterans Day ceremony.

The Times said Gen. Taguba spoke with "evident bitterness" as he detailed the injustice done by the military to his father, who was among 10,000 Filipinos who were essentially drafted into American service after the outbreak of World War II.

Noting that Secretary Rumsfeld had "derided" Gen. Shinseki's recommendations, the Times said that Taguba's initial investigation into the abuse at Abu Ghraib was supposed to be limited to the conduct of a single military police brigade. However, "Taguba used it to deliver a much broader indictment" that cast suspicion on higher-ups, the paper said. [I had noted in other posts and threads that something was fishy about this entire episode, and the smell has a distinct Filipino tint to it.]

While some of Taguba's lesser charges of abuse at Abu Ghraib were backed by photographs and confessions by some MPs, he relied solely on the allegations of detained Iraqis suspected of terrorism to deliver his most damaging allegations, which included accusations of inmate beatings and GIs committing sodomy with a broomstick. [Let's see now, who is more credible, our GI's, or some Jihadist terrorist? Hmmmmmmm?]

In his report Taguba admitted that these charges were supported only by "statements provided by the following detainees, which under the circumstances I find credible based on the clarity of their statements and supporting evidence provided by other witnesses." [The CLARITY of their statements? And you believe these murderous thugs? What is your real agenda here, attempting to ascertain the truth, or embarrassing your superiors?]

He then listed the accusers and witnesses, all of whom were suspected Iraqi terrorists who had been singled out for intensive interrogation. [Let me guess: they were singled out because (a) their last name wasn't Smith, (b) they were caught with weapons in their possession, or (c) they were associating with other suspected terrorists.]

[And just like the face-time phoneys of the 9-11 Commission, this made-for-Senate-face-time shamus has an agenda that's phonier than he is. Don't look for his name to appear on the LTG's list anytime soon!]

[darrels joy]

I wondered who that General was that had an ax to grind.

Joy

[SuperScout]

And now you know!