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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Investigating General Focuses on Colonel at Joint Interrogation Center |
| 2004-06-04 |
| From The New York Times The Army general investigating the role of military intelligence specialists in the abuse of Iraqi inmates at Abu Ghraib prison is focusing on the former head of the site’s interrogation center .... The investigating officer, Maj. Gen. George R. Fay, has a broad mandate to examine intelligence gathering in Iraq and has interviewed dozens of soldiers and officers in Iraq, Europe and the United States. But General Fay is asking several specific questions about Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan, the former head of the Joint Interrogation and Debriefing Center, the statements he made to interrogators and his instructions about treating Iraqi prisoners, said one military intelligence soldier who has been interviewed .... General Fay is also believed to be examining an incident at Abu Ghraib last October in which several Iraqi prisoners may have been hidden from representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross during a visit they made to the site. A military interrogator stationed at Abu Ghraib said that, over a six-hour period during the inspectors’ visit, five or six prisoners were put into cells, where they were forced to sit in uncomfortable positions. "They had hoods on them and they had their arms bound," said the interrogator, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the continuing inquiry. "They put them over there to hide them from a Red Cross inspection." The interrogator said he overheard Colonel Jordan and other officers say that the Red Cross inspectors did not need to know about those Iraqi prisoners. .... From sworn testimony and interviews, Colonel Jordan emerges as a hands-on commander from the moment he arrived last September to oversee the newly created interrogation center’s activities. "Wing One was supervised mostly by LTC Steve Jordan," Capt. Donald J. Reese, commander of the 372nd Military Police Company, said in a sworn statement to investigators. "LTC Jordan was very involved with the interrogation process and the day-to-day activity that occurred." .... In November, Specialist Monath said, military police officers failed to properly screen Iraqi police officers coming into the prison, and one was found to have smuggled in a handgun to give to a detainee. "These were serving Iraqi police officers who were attempting to smuggle in arms for the prisoners," he said. "Colonel Jordan went to the front gate and personally patted down every Iraqi police officer who came in." Two Iraqis were arrested in the next two days for smuggling weapons into the prison, he said. .... The article includes several remarks by knowledgeable soldiers praising Col Jordan. |
| Posted by:Mike Sylwester |
| #2 Depends. I like the idea that he decided to fix security by patting down people himself. I just bet everyone else in the unit got the message pronto. That said, if he went outside/beyond the rules, he has to pay the price. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2004-06-04 12:31:15 PM |
| #1 Does this mean that Lt. Col. Steven Jordan will not be admitted to the AOS? |
| Posted by: Tibor 2004-06-04 12:03:15 PM |