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Scandal May Dishonor Military |
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Myers technically is
not in the chain of command, which extends from the president to the
secretary of defense to the senior commander in the field, Army Gen. John
Abizaid, and downward to his subordinates. As the senior military
adviser to President Bush and to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld,
however, Myers has emerged among the potentially vulnerable officials. There
is no suggestion that Myers or Rumsfeld is criminally liable, but Sen. Chuck
Hagel, R-Neb., said Sunday that President Bush must consider whether they are
still viable leaders. "I think it's
still in question whether Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and, quite frankly,
General Myers can command the respect and the trust and the confidence of the
military and the American people to lead this country," said Hagel, a Bush gave Rumsfeld a
strong public endorsement Monday after they met privately at the Pentagon,
and Rumsfeld aides said they saw no indication that the secretary was leaning
toward resignation. The president did not mention Myers, nor is there any
indication he is in disfavor. The Army Times, a
civilian-published military trade publication read by tens of thousands at
military bases around the world, said in an editorial Monday that Myers and
Rumsfeld are guilty of "professional negligence" but did not
recommend that either man resign or be fired. Myers, whose term as
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is to expire in October 2005, was drawn
into the controversy over prisoner abuse when he appeared on three Sunday
talk shows May 2 and said he had not read an Army report that chronicled the
worst of the abuses. Myers also revealed in
those interviews that he had asked CBS News to delay airing the "60 Minutes
II" broadcast that was to have included first publication of photographs
that depicted U.S. soldiers as they subjected naked prisoners to sexual
humiliation and apparent physical abuse. The telecast was delayed but
eventually was aired April 28. Among generals in the
chain of command for Myers said Abizaid told
him of the abuse allegations a day or two after they were reported to
military authorities in Abizaid's top deputy is
Lt. Gen. Lance Smith, who appeared with Myers and Rumsfeld during Senate and
House hearings on Friday and who is to appear again Tuesday before the Senate
Armed Services Committee. Smith is based at Central Command headquarters in The most senior
American general in In his testimony last
Friday, Myers said the senior commanders in "I have great
confidence in them, as should the American public and every Iraqi
citizen," Myers said. Another senior officer
who has figured prominently in the abuse story is Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller,
who had been commander of the Questions have been
raised about Miller's earlier involvement. He went to Iraq last Aug. 31 to
assess the detention and interrogation system in U.S.-run prisons, with an
eye to finding ways to get better intelligence information from detainees.
It's not yet clear who sent Miller on that mission; Myers said Friday that
"we" sent Miller, but he was not more specific. Miller was named head
of detainee operations in She maintains that she
was not aware of any abuses until after the allegations were reported in
January, and that military intelligence officials controlled the soldiers'
actions inside the prison. Another key figure is
Col. Thomas M. Pappas, commander of the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade,
who is identified in the Army's main investigative report concerning abuses
at Abu Ghraib prison as among the people either directly or indirectly
responsible for abuses. |
