| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: WoT |
| Three-star general appointed to lead Gitmo abuse investigation |
| 2005-03-01 |
| SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The US military appointed a three-star general to lead an investigation into abuse allegations at the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, clearing the way for investigators to question a two-star general who once commanded the camp. Air Force Lt. Gen. Randall M. Schmidt takes over for Brig. Gen. John Furlow, according to the US Southern Command in Miami, which oversees the camp in eastern Cuba. The move would allow Schmidt to question Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, a two-star general who commanded the camp during many of the incidents detailed in recently released FBI memos that complain of "aggressive" interrogation techniques. Miller was in Guantanamo from October 2002 to March 2004 and was sent there to get more information from terror suspects. US military regulations require that an investigating officer must outrank anyone who is interviewed. Furlow requested that a more senior officer be appointed. "I don't know who will be questioned, but this allows Schmidt to question a two-star general," Col. David McWilliams, a spokesman for Southern Command, said Monday. Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, Southern Command's commander, has given until March 31 to complete the investigation. The military maintains that most incidents detailed in the FBI memos occurred in 2002 when the prison was just opening, and that some of the interrogation techniques labeled as "aggressive" are no longer in use. Craddock opened an investigation in December after the release of the FBI documents. Some 70 people have been interviewed, officials said, and extensions have been given to allow for more potential witnesses to be interviewed. |
| Posted by:Steve White |