Army intelligence unit linked to prison abuse

WASHINGTON — The Iraqi prison scandal spread Wednesday to the Army's military intelligence branch as investigators for the service reported that 27 U.S. interrogation personnel were linked to cases of abuse.

Previously, the Army had focused on the role of a military police unit in the photographed tawdry incidents of prisoner abuse involving barking dogs and sexual humiliation.

"We discovered serious misconduct and a loss of moral values," Gen. Paul Kern, who led the investigation, told reporters at a Pentagon news conference where the Army released a five-page summary of a voluminous report that included more than 9,000 documents dealing with the conduct of intelligence personnel at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.

The investigation concluded that 23 members of the Army's 205th Intelligence Brigade and four contractors who worked with them had committed 44 abusive acts at the facility from July 2003 to February 2004.

Army investigators found misconduct "ranging from inhumane to sadistic by a small group of morally corrupt soldiers and civilians" and a "failure or lack of leadership" by the American commanders in Iraq, the report said.

The report concluded that intelligence personnel "requested, encouraged, condoned or solicited military police personnel to abuse detainees and/or participated in detainee abuse and/or violated established interrogation procedures and applicable laws and regulation during interrogation operations at Abu Ghraib."

In one possible mitigating factor, the report said the guidelines on handling prisoners were so confused at Abu Ghraib that 15 of the 23 individuals "thought they were acting within the scope of their responsibilities and their duties," Kern said.

In addition to the 27 individuals implicated, the Army found that eight others — six military intelligence personnel and two contractors — failed to report the abuses.

The Army investigation concluded that Col. Thomas Pappas, commander of the 205th Intelligence Brigade at the time of the alleged abuses, failed as a leader but didn't directly participate in the alleged abuses. Four other unnamed personnel fit into this category of people who didn't participate in the abuses but failed in leadership roles.

All those implicated could face criminal charges or other disciplinary action, the Army officials said. The cases involving civilian contractors will be handed over the Department of Justice, while the Army will determine whether charges should be filed in the cases involving military personnel.