Rumsfeld Was Personally Involved

Thirteenth of 25 excerpts from The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals by Jane Mayer:

Bush administration officials have described the escalation of cruelty in Guantánamo as a bottom-up movement, instigated by frustrated interrogators at the Navy base who were dissatisfied with the answers from [Mohammed al-] Qahtani, among others. Rumsfeld sounded befuddled later when he was asked by military investigators if he had any inkling that his policies had caused abuse at the base. "My God, you know, did I authorize putting a bra and underwear on this guy's head?" he asked in disbelief.

But documents and interviews suggest that Rumsfeld and others at the highest level of the Pentagon were closely involved in Qahtani's case from late 2002 on. Major General Dunlavey, who was the base's commander in Guantánamo until November 8, 2002, described close and constant contact between himself and Rumsfeld. . . . The relationship of dunlavey's successor, Major General Geoffrey Miller, with Rumsfeld was described as equally close. Rumsfeld was "personally involved" in Qahtani's interrogation, according to Lieutenant General Randall Schmidt, an Air Force fighter pilot who interviewed the Secretary of Defense twice in connection with a 2005 Army Inspector General's investigation into abuse at Guantánamo.

Copyright 2008 by Jane Mayer. All Rights Reserved