The general who commanded the Guantanamo Bay prison for seven months in 2002 says he was under constant pressure from military intelligence officers to bend his 'by-the-book' rules on how to treat al-Qaida and Taliban suspects.
In interviews with The Associated Press, Brig. Gen. Rick Baccus said military intelligence wanted him to make the suspects' lives less comfortable to get them to cooperate with interrogators.
...He said they were always pressing: 'Why are they getting two showers and two exercise periods a week instead of one? Where did all these books come from? Why are you doing this?'
Pentagon officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Baccus's remarks.
Baccus, an activated Rhode Island National Guard commander at the time, left the naval base in Cuba in October 2002 amid complaints from some interrogators that his approach made their job more difficult. Baccus and the Pentagon said the departure was a routine rotation of command.
Within days of his return to Rhode Island, Baccus was fired from his National Guard job by its adjutant general, Reginald J. Centracchio, and placed on standby reserve. Centracchio has declined to explain why.
Baccus said he was fired for refusing to answer questions about command decisions in Guantanamo that Centracchio posed and that Army superiors had ordered him not to answer.
...Baccus said that, during his command, he would not allow physical abuse, degradation or photographing prisoners. He also said the International Red Cross was given open access to the detainees and encouraged to report any complaints.
Baccus said the job of the interrogators was to get information, and that the job of the military police under his command was to provide a humane environment for the detainees and keep everyone safe. Those roles, he said, should not be mixed. MPs are not trained in interrogation, he said, and involving them in it can compromise everyone's safety.
Others with access to the detainees, both independent observers and soldiers, confirmed Baccus' description of his procedures.
Sgt. Maj. Raymond W. Funaro, now retired, was the senior noncommissioned officer under Baccus. 'His philosophy was that we will abide at all times to the spirit of the Geneva Conventions, that these people were under lock and key and would be treated like human beings,' he said.
That, Funaro said, is the reason abuses 'didn't happen at Gitmo' under Baccus's command.
Ledger Independent article
In interviews with The Associated Press, Brig. Gen. Rick Baccus said military intelligence wanted him to make the suspects' lives less comfortable to get them to cooperate with interrogators.
...He said they were always pressing: 'Why are they getting two showers and two exercise periods a week instead of one? Where did all these books come from? Why are you doing this?'
Pentagon officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Baccus's remarks.
Baccus, an activated Rhode Island National Guard commander at the time, left the naval base in Cuba in October 2002 amid complaints from some interrogators that his approach made their job more difficult. Baccus and the Pentagon said the departure was a routine rotation of command.
Within days of his return to Rhode Island, Baccus was fired from his National Guard job by its adjutant general, Reginald J. Centracchio, and placed on standby reserve. Centracchio has declined to explain why.
Baccus said he was fired for refusing to answer questions about command decisions in Guantanamo that Centracchio posed and that Army superiors had ordered him not to answer.
...Baccus said that, during his command, he would not allow physical abuse, degradation or photographing prisoners. He also said the International Red Cross was given open access to the detainees and encouraged to report any complaints.
Baccus said the job of the interrogators was to get information, and that the job of the military police under his command was to provide a humane environment for the detainees and keep everyone safe. Those roles, he said, should not be mixed. MPs are not trained in interrogation, he said, and involving them in it can compromise everyone's safety.
Others with access to the detainees, both independent observers and soldiers, confirmed Baccus' description of his procedures.
Sgt. Maj. Raymond W. Funaro, now retired, was the senior noncommissioned officer under Baccus. 'His philosophy was that we will abide at all times to the spirit of the Geneva Conventions, that these people were under lock and key and would be treated like human beings,' he said.
That, Funaro said, is the reason abuses 'didn't happen at Gitmo' under Baccus's command.
I have been trying to keep a list of names of those soldiers reported in the press who have acted and spoken out according to their conscience against illegal and immoral orders or actions. It's a pretty short list. There must be more. If you see an article or know of such a soldier, please send a message to Nell (permanent contact link in the sidebar), and I'll put them on my website "wall of honor".
....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.
