Dirty Wars (110 page)

147
in one of two structures
:
Eric Schmitt and Carolyn Marshall, “Task Force 6-26: Inside Camp Nama; in Secret Unit's ‘Black Room,' a Grim Portrait of U.S. Abuse,”
New York Times
, March 19, 2006.

147
“
Nasty-Ass Military Area
”:
John H. Richardson, “Acts of Conscience,”
Esquire
, September 21, 2009,
www.esquire.com/fea-tures/ESQ0806TERROR_102
.

147
“
don't make them bleed
”:
Schmitt and Marshall, “Task Force 6-26.”

147
“
adopted the SOP
”:
Committee on Armed Services, Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees in US Custody, S. Prt. 110-54, p. 158 (2008).

147
“
included stress positions
”:
Ibid., pp. 158-159.

148
unlawful combatants
:
As John Sifton and Marc Garlasco note in a report for Human Rights Watch, in the period during which the task force operated out of Camp NAMA, “U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq were bound by various provisions of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, as well as by customary international law.” The administration said publicly that the Geneva Conventions applied to the treatment of Iraqis in detention but could be suspended if the detainee was a foreign fighter. However, according to an internal DoD report cited by the Senate report, the standard operating procedure used by the task force in Iraq was “influenced by the counter-resistance memorandum that the Secretary of Defense approved on December 2, 2002...and incorporated techniques designed for detainees who were identified as ‘unlawful combatant.'” Military personnel who had worked with the task force told the Senate Armed Services Committee and Human Rights Watch that prisoners were denied protections under the Geneva Conventions, including Iraqi nationals. See John Sifton and Marc Garlasco, “No Blood, No Foul: Soldiers' Accounts of Detainee Abuse in Iraq,” Human Rights Watch, July 23, 2006,
www.hrw.org/reports/2006/07/22/no-blood-no-foul
. See also Terry Frieden, “Justice Dept.: Geneva Conventions Limited in Iraq,”
CNN.com
, October 26, 2004; and Committee on Armed Services, Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees, p. 158.

148
would not see lawyers
:
Schmitt and Marshall, “Task Force 6-26.”

148
ninety days
:
Spencer Ackerman, “How Special Ops Copied al-Qaida to Kill It,” Danger Room (blog),
Wired.com
, September 9, 2011,
www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/09/mcchrystal-network/
.

148
often subjected to
:
John Sifton and Marc Garlasco, “No Blood, No Foul: Soldiers' Accounts of Detainee Abuse in Iraq,” Human Rights Watch, July 23, 2006,
www.hrw.org/reports/2006/07/22/no-blood-no-foul
. All information attributed to Human Rights Watch in this chapter comes from this report, unless otherwise noted.

148
“
directly from General McChrystal
”:
Ibid.

148
set foot in Camp NAMA
:
Ibid.

148
“
very necessary
”:
Ibid.

148
rebuffed
:
Ibid.

148
up the chain of command
:
Ibid.

148
special ID
:
Ibid.

148
“
running a country club
”:
Committee on Armed Services, Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees, p.191.

148
“
GTMO-ize
”:
Ibid.

148
“
fearful of dogs
”:
Ibid., pp. 196-197.

148
“
can't tell our chain of command
”:
Sifton and Garlasco, “No Blood, No Foul.”

149
“
This is the dark side
”:
Author interview, Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer, May 2011.

149
“
no oversight
”:
Author interview, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, May 2011.

149
“
very high levels
”:
Author interview, Scott Horton, September 2010. All statements attributed to Scott Horton in this chapter come from the author's interview.

150
“
two reasons
”:
Jonathan S. Landay, “Report: Abusive Tactics Used to Seek Iraq-al Qaida Link,” McClatchy Newspapers, April 21, 2009.

150
“
tossed them back
”:
Rowan Scarborough,
Rumsfeld's War: The Untold Story of America's Anti-Terrorist Commander
(Washington, DC: Regnery, 2004), p. 48.

150
“
You saw the French
”:
Author interview, Andrew Exum, March 2012. All quotations of Andrew Exum in this chapter come from the author's interview.

151
withdrew its interrogators
:
Schmitt and Marshall, “Task Force 6-26.”

151
voicing their warnings
:
Ibid.

151
arrived at Camp NAMA
:
Committee on Armed Services, Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees, p.191.

151
“
filtration site”
: Author interview, Scott Horton, September 2010.

151
four interrogation rooms
:
Schmitt and Marshall, “Task Force 6-26.”

152
“
this is the treatment
”:
Sifton and Garlasco, “No Blood, No Foul.” All quotations of “Jeff Perry” in this chapter come from this report.

152
interrogations there often incorporated
:
Ibid.

152
One former prisoner
:
Schmitt and Marshall, “Task Force 6-26.”

152
described heinous acts
:
Brigadier General Richard P. Formica, “Article 15-6 Investigations of CJSOTF-AP and 5th SF Group Detention Operations,” November 8, 2004, pp. 20-21, 30; declassified June 7, 2006, released by the Department of Defense on Friday, June 16, 2006,
www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/operation_and_plans/Detainee/OtherDetain-eeRelatedDocuments.html
.

152
beat prisoners with rifle butts, spit in their faces
:
Schmitt and Marshall, “Task Force 6-26.”

152
“
beating the shit out of
”:
Sifton and Garlasco, “No Blood, No Foul.”

153
“
pissed in a bottle
”:
“CID Report—Final—0016-04-CID343-69355,” Army Criminal Investigative Command Report into allegations of detainee abuse at Camp NAMA, Baghdad International Airport, August 4, 2004, obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union and other human rights groups via FOIA,
www.aclu.org/torturefoia/released/030705/9135_9166.pdf
.

153
interrupt non-harsh interrogations
:
Sifton and Garlasco, “No Blood, No Foul.”

153
“
to leverage
”:
Ibid.

153
arrived at Camp NAMA
:
Committee on Armed Services, Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees, p. 173.

153
“
fundamental systemic problems
”:
Ibid., p. 173.

153
They told Kleinman
:
Ibid.

153
described a chaotic situation
:
Ibid.

153
ordered to do so
:
Ibid., p. 181.

153
“
I walked into the interrogation room
”:
Ibid., p. 176.

154
“
cleared hot to use SERE methods
”:
Ibid., p. 179.

154
“
unlawful order,” Kleinman was told
:
Ibid., p. 180.

154
trying to break
:
Ibid., pp. 181-182.

154
“
Concept of Operations
”:
Ibid., p. 184.

154
“
friction was developing
”:
Ibid.

154
“
sleep lightly
”:
Ibid., p. 186.

155
special operators as interrogators
:
Ibid., p. 193.

155
“
It's just that simple
”:
Author interview, Malcolm Nance, May 2011. All quotations of Malcolm Nance in this chapter come from the author's interview.

155
“
out of the hands of
”:
Human Rights Watch, “Leadership Failure: Firsthand Accounts of Torture of Iraqi Detainees by the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division,” September
23, 2005,
www.hrw.org/node/11610/section/1
.

155
complaining to Langley
:
Schmitt and Marshall, “Task Force 6-26.”

156
“
more aggressive
”:
Committee on Armed Services, Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees, p. 159.

156
unmarked helicopters, goggles
:
Schmitt and Marshall, “Task Force 6-26.”

156
“
harsh interrogation [was] approved
”:
Sifton and Garlasco, “No Blood, No Foul.”

156
nondisclosure agreements
:
Ibid.

157
“
disaster waiting to happen
”:
Committee on Armed Services, Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees, p. 162.

157
Fashad Mohammad
:
Hina Shamsi, “Command's Responsibility: Detainee Deaths in U.S. Custody in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Human Rights First, 2006,
www.humanrightsfirst.org/our-work/law-and-security/we-can-end-torture-now/commands-responsibility-detainee-deaths-in-u-s-custody-in-iraq-and-afghanistan/
. The Medical Examiner's report cited was obtained by Human Rights First: Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner, Final Autopsy Report for Autopsy No. ME-04-309 (Fashad Mohammad), November 22, 2004.

157
Manadel al Jamadi
:
MG George R. Fay, “AR 15-6 Investigation of the Abu Ghraib Detention Facility and 205th Military Intelligence Brigade,” completed August 23, 2004, p. 53. The report states that “CIA representatives” brought a man to Abu Ghraib early on November 4, 2003. He had been “captured by Navy SEAL Team 7 during a joint-121/CIA mission.” The report goes on to describe the circumstances of the man's death. Subsequent reporting revealed that the man's name was Manadel al-Jamadi. See David Cloud, “Seal Officer Hears Charges in Court-Martial in Iraqi's Death,”
New York Times
, May 25, 2005.

157
“
needs to be reined in
”:
Josh White, “U.S. Generals in Iraq Were Told of Abuse Early, Inquiry Finds,”
Washington Post
, December 1, 2004.

158
“
pored over intelligence
”:
Schmitt and Marshall, “Task Force 6-26.”

158
“
over a hundred ‘high value detainees
'”:
“Report of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on the Treatment by the Coalition Forces of Prisoners of War and Other Protected Persons by the Geneva Conventions in Iraq During Arrest, Internment and Interrogation,” ICRC, February 2004,
http://military.piac.asn.au/sites/default/files/documents/document-03.pdf
.

159
list of complaints
:
Memorandum from Vice Admiral Lowell E. Jacoby to Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen A. Cambone, “Alleged Detainee Abuse by TF 6-26 Personnel,” June 25, 2004, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the American Civil Liberties Union and other human rights groups, available at
www.aclu.org/torturefoia/released/t2596_0297.pdf
.

159
scribbled a handwritten letter
:
Schmitt and Marshall, “Task Force 6-26.”

159
“
no pattern of misconduct
”:
Ibid.

159
“
subject of this investigation
”:
Army Criminal Investigation Command memorandum concerning allegations of abuse at Camp Nama, May 31, 2004, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the American Civil Liberties Union and other human rights groups,
www.aclu.org/torturefoia/released/030705/9117_9134.pdf
.

159
thirty-four task force members
:
Schmitt and Marshall, “Task Force 6-26.”

159
“
did not see any form of oversight
”:
Author interview, former Air Force interrogator, June 2012.

160
changed the letterhead
:
Committee on Armed Services, Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees, p. 167.

160
eventually investigated
:
Seymour M. Hersh, “The General's Report: How Antonio Taguba, Who Investigated the Abu Ghraib Scandal, Became One of Its Casualties,”
New Yorker
, June 25, 2007.

160
Rumsfeld's congressional testimony
:
Captain Ian Fishback to Senator John McCain, “A Matter of Honor,” September 16, 2005, published by the
Washington Post
, September 25, 2005.

161
“
For 17 months
”:
Ibid. All quotations of Captain Fishback come from this letter.

161
denied permission
:
John H. Richardson, “Acts of Conscience,”
Esquire
, September 21, 2009,
www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0806TERROR_102
.

161
“
lapses of discipline
”:
General Stanley McChrystal (US Army, Ret.),
My Share of the Task: A Memoir
(New York: Portfolio/Penguin, 2012), pp. 201-202.