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all that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned

Copper Green – Whatever It Takes

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The roots of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal lie not in the criminal inclinations of a few Army reservists but in a decision, approved last year by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, to expand a highly secret operation, which had been focussed on the hunt for Al Qaeda, to the interrogation of prisoners in Iraq. Rumsfeld’s decision embittered the American intelligence community, damaged the effectiveness of lite combat units, and hurt Americas prospects in the war on terror … the Pentagons operation, known inside the intelligence community by several code words, including Copper Green, encouraged physical coercion and sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners.

Prisoner abuse was worst in November 2003, just when frustration about Saddam’s at-large status was peaking … In September 2003, just before the abuse began, Condoleezza Rice [said] “The United States is going to do, as the president said, whatever it takes.” In November 2003 … George W. Bush said from the White House, “We will do whatever it takes” in Iraq. In March 2004 the president said, “Whatever it takes, we will fight and work to assure the success of freedom in Iraq.”

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