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JAG – Better Then TV

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Originally, Geneva Conventions protections were stripped only from Qaeda and Taliban prisoners. But later Rumsfeld himself, impressed by the success of techniques used against Qaeda suspects at Guantanamo Bay, seemingly set in motion a process that led to their use in Iraq, even though that war was supposed to have been governed by the Geneva Conventions … The administration also began “rendering”or delivering terror suspects to foreign governments … who might be able to use more aggressive interrogation methods … Toward the end of 2002, orders came down the political chain at DOD that the Geneva Conventions were to be reinterpreted to allow tougher methods of interrogation. “There was almost a revolt” by the service judge advocates general, or JAGs, the top military lawyers … they said the U.S. military’s 50-year history of observing the demands of the Geneva Conventions was now being overturned.

The JAG lawyers say, political appointees at the Pentagon ignored their warnings, setting the stage for the Abu Ghraib abuses … As the military’s uniformed lawyers, JAG officers are in charge of instructing military commanders on how to adhere to domestic and international rules regarding the treatment of detainees … Specifically, JAG officers say they have been marginalized by Douglas Feith, undersecretary of defense for policy, and William Haynes II, the Pentagon’s general counsel, whom President Bush has nominated for a judgeship on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit … JAG officials disputed … using private contractors for interrogations thus further blurring the lines of the chain of command and keeping JAG officials away from Iraqi interrogation centers.

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