US commanders in Iraq are expressing grave concerns that the overcrowded Abu Ghraib prison has become a breeding ground for extremist leaders and a school for terrorist foot soldiers.
The reason is that the confinement allows detainees to forge relationships and exchange lessons of combat against the US and the new Iraq government. "Abu Ghraib is a graduate-level training ground for the insurgency," said an US commander in Iraq.
The US military has halted transferring detainees to Iraqi jailers until the Iraqis improve their prisoner care. But concerns about the growing detainee population under US control have prompted a number of officers to stop sending every suspect rounded up in raids to Abu Ghraib and other prisons.
Many inmates might instead be released if initial questioning indicated that they were not hardened fighters against the US troops and the Iraqi government.
"These decisions have to be intelligence driven, on holding those who are extreme threats or who can lead us to those who are," another US officer in Iraq said. "We don't want to be putting everybody caught up in a sweep into `Jihad University.'"
The perception of the prison as an incubator for more violence is the latest shift in how Abu Ghraib has been seen -- once a feared torture dungeon of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's government, then the center of the storm over prisoner abuse by the US and ever since a festering symbol of the unsolved problems of handling criminals, terrorists, rebels and holdovers from the Baathist era.
Pentagon officials say the latest questions about the prison have been raised by General George W. Casey Jr, the senior US commander in Iraq, and by Major General John Gardner, commander of the US-run prison system there.
Gardner has ordered a number of measures to deal with the problem to isolate suspected terrorist ringleaders from the broader detainee population and to limit clandestine communications among those in custody.
Plans to turn over Abu Ghraib, three other prisons and their inmates to the new Iraqi government have been stalled despite US commanders' concerns that overseeing the detainees saps personnel and continues to blot the US image.
After a series of raids on Iraqi-run detention centers late last year uncovered scores of abused prisoners, commanders at US and allied prisons said neither detainees nor the centers would be handed over to Iraqi jailers until US officials were satisfied that the Iraqis were meeting international standards for detainee care.
Concerns voiced by military officers in Iraq have intensified in recent weeks, with a growing prison population at the four major detention centers under US and allied control. The overall detainee population stood at 14,767 this week, an increase from 10,135 in June and a significant jump even from the end of December, when the number was 14,055, according to US military statistics.
Abu Ghraib held 4,850 detainees as of Jan. 31, a steep increase from 3,563 in June but a slight dip from 4,924 in late December.
At present, Iraqis may be freed from the US-run detention centers after review by a special panel, the Combined Release Board. Detained Iraqis are turned over to Iraqi jailers only if they are convicted by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq, US officials said.
The problem of insurgent networking and instruction in the detention system is part of a broader problem in the US counterterrorism effort. US military and intelligence officers say Iraq has become a magnet for violent extremists from across the Islamic world. The officials warn that violent extremists who are not killed, captured and held or persuaded to give up the struggle will emerge battle tested, and more proficient at carrying out terror attacks elsewhere.
Some officers warn of a parallel to the Soviet experience in Afghanistan, when radical Islamic fighters drawn to fight the Soviet occupiers forged strong relationships with religious extremists from within Afghanistan and across the Islamic world.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS