Military denies top U.S. general witnessed abuse

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The U.S. military command on Sunday denied a report that the top U.S. general in Iraq was present during some interrogations at the Abu Ghraib prison and witnessed some of the abuse of Iraqi inmates.

The Washington Post said a military lawyer stated at an open hearing April 2 that Capt. Donald J. Reese told him that Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez and other senior military officers were aware of the abuse at the prison. Sanchez stands by his testimony before Congressional committees that he was unaware of the abuses until he ordered an investigation into the allegations in January.

Although Sanchez ordered the investigation in January, the scandal did not break open until late April, when CBS' "60 Minutes II" broadcast photos of American guards abusing and sexually humiliating Iraqi prisoners who were naked except for hoods covering their heads, including a group stacked in a human pyramid.

Those photos triggered worldwide outrage and raised doubts about America's commitment to building a society based on democracy and respect for human rights after toppling Saddam Hussein's tyranny.

Sanchez told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he did not receive a Nov. 6 report by the International Committee of the Red Cross detailing abuses at Abu Ghraib until two months later.

The Post reported that a transcript of the April hearing at Camp Victory in Baghdad shows Capt. John McCabe, the military prosecutor, asking Shuck, "Are you saying that Captain Reese is going to testify that General Sanchez was there and saw this going on?"

"That's what he told me," Shuck replied, according to the transcript cited by the Post. "I am an officer of the court, sir, and I would not lie. I have got two children at home, I'm not going to risk my career."

According to the Post, Shuck also said at the April hearing that Capt. Carolyn A. Wood, supervisor of the military intelligence operation at Abu Ghraib, was "involved in intensive interrogations of detainees, condoned some of the activities and stressed that that was standard procedure, what the accused was doing."

Col. Jill Morgenthaler, public affairs officer in Baghdad, said the transcript of the April 2 hearing would not be released.

U.S. military officials have said there is no evidence that Sanchez or other senior military officers were aware of the prisoner abuse while it was happening. Prison officials have blamed the abuse on low-level military police, some of whom have maintained they were just following orders.