Leadership Failures behind Iraqi Prisoner Abuse, says US Gen

 

Deborah Tate

The U.S. Army General investigating the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. troops blamed a failure of leadership for the scandal.

Army Major General Antonio Taguba, who wrote a report detailing the abuses against detainees at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison, told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday that the mistreatment stemmed from faulty leadership.

"Failure of leadership, sir, from the brigade commander on down, lack of discipline, no training whatsoever¹, and no supervision²," he said. "Supervisory omission³  was rampant⁴."

However, Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, the top Democrat⁵ on the committee, said the acts of abuse were not the spontaneous actions of lower enlisted⁶ personnel. In questioning General Taguba, Mr. Levin said it appeared that leadership condoned⁸ and even suggested and planned such activities.

"That is more than a failure of leadership," he said. "That is an active decision on the part of leadership. It is not just oversight⁹, negligence¹⁰ or neglect or sloppingness, but purposeful, willful, determination to use these techniques as part of an interrogation process. Would you include that in your definition of failure of leadership?"

General Taguba responded with, "Yes, sir, they were."

General Taguba added that Brigadier General Janis Karpinski of the 800th Military Police Brigade was to blame for the failed leadership.

General Karpinski is in the Army Reserves and had command of military prisons in Iraq. She has been suspended in connection with the abuse, but not charged.

Still, General Taguba said he never found any orders to U.S. soldiers to abuse detainees. "We did not find any order whatsoever, sir, written or otherwise, that directed them to do what they did," he said.

Undersecretary of Defense¹¹ for Intelligence, Stephen Cambone, says U.S. troops in Iraq were under orders to abide¹² by the Geneva Conventions, which spell out the terms for humane¹³ treatment of prisoners. "From the outset of the war in Iraq, the United States government has made clear that the Geneva Conventions applied¹⁴ to activities in that country," he said.

It was the second public hearing by the Armed Services Committee into the prisoner abuse matter. Images of U.S. troops mistreating detainees have sparked international outrage¹⁵ and calls from Democrats¹⁶ for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign. Those calls have been dismissed by Congressional Republicans and the White House.
注释：
Army General  陆军上将
scandal [5skAndl] n. 丑闻
detainee [7di:tei5ni:] n. 被拘留者
Abu Ghraib prison  阿布格莱布监狱
faulty [5fC:lti] adj. 有过失的，有缺点的
whatsoever [wRtsEJ5evE(r)] pron. 无论什么
supervision [7sju:pE5viVEn] n. 监督
omission [Eu5miFEn] n. 失职
rampant [5rAmpEnt] adj. 蔓延的
spontaneous [spCn5teinjEs] adj. 自发的，自然产生的
enlisted personnel  士兵
condone⁷ [kEn5dEun] vt. 宽恕
negligence [5ne^lidVEns] n. 疏忽
neglect [ni5^lekt] n. 忽视，疏忽
sloppingness [slCpiNnes] n. 草率，懒散
interrogation [in7terE5^eiFEn] n. 审问
Army Reserves  陆军预备队
suspend [sEs5pend] vt. 暂令……停职
charge [tFB:dV] v. 控告，指控
undersecretary [5QndE5sekritEri] n. 次官，副部长
Defense for Intelligence  国防情报局
Geneva Conventions  日内瓦公约
spell out  讲清楚，清楚地说明
outrage [5autreidV] n. 愤怒
dismiss [dis5mis] vt. 驳回
Congressional Republicans  共和党为主的国会

 

1 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

2 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

3 omission   

n.省略，删节；遗漏或省略的事物，冗长

参考例句：

• The omission of the girls was unfair.把女孩排除在外是不公平的。
• The omission of this chapter from the third edition was a gross oversight.第三版漏印这一章是个大疏忽。

4 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

5 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

6 enlisted   

adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持）

参考例句：

• enlisted men and women 男兵和女兵
• He enlisted with the air force to fight against the enemy. 他应募加入空军对敌作战。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 condone   

v.宽恕；原谅

参考例句：

• I cannot condone the use of violence.我不能宽恕使用暴力的行为。
• I will not condone a course of action that will lead us to war.我绝不允许任何导致战争的行为。

8 condoned   

v.容忍，宽恕，原谅( condone的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Terrorism can never be condoned. 决不能容忍恐怖主义。
• They condoned his sins because he repented. 由于他的悔悟，他们宽恕了他的罪。 来自辞典例句

9 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

10 negligence   

n.疏忽，玩忽，粗心大意

参考例句：

• They charged him with negligence of duty.他们指责他玩忽职守。
• The traffic accident was allegedly due to negligence.这次车祸据说是由于疏忽造成的。

11 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

12 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

13 humane   

adj.人道的，富有同情心的

参考例句：

• Is it humane to kill animals for food?宰杀牲畜来吃合乎人道吗？
• Their aim is for a more just and humane society.他们的目标是建立一个更加公正、博爱的社会。

14 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

15 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

16 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》