Antonio Taguba & His Report

In May of 2004, Antonio Taguba, an army major general, presented a report on the prison scandal at Abu Ghraib. He said that there was significant abuse and sadism happening at Abu Ghraib, including sodomization and rape of detainees. Other abuses he listed were threatening with rape, threatening with loaded guns, beating with broom handles, and in one instance having a dog bite a detainee. Taguba believed that General Sanchez and other high-ranking officers knew all about what was happening at Abu Ghraib long before the story broke. Taguba thought that Miller’s approach at Abu Ghraib was not in line with Army doctrine, especially using military police to “soften up” detainees prior to interrogation. He thought this exploited people who had never received proper training of what was expected of them in this situation and were never given any clear orders once they found themselves in it. He concluded that very few of the detainees had done anything or been involved in anything deserving imprisonment. Most were not involved in the insurgency or terrorist groups. In short, Taguba’s report was incredibly damning and brought him a lot of hostility from Rumsfeld and other higher-ups he had previously been friends with.