Summary of comments made through media outlets by General Peter Schoomaker, General George Casey, Major General Geoffrey Miller, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, President George Bush, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, General Peter Pace, Secretary of State Colin Powell, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.
Leader Comments
Summary of major comments by leadership on Iraqi detainee abuse
Gen. Peter Schoomaker, Army Chief of Staff
¦ "These things that we have seen are contrary to (Army) values. They do a great disservice to all of the thousands of servicemen and women that are performing honorably all over the world." (May 5 — FoxNews TV)
Gen. George Casey, Vice Chief of Staff
¦
"This was a complete breakdown of discipline." (May 5 — CNN TV Live and USA Today)
¦
"It's very basic for us, how we treat detainees. We treat all of the folks we
come in contact with with dignity and respect." (May 5 — Washington Post and USA Today)
¦
"What you see on those pictures is not indicative of our training or values." (May 5 — Knight-Ridder)
¦
"We take maltreatment of detainees very seriously. We are completely committed to getting to the bottom of this and holding accountable those who we find guilty." ( May 5 — Baltimore Sun)
¦
"The investigation is continuing, and we will continue it until we are
satisfied that we have absolutely gotten to the bottom of this." (May 4 — Cox News Service)
Major General Geoffrey Miller, new Commander of Iraq prisons
¦
"Ladies and gentleman, we have changed this — trust us. By an aberrant thing, there were errors made. We have corrected those. We will make sure that they do not happen in the future." (May 5 — New York Times)
¦
"I would like to apologize for our nation and for our military for the small number of soldiers who committed illegal or unauthorized acts here at Abu Ghraib." (May 5 — Associated Press)
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"We have changed this. Trust me. We are doing what's right." (May 5 — Atlanta Journal Constitution)
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"It (the abuse) has brought a cloud over all the efforts of all of our soldiers and we will work our hardest to re-establish the trust that Iraqis feel for the coalition and the confidence people in American have in their military."
(May 5 — NDTV India)
Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, spokesman for the U.S. command
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¦ "My Army has been embarrassed by this. My Army has been shamed by this. And on behalf of my Army, I apologize for what those soldiers did to your citizens. It was reprehensible and it was unacceptable." (May 5 —
Associated Press)
President George Bush
¦
"We don't tolerate these type of abuses. More than an allegation, in this case, actual abuse - we saw the pictures. There will be a full investigation." (May 5 — Associated Press)
¦
The people of Iraq "must understand that what took place in that prison does not represent the America that I know." (May 5 — Arab TV)
¦
"There will be investigations, people will be brought to justice. The actions of these few people do not reflect the hearts of the American people." (May 5 -CNN Online)
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld
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"Any American who sees the photographs that we've seen has to be feel apologetic to the Iraqi people who have been abused and recognize that that is something that is unacceptable." (ABC's "Good Morning America)
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"We're taking and will continue to take whatever steps are necessary to hold accountable those who may have violated the code of military conduct and betrayed the trust placed in them by the American people."
(May 4 - Radio Free Europe)
¦
"'We have to deal with this issue from a standpoint of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. We have to deal with it from the standpoint of how we're organized and trained and led. And that has been my focus." (May 4 — Boston Globe)
¦
"The actions of the soldiers in those photographs are totally unacceptable and un-American. Any who engaged in such action let down their comrades who serve honorably each day, and they let down their country."
(May 5 — Daily Texan, Austin TX)
General Peter Pace, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
¦ "There has been no attempt to hide this. What we've been trying to do is find out the truth of the matter so we can get on about correcting, finding out who did what and then taking proper action." (May 5 — Knight-Ridder)
Secretary of State Colin Powell
¦
"(Photos) Showed acts that are despicable. What they did was illegal,
against all regulations, against all standards. It was immoral." (May 5 — Chicago Tribune)
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"And so the acts of a few, I trust, will not overwhelm the goodness coming from so many of our soldiers, and I'm sure that the investigations will get
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to the bottom of this and make sure that any problems that exist in the prison system will be fixed, and fixed promptly" (May 4 — Contra Costa Times, CA)
¦ The Americans responsible would be "dealt with in a way that the world can observe and watch." (May 4 — Tylerpaper.com)
National Security adviser, Condoleezza Rice (on Arab television)
¦
"It's simply unacceptable that anyone would engage in the abuse of Iraqi prisoners, and we will get to the bottom of it." (May 5 — Chicago Tribune)
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"We are deeply sorry for what has happened to these people, and what the families must be feeling. It's just not right. And we will get to the bottom of what happened," (May 5 -12 Network Australia)
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"I want to assure people in the Arab world, Iraq, around the world, and the American people, that the President is determined to get to the bottom of it, to know who is responsible and to make sure that whoever is responsible is punished for it and held accountable." (May 5- LA Times and
Aljezeera TV)
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