The US general who helped uncover the Iraqi prison abuse scandal said Tuesday a breakdown of leadership led to the mistreatment but there was no evidence American soldiers were following orders.
Major General Antonio Taguba told the Senate Armed Services Committee there was a "failure in leadership, from the brigade commander on down."
"Lack of discipline, no training whatsoever, and no supervision," were the main causes, Taguba told lawmakers. "Supervisory omission was rampant."
In his report on abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison, Taguba highlighted "numerous incidents of sadistic, blatant and wanton criminal abuses" against Iraqi prisoners.
His report, along with pictures of naked prisoners piled in sexually humiliating positions, have shaken the US occupation of Iraq and drawn widespread international criticism.
US lawmakers were set to see unpublished pictures of abuse yesterday, when the Defense Department will bring photographs to a private viewing at Congress for three hours.
Senator John Warner, head of the Senate committee, said only lawmakers would be allowed to see the pictures, which will be returned to the Pentagon because they are evidence in a criminal case.
He did not say whether the images would be made public, joining dozens already published and broadcast in the festering scandal.
In his testimony, Taguba, 53, one of two Filipino-American generals in the US Army, said the abuse began from mid- to late October and continued until January.
"At the end of the day, a few soldiers and civilians conspired to abuse and conduct egregious acts of violence against detainees and other civilians outside the bounds of international law and the Geneva Convention," he said.
In related news, the US military yesterday announced a further two court martials for abusing Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison.
Staff Sergeant Ivan "Chip" Frederick and Sergeant Javal Davis were the second and third of seven military police guards charged with abusing prisoners at the prison.
They two men face a variety of charges relating to maltreatment of prisoners.
A US military spokesman said no dates had yet been set for the two new court martials.
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