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White House 'Duped' General Into Torture: Book

Myers 'hoodwinked' into permitting harsh techniques

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 19, 2008 7:54 AM CDT
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(Newser) – The Bush administration "hoodwinked" one of the country's top military men in order to establish harsh interrogation techniques on Guantanamo Bay prisoners, according to revelations in a new book reported in the Guardian. Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard Myers was misled by White House aides into abandoning the military's long-standing ban on inhumane treatment of prisoners, according to London law professor Phillipe Sands in his book Torture Team.

The professor discovered that the general thought techniques like hooding and sensory deprivation had come from the military's own field manual—but they actually breached the military's rules, and some had been thought up by young officers inspired by the TV series 24. "As we worked through the list of techniques, Myers became increasingly hesitant and troubled," the professor writes. Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was "able to run rings around him."

Former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, left, and former Joint Chiefs Chairman Richard Myers, right, talk on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2007.
Former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, left, and former Joint Chiefs Chairman Richard Myers, right, talk on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2007.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
A Guantanamo guard watches over detainees, not pictured, in the exercise area at Camp 5 maximum-security facility in this Oct. 9, 2007 file photo at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba.
A Guantanamo guard watches over detainees, not pictured, in the exercise area at Camp 5 maximum-security facility in this Oct. 9, 2007 file photo at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba.   (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
Retired Gen. Richard Myers, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, addresses the graduating class at the Army's Command and General Staff College Friday , Dec. 14, 2007 at Fort Leavenworth.
Retired Gen. Richard Myers, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, addresses the graduating class at the Army's Command and General Staff College Friday , Dec. 14, 2007 at Fort Leavenworth.   (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
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Techniques came from '24,' not military manual
Guardian (UK)

Torture trail followed right to the top
Guardian (UK)

Myers says he never saw memo authorizing torture
Washington Post

 
Donald Rumsfeld • Joint Chiefs of Staff • US military • Guantanamo Bay • interrogation techniques • harsh interrogation

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