Petraeus backs closing Guantanamo, limits on harsh interrogation

By Carol Rosenberg | Miami Herald

Army Gen. David Petraeus, the Pentagon's top commander of forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, said Sunday he still supports closing the prison camps at Guantanamo and is not troubled by President Barack Obama's inability to do so by a Jan. 22 deadline.

Petraeus, answering questions on NBC's "Meet the Press", also said he did not believe that the use of Bush-era harsh interrogation tactics on captives taken in the ongoing U.S. military offensive in Afghanistan against the Taliban would produce better intelligence.

Petraeus said his experience with the 82nd Airborne Division was that you stick with the U.S. Army Field Manual and rely on the Geneva Conventions in handling war prisoners both because it's the ethical thing to do and because the blowback from using other techniques serves as a recruiting tool for the enemy.

He called episodes of detainee abuse, such as those captured in soldiers' photos at Abu Ghraib in Iraq, "non-biodegradable," meaning they never go away.

Rather, he said he supported the systematic emptying of the prison camps at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo in a "pragmatic and sensible manner" -– while the United States decides where to send and how to hold the last prisoners there. As of Sunday, the Pentagon had 192 detainees at Guantanamo -– about a dozen of whom the Obama administration had concluded could face either military or civilian trials.

Petraeus had a hand in writing the Army Field Manual's doctrine for interrogation techniques, which he has said are "completely in line with the Geneva Conventions."

Note: It is the duty of Petraeus to follow the Commander-in-Chief i.e. Obama and therefore, he would not disagree with the closing of Gitmo. However, most patriots in America foresee great harm to our country by allowing Terrorists released into the civil courts, given attorneys and having their "rights" read to them during a time of war. BeeSting

Petraeus: “Iran can be bombed.”

Israpundit

Telegraph

The US military commander for the Middle East and the Gulf region has confirmed that the United States has developed contingency plans to deal with Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Gen David Petraeus, head of Central Command or Centcom, did not elaborate on the plans, but said the military has considered the impacts of any action taken there.

Asked about the vulnerability of Iran’s nuclear installations, he told CNN: “Well, they certainly can be bombed. The level of effect would vary with who it is that carries it out, what ordnance they have, and what capability they can bring to bear.”

He added: “It would be almost literally irresponsible if Centcom were not to have been thinking about the various ‘what ifs’ and to make plans for a whole variety of different contingencies.”

Israel has called Iran’s nuclear programme the major threat facing its nation. Gen Petraeus declined to comment about Israel’s military capabilities, according to CNN.

Petraeus said he thought there was still time for the nations to engage Iran in diplomacy, noting there is no deadline on the enactment of any US contingency plans.

But he added that “there’s a period of time, certainly, before all this might come to a head”.

Note: Bee is adding a photo for the imagination:

In-depth / The mysterious deal between Washington and Tehran

Peter Moore at the British Embassy in Baghdad following his release from captivity.
(British Foreign Office / Getty Images)

Last update - 14:10 03/01/2010
By Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondent

Mystery and speculation continue to surround the release of British computer consultant Peter Moore from captivity in Iraq. The 36-year-old was taken hostage with four British bodyguards assigned to him while he was working as an IT consultant in Baghdad for a U.S. firm. He arrived in the U.K. on Friday night.

During his 31-month captivity, three of the security guards were killed, and it is widely believed that the fourth, Alan McMenemy, was also murdered.

Attempts to piece together where Moore was held after being abducted in May 2007 are continuing. The former U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, has suggested that Moore was held in Iran, confirming that U.S. intelligence indicates that at least part of his detention was spent there.

Though the U.K. has vehemently denied that Moore's release was part of a prisoner exchange, media outlets report that in fact there was such a deal between the British, the Americans and the Iranians.

Even Peter's father, Grahm Moore, confirmed a deal when he said that though he was not permitted to talk about it earlier, he had received word of secret talks between the kidnappers and the Americans over the release of the Shia cleric, Qais al-Khazali.

Al-Khazali has been key to Moore's release ever since the Briton was kidnapped. The 26-year-old was a rising star in the Righteous League, a band of Iranian-backed Shia militants, a nascent Islamic group, when he was captured by the British Army in Iraq in March 2007, and later handed over to the U.S., where he was held up until his release several days ago. The group believed to have been led by Al-Khazali is suspected of being involved in the murder of five American soldiers.

Despite the proximity between the release of both captives, and despite repeated reports of a prisoner exchange deal, British authorities have denied such a deal, as did the Iraqi government. The U.S. has declined to comment in any official capacity.

The British Foreign Office also denied the allegation, reported by the Guardian, that Moore was held in Iran.

Moore was brought to Iraq to assist the Iraqi treasury in upgrading their computerized systems, in efforts to increase oversight over the transfer of funds, especially foreign aid. Some analysts believe that some $18 billion in aid money has been stolen in Iraq since the U.S. invasion in 2003. It is not yet clear whether the decision to capture Moore was motivated by his extensive knowledge in computers, or whether it was an Iranian response to the arrest of senior Revolutionary Guards officials in northern Iraq by U.S. intelligence. It is more plausible that it is the second reason, because since his abduction, all the computerized systems that he brought to the Iraqi treasury have been replaced.