U.S. intelligence ordered some Iraqi abuse

BAGHDAD, May 18 (UPI) -- A classified report on Iraqi prisoner abuse by U.S. forces says some of the methods were ordered by intelligence officials, the New York Times said Tuesday.

Col. Thomas M. Pappas, commander of the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade told investigator Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, intelligence officers sometimes instructed military police to force Iraqi detainees to strip naked and to shackle them before questioning them.

But he said those measures at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison were not imposed "unless there is some good reason."

The statements by Pappas, contained in the transcript of a Feb. 11 interview that is part of Taguba's 6,000-page classified report, offer the highest-level confirmation so far that military intelligence soldiers directed military guards in preparing for interrogations, the newspaper said.

In his report, Taguba concluded that Pappas, a 23-year Army veteran, was "either directly or indirectly responsible" for the actions of those who mistreated and humiliated Iraqi prisoners.

The role of military intelligence officials and civilian contract interrogators at Abu Ghraib is still under investigation by Maj. Gen. George Fay, the deputy chief of Army intelligence.