Sharks and Jets

This is good. No doubt about it, just the work of a few very busy "bad apples"

By MATT KELLEY, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Army investigators announced 94 cases of confirmed or alleged prisoner abuse in Iraq (news - web sites) and Afghanistan (news - web sites) — a number higher than previous estimates — in a report Thursday that concluded no systemic failures were at fault.

This is rich. I can't help but think that the number is actually much higher given the DOD's relationship with veracity. But let's accept the number as it stands. We have 6 or 7 "bad apples" so that works out to about 15 cases of abuse for each "applet".

But Senate Democrats, pointing to deficiencies in training and inconsistencies in doctrine outlined in the Army report, immediately challenged the findings.

"It is difficult to believe there were not systemic problems with our detention and interrogation operations," Michigan Sen. Carl Levin, top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said at a hastily called hearing.

The acting Army secretary and its top general said they took responsibility for the abuses while insisting that they were the misconduct of enlisted soldiers or lower-ranking officers — and not sanctioned by Army leadership.

"These actions, while regrettable, are aberrations," said Acting Army Secretary Les Brownlee. "The Army is responsible for their acts. As the senior civilian leader in the Army, I accept this responsibility."

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker said mistakes were understandable, though not excusable. Troops must be trained to contain their anger at prisoners who had been trying to kill them, he said.

"It's in the middle of a rumble that this is happening," Schoomaker said.

The sharks and the Jets indeed.