Bush demotes Abu Ghraib general
President George Bush has rubber-stamped the demotion of Army Reserve Brig Gen Janis Karpinski, whose unit was in charge during the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuses in 2003.
The US Army said three other more senior generals, as previously reported, had been cleared of wrongdoing in the prisoner abuse cases. Karpinski is the only general to be disciplined.
Karpinski was demoted to colonel, a move that required the approval of the president. She also received a written reprimand by Army vice chief of staff, Gen Richard Cody for dereliction of duty and shoplifting and was formally relieved from command of the 800th Military Police Brigade on April 8.
The Army did not explain the dereliction of duty or shoplifting allegations, but a number of previous investigations of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuses accused her of failing to maintain order and prevent the abuses. She has said publicly that she was not given full authority over Abu Ghraib.
A US government official said Karpinski was accused of shoplifting a cosmetic item from a shop at a domestic US Air Force base while she held the rank of colonel. Karpinski did not report her arrest for this misdemeanour on a later background check, the official said.
Without providing their names, the Army also said today that one colonel and two lieutenant colonels linked to detainee abuses in Iraq and Afghanistan were given unspecified administrative punishment. Two other lieutenant colonels were given letters of reprimand.
