Antonio Taguba and his report, May 2004

General Antonio Taguba was the presiding official over investigations of the Abu Ghraib abuse. Because of his position and rank, he was required to draft a report based on his findings and investigating, which was then to be sent through the chain of command all the way to the President. He also had to present the report to the Supreme Court.

In his report, he condemned senior officials for being responsible for the abuse. As mentioned earlier, the M.P.s that executed the abuse at Abu Ghraib did not act on their own accord-they had to have received advice and intelligence from a higher ranking official. Taguba knew this, and accused General Miller and Donald Rumsfeld for supporting and encouraging the controversial actions that took place in the prison.

Through photographs and videos investigated by Taguba, evidence of sodomizing prisoners as a means of torture were discovered. Medical reports, which were later watered down by those who wished to stay out of the light, stated anal fissures and severe bruising on some of the prisoners. There were photos of American soldiers in uniform raping female detainees, and also detainees that were forced to expose themselves. Male prisoners were forced to strip down naked in front of female soldiers, who then pointed and laughed at their genitalia while the men were forced to endure the humiliation.

Taguba concluded that these M.P.s did not act alone, but were ordered and compelled by senior officers to act in such a manner. The torturous methods, approved by Donald Rumsfeld, were taught and enforced by General Miller during his time in Iraq.

When this report came to light, Taguba was abandoned by his colleagues and forced to stand alone. Eventually, he was driven to retire in light of the controversy after Rumsfeld and Miller claimed innocence and naivety to the situation. Even though Taguba submitted the photos and report to Rumsfeld before it became a public matter, Rumsfeld claimed he only received wind of the situation right before it became public. Abusing his power, Rumsfeld used his rank and position of great importance to cloud his guilt and portray himself in an innocent light, despite his signature on the memo that ordered the excruciating torture methods.