JAG CENTRAL

From the NY Times, Torture Alleged at Ministry Site Outside Baghdad:

Iraq's government said Tuesday that it had ordered an urgent investigation of allegations that many of the 173 detainees American troops discovered over the weekend in the basement of an Interior Ministry building in a Baghdad suburb had been tortured by their Iraqi captors. A senior Iraqi official who visited the detainees said two appeared paralyzed and others had some of the skin peeled off their bodies by their abusers.

Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari held a hurriedly organized news conference to announce the official inquiry. He also said there would be a second investigation, including a comprehensive count of the thousands held in Iraqi jails, to determine whether there was a wider pattern of abuse, as many opponents of his government have claimed. He said the detainees had been moved to another location and had been given all necessary medical care.

A joint statement by the American Embassy and the United States military command called the situation "totally unacceptable" and said American officials "agree with Iraq's leaders that mistreatment of detainees will not be tolerated."

From the Washington Post, U.S. Used Phosphorous Munitions in Fallujah:

Lt. Col. Barry Venable, a Pentagon spokesman, said U.S. forces in Fallujah "employed white phosphorus . . . as an incendiary weapon against enemy combatants," but said that "suggestions that U.S. forces targeted civilians with these weapons are simply wrong."

Defense officials acknowledged that they could not rule out the possibility that the phosphorous munitions accidentally hit civilians during the Fallujah offensive, which involved the heaviest U.S. combat since the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.

U.S. troops who took part in the Fallujah battle recounted in detail their use of white phosphorus -- most commonly employed to obscure troops during an assault or to mark targets -- as an effective weapon for routing out insurgents from "trench lines and spider holes," according to an article written by three of the soldiers and published in the March-April 2005 issue of Field Artillery magazine.

Venable said munitions containing white phosphorus are not illegal and are considered conventional, not chemical, weapons.

Maybe... but lots of things are "conventional" weapons that may not be kosher depending on how they are used. Proportionality and necessity apply when employing any weapons system. Was it "proportional" and "necessary" to use WP artillery rounds when other rounds were available? I'm sure that will be a matter for investigation.

Also from the Post, Torture Alleged After U.S.-Led Raid Uncovers Iraqi-Run Prison.

From USA Today, Senate Votes To Ban Torture of Terrorism Detainees:

The Senate passed a defense bill Tuesday that would ban torture of terrorism detainees and grant them limited access to federal courts.

The Senate passed an amendment, 84-14, that would allow the roughly 500 detainees at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to file one appeal of convictions by military tribunals if they face the death penalty or at least 10 years in prison. The appeals would be heard in federal court. Detainees also would be allowed to appeal their designation as enemy combatants.

The proposal would allow the court review in place of the right to file challenges to the constitutionality of their detention in federal courts, a right affirmed by the Supreme Court in 2004. The Bush administration has said the detainees have no right to appeal. Tuesday's vote set a middle ground.

The proposal by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., was attached to a defense bill that the Senate passed 98-0. The amendment asks President Bush to push Iraq to take over its own security and to get U.S. troops home as soon as possible.