Timeline of Prisoner Abuse Scandals....Reading this reveals more and

[KoKo]

helps connect some missing dots. (I didn't know that 17 soldiers had been suspended earlier this year.) Some other interesting stuff here from MSNBC Website:

TIMELINE: Prisoner abuse in Iraq
Key dates in the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal
Aug. 31-Sept. 9, 2003

Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, who runs the military prison for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, conducts an inquiry on interrogation and detention procedures in Iraq. He suggests that prison guards can help set conditions for the interrogation of prisoners.
October-December
Many of the alleged abuses at Abu Ghraib take place during this time period.

Oct. 13-Nov. 6
Maj. Gen. Donald Ryder, provost marshal of the Army, investigates conditions of U.S.-run prisons in Iraq, including Abu Ghraib. He finds problems throughout the prisons. Some units, including the 800th Military Police Brigade, did not receive adequate training to guard prisons, he notes. He also says military police (MPs) should not assist in making prisoners more pliable to interrogation, as their job is to keep prisoners safe.

Nov. 19
The 205th Military Intelligence Brigade is given responsibility for Abu Ghraib prison and authority over the 800th Military Police Brigade.

November
Two Iraqi detainees die in separate incidents that involved CIA interrogation officers.

Jan. 13, 2004
Army Spc. Joseph M. Darby, an MP with the 800th at Abu Ghraib, first reports cases of abuse at the prison.

Jan. 16
Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez orders a criminal investigation into reports of abuse at the prison by members of the brigade. The military also announces the investigation publicly.

Jan. 19
Sanchez orders a separate administrative investigation into the 800th MP Brigade. Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba is appointed to conduct that inquiry on Jan. 31.

Late January - early February
President Bush becomes aware of the charges sometime in this time period, according to White House spokesman Scott McClellan, although the spokesman has not pinpointed a date. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld tells Bush of the charges, McClellan has said.

Feb. 23
Seventeen U.S. soldiers suspended from duties pending outcome of investigation.

Feb. 24
International Committee of the Red Cross provides the Coalition Authority with a confidential report on detention in Iraq. Portions of the report are published without ICRC consent by the Wall Street Journal on May 7.

March 3-9
Taguba presents his report to his commanders. He finds widespread abuse of prisoners by military police and military intelligence. He also agrees with Ryder that guards should not play any role in the interrogation of prisoners.
March 20
Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt tells reporters six military personnel have been charged with criminal offenses.

Mid April
Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, asks CBS-TV to delay airing photographs it has obtained of abuse at Abu Ghraib. Myers says the photos would exacerbate an intense period of violence under way in Iraq. CBS delays its program for two weeks.

April 28
# Rumsfeld meets with senators in a closed briefing on the war in Iraq. Rumsfeld neglects to mention the issue of prisoner abuse or the coming disclosure of photos.
# CBS “60 Minutes II” airs the photos, setting off an international outcry. Bush first learns about these photos from the television report, his aides say.

Early May
CIA confirms that some of its officers hid Iraqi prisoners from watchdog groups like the Red Cross.

May 1
An article by Seymour Hersh, published on The New Yorker magazine's Web site, reveals contents of Taguba's report.

May 2
Myers admits on ABC’s "This Week" that he has not yet read the Taguba report issued in March.

May 3
Officials say the Army has reprimanded seven soldiers in the abuse of inmates at Abu Ghraib.

May 4
U.S. Army discloses that it is conducting criminal investigations of 10 prisoner deaths in U.S. custody in Afghanistan and Iraq - beyond two already ruled homicides - plus another 10 abuse cases. (The number grows by two on May 5, when the CIA says it is investigating more cases.)

May 5
President Bush appears on two Arab television channels to address the scandal but does not apologize for the abuse of iraqi prisoners by U.S. troops. The following day Bush does apologize.

May 6
# The Washington Post publishes four additional photos.
# President Bush privately admonishes Rumsfeld for not keeping him informed about the issue.

May 7
Rumsfeld testifies before the Senate and House Armed Services Committees on the issue of prisoner abuse in Iraq. Separately, Army Pfc. Lynndie England, shown in photographs smiling and pointing at naked Iraqi prisoners, is charged with assaulting detainees and conspiring to mistreat them.

May 19
Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits receives the maximum penalty -- one year in prison, reduction in rank and a bad conduct discharge -- in the first court-martial stemming from mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison.

Source: Associated Press, MSNBC research, NBC News
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5024068