General Sanchez laid out interrogation techniques in Iraq

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=8029639

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. commander in Iraq authorized prisoner interrogation tactics more harsh than accepted Army practice, including using guard dogs to exploit "Arab fear of dogs," a memo made public on Tuesday showed.

The Sept. 14, 2003, memo by Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, then the senior commander in Iraq, was released by the American Civil Liberties Union, which obtained it from the government under court order through the Freedom of Information Act.

"The memo clearly establishes that Gen. Sanchez authorized unlawful interrogation techniques for use in Iraq, and in particular these techniques violate the Geneva Conventions and the Army's own field manual governing interrogations," ACLU lawyer Amrit Singh said in an interview.

The Abu Ghraib scandal, in which U.S. forces physically abused and sexually humiliated Iraqi prisoners at a jail on the outskirts of Baghdad, occurred on Sanchez's watch. Gen. George Casey replaced him as top commander in Iraq nine months ago.