Well it must be Presidential election time. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune editorial board in its column, "Rational for abuse, Congress should examine legal opinion's impact on interrogations" goes after our soldiers, the Department of the Army and of course the Bush administration.

What a great way to change the subject from Senator Barack Obama's pastor saying Sunday our founding fathers (that's Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton, et. al.) “planted slavery and white supremacy in the DNA of this republic.” Senator Obama saying of small town Americans, "they get bitter, and they cling to guns, or religion, or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them, or anti-immigrant sentiment, or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." Or Senator Hillary Clinton saying she dogged bullets when visiting Bosnia - a lie.

The anti-war left wingers love it when the liberal media brings up a new conspiracy theory.

First of all it is always good to point out the falsehoods in the liberal media's editorial. Let's start with, "Congress should explore whether Yoo's reasoning was extended to the military interrogation of prisoners at Abu Ghraib."

There is no reason to explore whether or if Yoo's memorandum was involved in the Abu Ghraib incident because an investigation of influence by the then Chain-of-Command was done by the Army. Allegations of "improperly communicating interrogation policies" was a clear part of that investigation.

By the way. I do not think any member of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune editorial board has any experience in the Inspector General Corps and investigating General Officers. Well I have. I was the Deputy Inspector General of the U.S. Army Western Command (now U.S. Army Pacific Command) from 1985 till 1990 when I retired. I have investigated General Officers, assisted DAIG investigations, and know the procedures. They are thorough and exacting. If any criminal activity is found it is immediately turned over to the local office of the Army Criminal Investigation Division and Judge Advocate General for action and prosecution.

Let's look at the findings of the Army's investigation into Abu Ghraib available on the Army website. Here are excerpts from a May 5, 2005 Army press release on the investigation:

Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, then commander Combined Joint Task Force 7 (CJTF7), was investigated by the Department of the Army Inspector General (DAIG) for the following allegations:

1. Dereliction in the performance of duties pertaining to detention and interrogation operations

2. Improperly communicating interrogation policies

The DAIG found each of the allegations unsubstantiated. Lt. Gen. Sanchez is currently serving as the Commander of V Corps, headquartered in Heidelberg, Germany.

Maj. Gen. Walter Wojdakowski, then Deputy Commander Combined Joint Task Force 7 (CJTF7) was investigated by the DAIG for the following allegation:

1. Dereliction in the performance of duties pertaining to detention and interrogations operations.

The DAIG found the allegation unsubstantiated. Maj. Gen. Wojdakowski currently is serving as a Special Assistant to the Commanding General U.S. Army Europe headquartered in Heidelberg, Germany.

Maj. Gen. Barbara G. Fast, then C2 intelligence officer Combined Joint Task Force 7 (CJTF7), was investigated by the DAIG for the following allegation:

1. Dereliction in the performance of her duties

The DAIG found the allegation unsubstantiated. Maj. Gen. Fast currently is serving as the commander of the U.S. Army Intelligence Center and Fort Huachuca, Ariz.

Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, then Commander 800th Military Police Brigade, was investigated by the DAIG for the following allegations:

1. Dereliction of duty

2. Making a material misrepresentation to an investigating team

3. Failure to obey a lawful order

4. Shoplifting.

The DAIG found two of the allegations unsubstantiated, while the allegations of dereliction of duty and shoplifting were found to be substantiated.

Based upon the DAIG investigation, Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Dick A. Cody issued Brig. Gen. Karpinski a memorandum of reprimand and directed that it be filed in her Official Military Personnel File. The Commander of the U.S. Army Reserve Command, Lt. Gen. James R. Helmly, formally relieved Brig. Gen. Karpinski from command of the 800th Military Police Brigade on April 8.

Today, the President approved a recommendation to vacate the promotion of Brig. Gen. Karpinski from her rank of brigadier general. This action was in response to a recommendation by the U.S. Army Reserve Command commander, the Chief of Staff of the Army, and the Secretary of the Army to the Secretary of Defense and the President. This decision reduces her rank to colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve.

Though Brig. Gen. Karpinski’s performance of duty was found to be seriously lacking, the investigation determined that no action or lack of action on her part contributed specifically to the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib.

Col. Marc Warren, then Staff Judge Advocate for Combined Joint Task Force 7 (CJTF7), was the subject of a preliminary screening inquiry (PSI) conducted by the Department of the Army’s Office of the Judge Advocate General for allegations of:

1. Professional impropriety under lawyers ethics rules

2. Dereliction in the performance of his duties.

The Office of the Judge Advocate General found the allegations to be unsubstantiated. Col. Warren currently is serving at Headquarters, Department of the Army, Washington, D.C.

To date, the Army and the Department of Defense have conducted 10 separate comprehensive investigations examining all aspects of detention operations. The major inquiries are based on more than 1,700 interviews and more than 16,000 pages of documents. Additionally, over 360 criminal investigations examined allegations of detainee mistreatment. Thus far, allegations against more than 130 military members have been addressed in courts-martial, non-judicial punishments, and other adverse administrative actions.

Regarding officer accountability, roughly 25 percent of the adverse punishments to date have been applied against officers, who make up about 16 percent of the total Army force. While there are still officer cases that remain open, to date, the Army has taken the following actions against officers in the ranks of brigadier general to warrant officer:

Brigadier General - Promotion vacated, relief from command, one letter of reprimand

Colonel - One non-judicial punishment

Lieutenant Colonel (four officers) - Two letters of reprimand, two non-judicial punishments

Major (three officers) - Three letters of reprimand, one non-judicial punishment

Captain (10 officers) – Three courts-martial, one other than honorable discharge, five letters of reprimand, one non-judicial punishment

1st Lieutenant (four officers) – Two courts-martial, one letter of reprimand, one non-judicial punishment

2nd Lieutenant (two officers) - One other than honorable discharge, one letter of reprimand

Chief Warrant Officer 3 - One court-martial

Chief Warrant Officer 2 - One court-martial.

Investigations into detainee abuse allegations are rank immaterial and will continue until all cases are completed. Investigators are persons of integrity, are under no undue command influence, and are charged to proceed wherever the truth leads in assessing accountability. Detainee abuse is not tolerated. The Army is committed to ensuring all Soldiers live up to the Army Values and the Law of War regardless of the environment or circumstances.

I for one have had enough of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune making political hay by attacking our Army simply to distract the public from the real and present danger of Radical Islam.

Their call for an investigation of our Army is both politically motivated and unnecessary. If they want to know what happened then read the full Army report.