Ex - Abu Ghraib Warden: Boss Urged Dog Use - ''We understood that he was sent over by the secretary of defense,''

Ex - Abu Ghraib Warden: Boss Urged Dog Use - New York Times: "By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | Published: July 28, 2005

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) -- The use of dogs during interrogations at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq was recommended by the commander of the Guantanamo Bay detention center during a visit in 2003, the former warden of Abu Ghraib said.

''We understood that he was sent over by the secretary of defense,'' Maj. David Dinenna testified Wednesday during a hearing for two Army dog handlers accused of prisoner abuse.

Dinenna also testified that teams of trainers were sent to Abu Ghraib from Guantanamo Bay to try to incorporate certain interrogation techniques in Iraq.

The defense maintains the use of unmuzzled dogs to intimidate Abu Ghraib inmates was sanctioned high up in the chain of command and was not just a game played by two rogue soldiers, as the government claims.

''They did what they were instructed to do,'' defense attorney Harvey J. Volzer said.
...
One interrogator, Staff Sgt. Christopher S. Aston, testified that the only clear instruction about how dogs were to be used during interrogations at Abu Ghraib came from Col. Thomas M. Pappas, the highest-ranking military intelligence officer at the prison. Pappas said dogs could be used, but only if they were muzzled, Aston said. ...