In 2008, as a result of a joint Senate investigation by the
Intelligence and
Armed Services Committees, it was revealed that on March 14, 2003,
John Yoo of the
Office of Legal Counsel,
Department of Justice, issued a legal opinion to
William Haynes,
General Counsel of the Department of Defense, in which he concluded that federal laws related to the use of
torture and other abuse would not apply to US interrogators overseas. This was five days before the
US invasion of Iraq began on March 19, 2003. Yoo had also been involved in drafting what came to be known as the
Torture Memos of August 2002, which had been issued to the
CIA. In June 2004,
Jack Goldsmith, then head of OLC, advised Defense and the CIA not to rely on these memos. In August 2003, Miller was sent to Iraq by the
Department of Defense to advise on "more productive" interrogations of Iraqi prisoners. In September, Miller submitted a report that recommended "GTMO-ising" their approach – combining the detention and interrogation units at
Abu Ghraib prison into the Theater Joint Interrogation and Detention Center. Specifically, Miller suggested that prison guards be used to "soften up" prisoners for interrogations. In his final report on the prison abuse at Abu Ghraib the following year, General
Antonio Taguba blamed Miller's recommendations for the abuse. He said that using
military police or guards for interrogation was a breach of official policy. Miller denies that he specifically ordered guards to torture prisoners to get information. After the
Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse story broke in April 2004,
Brigadier General Janis Karpinski was suspended. Miller was appointed as the deputy commanding general for detainee operations for Multinational Forces in Iraq. In this role, Miller reported directly to Lieutenant General
Ricardo Sanchez. Miller vowed to reduce the number of prisoners in Abu Ghraib, adhere to military laws as well as the
Geneva Convention, investigate allegations of abuse, and reform the Iraqi prison system. He banned the use of hoods on prisoners during transport and set up a new system to allow prisoners to have visitors. Since the investigation of abuses at Abu Ghraib, some have suggested that Miller had earlier encouraged abusive tactics. In an interview with
BBC Radio,
Janis Karpinski, the former prison commander, claimed that Miller had told her to treat prisoners "like dogs," saying, "if you allow them to believe at any point that they are more than a dog then you've lost control of them". Major General Miller denies the statement.
Colonel Thomas Pappas, head of the military intelligence brigade at Abu Ghraib, has claimed that it was Miller's idea to use
attack dogs to intimidate prisoners. He said the same tactics were being used at
Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo. Several of the photos taken at Abu Ghraib show dogs surrounding (and in at least one case biting) screaming, naked detainees. In November 2004, Miller was replaced as deputy commanding general for detainee operations by Major General
William H. Brandenburg.
Exercised Fifth Amendment right In 2006, Miller exercised his use of the
Fifth Amendment in refusing to answer certain questions while testifying in courts martial cases related to Abu Ghraib. He also used his right during a hearing before the US Senate in 2006. According to
The New York Times: "He changed his position when the
US Senate Armed Services Committee delayed his retirement until he was more forthcoming." ==Request for war crimes prosecution==