The Pentagon is trying to keep the lid on photos and videos from Iraq that are "hard to believe" and will cause further outrage if released, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Friday.
"There are a lot more photographs and videos that exist. If these are released to the public, obviously it's going to make matters worse. That's just a fact," he told a Senate hearing. "I looked at them last night and they're hard to believe."
Mr. Rumsfeld said that he took "full responsibility" for the abuses by soldiers at a prison in Iraq.
In a statement Friday morning to the Senate Armed Services Committee and another later in the day to the corresponding House committee, he apologized directly to the Iraqis who were photographed in degrading and humiliating poses, photos that have outraged the world.
U.S. Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld prepares to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee Friday in Washington, D.C. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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"These events occurred on my watch. As Secretary of Defence, I am accountable for them. I take full responsibility," he said, lacking the combative style that usually accompanies his public statements.
He refused to quit his position. "Needless to say, if I felt I could not be effective, I would resign in a minute. I would not resign simply because people are trying to make a political issue out of it."
On Thursday, Mr. Bush gave his embattled Defence Secretary a vote of confidence, telling reporters that he would keep Mr. Rumsfeld in his cabinet. A day later, Mr. Rumsfeld's acceptance of responsibility drew a sharp response from Senator John Kerry, the presidential rival to George W. Bush.
"The chain of command goes all the way to the Oval Office," he said on the campaign trail. "Harry Truman did not say 'the buck stops at the Pentagon'."
Mr. Rumsfeld was summoned by the Senate committee, some members of which are furious that they learned about the extent of the prisoner-mistreatment investigation from news reports rather than from the Defence Secretary directly.
"Most of us here found out about it on television," said Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, who said that it would be obvious to anyone viewing photos of these abuses that the United States would be "in a world of hurt" if they went public.
Mr. Graham demanded to know why senior political leaders were not warned that the photos were circulating.
Committee chairman John Warner, a Republican from Virginia, said that "the question before us today is: 'Who knew what and when?' "
Mr. Rumsfeld, who was also criticized this week by Mr. Bush for not keeping him fully informed, said he did not realize that investigations into troop behaviour were serious enough to warrant attention at the top ranks of government.
"Let me be clear, I failed to recognize how important it was to elevate a matter of such gravity to the highest levels, including to the President and members of Congress," he said.
In Iraq, meanwhile, the spokesman for U.S. administrator Paul Bremer told Associated Press Friday that Mr. Bremer first heard of allegations of prisoner abuse in January. And the International Commission for the Red Cross said that it had been warning about improper behaviour by troops since the earliest stages of that war in Iraq.
In his testimony, Mr. Rumsfeld acknowledged that the ICRC had raised concerns about troop actions, which Amnesty International is terming a "war crime."
The Defence Secretary's opening remarks — carried live on cable networks around the world, including al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera in the Middle East — were briefly interrupted by protesters who shouted for his resignation. He ignored the furor, taking a sip of water as security personnel removed the demonstrators.
Mr. Rumsfeld was given a rough ride not only by the Democrats on the committee but also by Senator John McCain, a Republican who was captured and tortured while serving in Vietnam.
"We risk losing public support for this conflict," he warned. "As Americans turned away from the Vietnam war they may turn away from this one."
