26 Deaths in US Custody: Rumsfeld Must Resign

The New York Times (registration required) reports that “At least 26 prisoners have died in American custody in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2002 in what Army and Navy investigators have concluded or suspect were acts of criminal homicide, according to military officials. The number of confirmed or suspected cases is much higher than any accounting the military has previously reported.” Only one of these deaths occurred at Abu Ghraib. James D. Ross, senior legal adviser for Human Rights Watch in New York "This number to me is quite astounding. This just reflects an overall failure to take seriously the abuses that have occurred." In addressing that failure, the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld would be a powerful symbol. (AJ)