Defence chiefs blamed in prisoner abuse probe

US defence leaders were at least partly to blame for the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib and other prisons, failing to address overcrowding at the facilities and handing over supervision of prisoners to subordinates, according to a Pentagon report to be released today.

The report faults top defence leaders – including the military’s Joint Staff and Lieut General Ricardo Sanchez, the former top US commander in Iraq – for inadequately supervising interrogation techniques and other policies at several prisons in Cuba, Afghanistan and Iraq, The New York Times reported.