April 17, 2024 (EIRNS)—One of the biggest military contractors in the United States, CACI International, which provides information services to the U.S. government, is implicated in conducting torture at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Based in Reston, Virginia, CACI is a major part of the military-industrial complex, one of whose operatives stepped into the breach to “soften up” prisoners, which the military was reluctant to do because of the restrictions of the Universal Code of Military Justice, which governs the actions of soldiers at war.
Former prisoners at Abu Ghraib, who were tortured at the hands of civilian CACI operative Steven Stefanowicz, brought this suit, the first successful attempt in 15 years to bring the issue to federal court. The case was heard in the U.S. Court in Alexandria, Virginia. Testifying was former Army Gen. Antonio Taguba, who had been responsible for investigating on behalf of the Army accusations of torture at Abu Ghraib. He testified that in interrogating prisoners, he kept hearing prisoners complaining about what he thought they were saying, as being “khaki,” but soon he realized that they were referring to the company, CACI International.
Taguba himself had questioned Stefanowicz during his investigation. Taguba described Stefanowicz: “He would lean on the table staring me down. He did not answer questions directly. He was trying to intimidate me.” Taguba’s testimony was the strongest evidence yet that civilian employees of military contractor CACI had played a role in the abuse of Abu Ghraib inmates.
