By his own account, Colonel Jordan was ill-equipped to oversee the interrogations task force at Abu Ghraib. He was a civil affairs officer by training, and his assignment had been to set up a database at the interrogations center for tracking information gleaned from the prisoners.

"I've no training on the military side of what constitutes interrogations operations," Colonel Jordan told Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba, a senior Army investigator.

A panel headed by former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger concluded that Jordan "ceded core responsibilities to subordinates" and "failed to provide appropriate training and supervision to personnel." Having not been trained for the job himself, it's not surprising that he provide no training in interrogation techniques to others, or that he delegated responsibilities to those who may have had experience with military interrogation.

Nonetheless, there may be evidence that Jordan ignored obvious abuse at Abu Ghraib.

In June 2004, the commander of the military police company whose members have been charged with abusing prisoners testified at a hearing in Iraq that someone he referred to as Jordan was present one night in November 2003 among a group of people in a room at the prison with the bloodied body of an Iraqi prisoner, Manadel al-Jamadi, who had died during interrogation.

It was not clear from the testimony of the commander, Capt. Donald Reese, whether he was referring to Colonel Jordan. Captain Reese testified that the group of people were discussing what to do. While the group was gathered around the body, he testified, the man he identified as Jordan ordered a lower-ranking officer to "get some ice out of the chow hall" to store the body.

The body of the Iraqi detainee, pictured wrapped in plastic and packed in ice, became one of the most infamous and enduring images to emerge during the prisoner abuse scandal.
bq.