Janis Karpinski Janis Leigh Karpinski ( born May 25 , 1953 , Rahway , New Jersey ) is a career officer in the US Army Reserve , now retired . She is notable for having commanded the forces that operated Abu Ghraib and other prisons in Iraq in 2003 and 2004 , at the time of the scandal related to torture and prisoner abuse . She commanded three prisons in Iraq , and the forces that ran them . In June 2003 , during the U . S . - led occupation of Iraq , Karpinski was given command of the 800th Military Police Brigade , which meant she was responsible for the 15 detention facilities in southern and central Iraq run by Coalition forces . Karpinski was also given command of the National Guard and Army reserve units in the Iraqi city of Mosul . In January 2004 , Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez formally suspended Karpinski and 16 other soldiers with undisclosed reprimands . An investigation was started into the abuse at Abu Ghraib , and Karpinski left Iraq for reasons that were explained at the time as part of " routine troop rotations . " On April 8 , 2005 Karpinski was formally relieved of command of the 800th Military Police Brigade . On May 5 , 2005 , President George W . Bush approved Karpinski ' s demotion to Colonel from the rank of Brigadier General . Her demotion was not officially related to the abuse at Abu Ghraib . In October 2005 , she published an account of her experiences , " One Woman ' s Army " , in which she claims that the abuses were done by contract employees trained in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay , and sent to Abu Ghraib under orders from the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld . She said her demotion was political retribution . Since this time , some of Karpinski ' s claim of top - level authorization have been affirmed by revelations of what are known as the Torture Memos , legal opinions prepared by political appointees including John Yoo in the Office of Legal Counsel , Department of Justice . His memo of March 14 , 2003 , five days before the US began its invasion of Iraq , concluded that federal laws related to torture and other abuses did not apply to interrogators working overseas ; it was issued to William J . Haynes , the General Counsel of DOD , and finally revealed in 2008 as a result of a Senate hearing into enhanced interrogation techniques . Early career . Karpinski was commissioned into the Army as a Second Lieutenant in 1977 . She served primarily in intelligence and military police assignments , training the first group of female soldiers for the United Arab Emirates , and toured supporting the Special Forces and in Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War . She was awarded a Bronze Star . In 1987 she moved from the regular Army to the Army Reserve . In the private sector , she became a consultant who ran military - styled training programs for executives . Marriage and family . She is married to George Karpinski , a Lieutenant Colonel at the Oman US embassy . Iraq service . In June 2003 , during the U . S . - led occupation of Iraq , Karpinski was given command of the 800th Military Police Brigade . This put her in charge of the fifteen detention facilities in southern and central Iraq run by Coalition forces . She had no experience running correctional facilities . Karpinski was also given command of the National Guard and Army reserve units in the Iraqi city of Mosul who handled prisoners . Most of the forces had no training in handling prisoners . But at least two of the guardsmen later convicted of prisoner abuse had lengthy civilian experience as prison guards . In September 2003 , Karpinski led US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on a tour of the Abu Ghraib prison to demonstrate the way it had been used by Saddam Hussein to torture his enemies . Allegations , suspension and investigation . In October 2003 , allegations of torture in the US - managed Iraqi prisons began to surface . Karpinski insisted that prisoners under her watch were treated " humanely and fairly " . In an interview with the " St . Petersburg Times " in December 2003 , Karpinski said conditions in the prison were better than many Iraqi homes , and joked that the prisoners were treated so well that she was " concerned they wouldn ' t want to leave . " In January 2004 , Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez formally suspended Karpinski and 16 other soldiers with undisclosed reprimands . An investigation was started into the abuse . Karpinski was reassigned in what was said at the time to be part of " routine troop rotations . " In July 2003 , Karpinski stated she had evidence Israelis were involved in interrogations . On April 8 , 2005 , Karpinski was formally relieved of command of the 800th Military Police Brigade . On May 5 , 2005 , President Bush approved Karpinski ' s demotion to Colonel from the rank of Brigadier General . Her demotion was not officially related to the abuse at Abu Ghraib prison . The allegations against her were for dereliction of duty , making a material misrepresentation to investigators , failure to obey a lawful order and shoplifting . Military sources alleged that Karpinski had been arrested in 2002 on MacDill Air Force Base for stealing cosmetics , but Karpinski has denied the arrest took place . Taguba Report . In his final report , Major General Antonio Taguba blamed Karpinski for the abuse , indicating she had not paid attention to the daily operations of the prison . According to Taguba , Karpinski rarely visited the prisons during her tenure , and she reviewed and signed reports about claims of abuse without following up to make sure her orders were carried out . As a consequence , the abuse was allowed to continue and her subordinates developed a lax attitude towards protocol . Karpinski was cited throughout the Taguba Report for repeated violations of Army procedure , good management and exercising her command as directed by Army regulations . During interviews cited in the Taguba report , Karpinski was described as disconnected from the operations of her area of command . Karpinski was issued a Memorandum of Admonishment by LTG Sanchez , Commander , CJTF - 7 , on 17 January 2004 . In April 2004 , CBS ' " 60 Minutes II " broadcast photographs of Iraqi prisoners being tortured and humiliated at Abu Ghraib , which had been taken by military personnel . Following the broadcast , Karpinski was suspended from her duties and replaced by Major General Geoffrey Miller , the former commander of Camp X - Ray , part of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp . Karpinski ' s defense . Karpinski insisted she had no knowledge of the abuse and claims the particular wing of the prison was under the control of military intelligence " twenty - four hours a day . " She claims Army intelligence officers encouraged guards to torture prisoners as an aid to interrogation , and that she was a scapegoat . A June 2004 BBC article said , " Gen Karpinski believes the soldiers had not taken the pictures of their own accord . " It quotes her as saying : Since her suspension , Karpinski has made controversial accusations against her superiors in a series of interviews . In an interview with BBC Radio , Karpinski claimed that Major General Geoffrey Miller , who was sent from Camp X - Ray in Guantanamo Bay to improve interrogations at the Iraqi prison , told her to treat prisoners " like dogs " in the sense that " if you allow them to believe at any point that they are more than a dog then you ' ve lost control of them " . Miller denies that he ever made the remarks . In November 2006 , Karpinski told Spain ' s " El País " newspaper she had seen a letter apparently signed by Rumsfeld that allowed civilian contractors to use techniques such as sleep deprivation during interrogation . She stated , " The methods consisted of making prisoners stand for long periods , sleep deprivation . . . playing music at full volume , having to sit in uncomfortably . . . Rumsfeld authorised these specific techniques . " According to Karpinski , Rumsfeld ' s handwritten signature was above his printed name and in the same handwriting in the margin was written : " Make sure this is accomplished . " There have been no comments from either the Pentagon or US army spokespeople in Iraq on Karpinski ' s accusations . But , since that time , there have been revelations about the Torture Memos , including one issued by John Yoo on March 14 , 2003 to the General Counsel of DOD , in which he advised that federal laws related to torture and other abuses did not apply to interrogators overseas - five days before the US invasion of Iraq . On March 8 , 2006 , Karpinski gave an interview to " Dateline " , on the Australian SBS network . When asked who was ultimately responsible for the actions of torture and humiliation depicted in the photographs , Karpinski said : When questioned on the findings of the Taguba Report , which stated she had shown a lack of leadership throughout the period of events , and therefore was partly responsible for what happened , Karpinski stated In a 2004 interview for the Santa Clarita , California newspaper , " The Signal " , Karpinski claimed to have seen unreleased documents from Rumsfeld that authorized the use of dogs , food and sleep deprivation , and isolation for Iraqi prisoners that were also signed by General Sanchez . Both have denied authorizing such tactics . In a May 2004 military investigation of the Abu Ghraib abuses , made public in 2005 by an ACLU Freedom of Information Act request , Karpinski had said she witnessed children as young as twelve years of age incarcerated at Abu Ghraib .