Secretary Rumsfeld Statement on Independent Panel Report
August 24, 2004

I appreciate the work of the distinguished members of the Detention Operations Review Panel. The panel was chaired by Dr. James Schlesinger. Its members were Dr. Harold Brown, The Honorable Tillie Fowler and General Chuck Horner (retired).

The Panel has provided important information and recommendations that will be of assistance in our on-going efforts to improve detention operations. Their report is the product of a great deal of effort and commitment, and has benefited from the members unusually broad experiences. We look forward to reviewing their analysis and recommendations in detail.

As I emphasized during Congressional testimony in May, the Defense Department has an obligation to evaluate what happened and to make appropriate changes. The independent panels contributions will be of great help to us.

We have said from the beginning that we would see that these incidents were fully investigated, make findings, make the appropriate corrections, and make them public. As additional reports are completed, they also will be made available to the Congress and to the press, as appropriate.