Firm doubts role in Iraqi prisoner abuse
Army report implicates two employees in Abu Ghraib scandal
From Larry Shaughnessy
CNN Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The head of CACI International said Wednesday he doubts whether employees of his firm were involved in the abuse of Iraqi prisoners as reported by an Army investigation.
CACI is a Virginia-based private contractor that supplies civilian employees to the U.S. Army for interrogation and intelligence work at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad.
An internal investigation by the Army determined that Iraqi prisoners were abused while under the care of American troops.
Investigators, led by Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, interviewed dozens of witnesses and looked at "numerous photos and videos portraying in graphic detail actual detainee abuse" that were taken by personnel at Abu Ghraib.
The Army report said that at least two CACI employees were among those "directly or indirectly responsible for the abuses at Abu Ghraib." (Full story)
Jack London, CACI's chairman and CEO, said during a conference call with investors and the media that "CACI's place in this thing appears to be -- the best determination I can see at this point -- in fact quite minuscule."
But London said his company would not ignore any abuses. If an employee is found to be involved, London said he will take immediate legal or administrative action.
CACI said it has asked for but not received a copy of the Army report from the Department of Defense.
The company said one of the two people named in the report as a CACI employee has never worked for the company, although it would not name either individual.
Further, London said, because the company has not received any information from the Army or the Defense Department, he has doubts about the reports of CACI involvement.
Ken Johnson, CACI's president of U.S. operations, said on the conference call that the employee in the report who does work for CACI "is still on the site, still performing the duties there, and by all accounts from our understanding, just doing a damn fine job."
London would not name any CACI employees working in Iraq, nor would he say how many employees the company has there.
He said it was a matter of security considerations and that the company had received "a lot of hate mail."
He noted that many government entities are looking into the prison abuse scandal.
"It's kind of investigation du jour almost, and I don't mean that humorously, I mean that literally," London said.
"There's a lot of activity going, and I think you'll find this kind of activity right now because of the political aspect of this."
The company announced Monday that it had hired an outside firm to conduct its own investigation into any possible wrongdoing by CACI employees.
London said he expects feedback from that investigation in "days rather than weeks, certainly not months. We've got a high-speed turn on this thing."
