Geoffrey D. Miller

96
Geoffrey D. Miller bigraphy, stories - United States general

Geoffrey D. Miller : biography

1949 –

Geoffrey D. Miller (born c. 1949) is a retired United States Army Major General who commanded the US detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and Iraq. Detention facilities in Iraq under his command included Abu Ghraib prison, Camp Cropper and Camp Bucca. He is noted for having trained soldiers in using "enhanced interrogation techniques", Project Censored, May 27, 2007 and for carrying out the "First Special Interrogation Plan," signed by Secretary of Defense, against a Guantanamo detainee.

Miller was born in Gallipolis, Ohio. He attended Ohio State University where he got an undergraduate degree in History, following up with a Master of Science in Education Administration at the University of Southern California. Miller is the nephew of Bob Evans, of Bob Evans Restaurants, franchiser from Rio Grande, Ohio.

Miller joined the US Army in 1972 and was trained in field artillery and army command. He spent time in Germany before being moved to Korea in 1980. There, he rose to become assistant chief of staff for operations in Korea. Miller later returned to the United States to become the deputy chief of staff for personnel and installation management for the US Army.

Congressional testimony

In July 2005 between Miller’s May 2004 testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee, and sworn statements he made three months later., Salon (magazine), March 7, 2006, Newsweek, May 24, 2004

"Gen. Geoffrey Miller told the Senate Armed Services Committee in May 2004 that he had only filed a report on a recent visit to Abu Ghraib, and did not talk to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld or his top aides about the fact-finding trip."
"But in a recorded statement to attorneys three months later, Miller said he gave two of Rumsfeld’s most senior aides – then-Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and Undersecretary for Intelligence Steve Cambone – a briefing on his visit and his subsequent recommendations."

General Miller has not been charged with perjury.

Retirement

Miller retired from the Army on July 31, 2006., Washington Post, August 1, 2006 The Washington Post reports that Miller had wanted to retire in February, forgoing trying for promotion to Lieutenant General, because his reputation had been damaged by alleged links between his policies at the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp and at Abu Ghraib, and the abuse of prisoners. The Washington Post reported that Congress delayed his retirement because senators were not confident he told the truth when he testified before them. The Washington Post reports that he was allowed to retire only when he promised, in writing, to appear before Congress, and testify truthfully.

At his retirement service, Miller was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, and praised as an "innovator"., Army News Service, August 1, 2006

On April 13, 2013, Miller was on a list released by the Russian Federation of Americans banned from entering the country because of their alleged human rights violations. The list was a direct response to the so-called Magnitsky list revealed by the United States the day before.

Abu Ghraib prison scandal

In 2008, as a result of a joint Senate investigation by the Intelligence and Armed Services committees, it was revealed that on March 14, 2003, John Yoo of the Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice, issued a legal opinion to William Haynes, General Counsel of the Department of Defense, in which he concluded that federal laws related to the use of torture and other abuse would not apply to US interrogators overseas., Newsweek, 5 April 2008, accessed 18 January 2013 This was five days before the US invasion of Iraq began on March 19, 2003. Yoo had also been involved in drafting what came to be known as the Torture Memos of August 2002, which had been issued to the CIA. In June 2004, Jack Goldsmith, then head of OLC, advised Defense and the CIA not to rely on these memos., New York Times magazine, 9 September 2007, accessed 16 January 2013