Ghost Busters

The probe into Abu Ghraib prison abuse is unearthing some seriously disturbing things. A review of Army documents shows that the CIA participated in what is know as a "ghosting" program that was systematic and known to three senior intelligence officials in Iraq. Ghosting refers to hiding detainees in a special row of cells with little or no identification numbers rendering them unnamed, unannounced and unaccounted for in direct violation of the Geneva Convention.

The most recent Pentagon review of detainee abuse was released this month by Vice Adm. Albert T. Church III, who told reporters that his probe found 30 cases in which prisoners were held off the books, including one kept secretly for about 45 days. According to investigative statements by some soldiers, such detainees were left in isolation cells for weeks without being interrogated, they were sometimes registered under fake names and essentially lost, and the rules that applied to thousands of other detainees did not always apply to them.