The four are singled out for varying degrees of criticism mixed with instances of praise in two comprehensive investigative reports released last week. The investigators conclude that the generals are partly responsible, but not legally culpable, for the abuse last fall.

All four are "essentially finished in the military," even if they are not forced to resign, said Dan Goure, a defence analyst at the Lexington Institute think tank. "At the very minimum you could argue that they lost control" of their subordinates, he said.

The most senior of the four generals, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, already has been passed over for promotion to a four-star slot as chief of Southern Command because of an expectation by Defence Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that Sanchez would face trouble in a Senate confirmation hearing.

Sanchez was the top US commander in Iraq until the restoration of Iraqi sovereignty in late June, when he returned to Army 5th Corps headquarters in Germany, where he is the commanding general.