Convicted US soldier speaks of worse abuse at Abu Ghraib http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/usiraqp...7VzYU2s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3ODdxdHBhBHNlYwM5NjQ- Mon Oct 3, 4:39 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - A US soldier convicted of abusing Iraqi prisoners said, in remarks recently made public, she knew of "worse things" happening at Abu Ghraib and insisted military commanders were fully aware of what was going on in Iraq's infamous jail. The comments, made by Private First Class Lynndie England in her first post-court-martial interview, contradicted assertions by top Pentagon officials that a small group of out-of-control soldiers were responsible for abuse at Abu Ghraib, and that no matter how repulsive that mistreatment was, it did not amount to torture. England, who became the face of the scandal because of a photograph of her holding a naked prisoner by a leash, was sentenced last Tuesday to three years in prison and ordered to be dishonorably discharged from the Army after a military jury found her guilty of maltreating prisoners and committing an indecent act. The trial capped a damaging scandal that erupted in 2004, following publication of pictures that showed Abu Ghraib inmates piled up naked on the floor in front of US soldiers, cowering in front of snarling military dogs, chained to beds in stress positions and forced to stand naked in front of female guards. But England, appearing on NBC's "Dateline" program, said the pictures did not convey the full extent of the abuse that took place in the cell block. "I know worse things were happening over there," admitted the 22-year-old convict. She said one night she heard blood-curdling screams coming from the block's shower room, where non-military interrogators had taken an Arab detainee. "They had the shower on to muffle it, but it wasn't helping," she recalled. "They never screamed like that when we were humiliating. But this guy was like screaming bloody murder. I mean it still haunts me I can still hear it just like it happened yesterday." The interrogators were not identified, but several investigations into the abuse have disclosed that Central Intelligence Agency operatives worked at Abu Ghraib alongside US military intelligence, mining for useful information. A total of nine low-ranking soldiers have now been convicted or voluntarily pleaded guilty in the scandal that has sparked condemnation of the United States around the world. But a Defense Department probe has cleared all top US commanders of criminal responsibility in the matter. Taking issue with that finding, England argued stripping prisoners naked and handcuffing them to steel bars was part of an officially-sanctioned strategy designed to soften inmates before interrogation and make them more cooperative. "It was just humiliation tactics and things that we were told to do." she said. She insisted Specialist Charles Graner, a senior prison guard and her boyfriend, would always show pictures of intimidation procedures to military intelligence (MI) officers when they came to work in the morning. "And the MI would be like, 'Oh, that's a good job! I never would have thought of that,'" England recalled. "He'd show him and hed show the command and they'd be like, 'Oh, just keep up the good work.'" US human right advocates argue additional light could be shed on the events at Abu Ghraib with the release of 87 more photographs and four videotapes made by guards at the prison but kept by the Pentagon under lock and key. A federal judge in New York, responding to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, ruled Thursday these materials should be made public. But the Defense Department was expected to appeal, arguing such a release would fuel anti-American propaganda and help recruit new Islamic extremists in Iraq and elsewhere.
Ahhh.... poor terrorists. I have sooooo much sympathy for them.... Too bad it's more popular to defend KNOWN MURDERERS and TERRORISTS around here than it is to defend US TROOPS. That's what's sad.
when they punish you like that...wouldn't you just make stuff up so they stop punishing you?... just wondering... how does this help an interrogator?...i would think its actually an unconstructive method of getting answers….cause you are basically creating false information…
What is sad is when you defend using the EXACT SAME TACTICS AS MURDERERS, DICTATORS, and TERRORISTS. You also ignore the facts that most of the poeple in AG weren't known terrorists, and more than half were released as having nothing to do with it. There was no trial, nobody knows if they were guilty of being terrorists or not. Sorry, despite your post we don't know that anyone who was tortured was a terrorist or just one of the many innocents that were rounded up and placed in the prison. Feel free to make a quick disappearance like you did in the Delay thread after having your post refuted.
What is sad is how the "adults" in the GWB Admin are refusing to act like *responsible* adults. They could start by abiding by the Geneva Conventions. BTW what would Jesus do? Put KY on a cattle prod and anally probe *suspects* searching for the Truth About Terrorism? They must be reading from a different Bible than the rest of us.
Isn't it a reasonable expectation that the enemy we fight abide by the same restrictions? In a war like this, close is good enough for me...
What's sad is the real culprits are gone unpunished. The buck stopped at the lowly Private First Class - what better sacrificial animals you can find?
So if little Johnnie jumps off the Empire State building, it is ok for us? Isn't this the 'we are acting a hair better than the Nazis/OBL so it is all good' defense?
Credible? I would be very surprised if Private First Class Lynndie England was not obeying direct orders. She would get court martial-ed for less, but wait ...
A hair? Really? I think that for some practical reasons you have to approximate the fight that is being taken to you.
if the commanders at abu grab were unaware of the widespread abuse and literally hundreds of photos going around then they were nothing short of criminally negligent and have no buisness in a position of military leadership. it is their job to know everything that goes on under their command. with all we now know regarding the administration's stance on torture and the geneva convention, i find it hard to believe that these abuses were originating w/ an army private. the authorization for torture goes all the way to the top. didnt alberto gonzales refer to the geneva convention as "quaint"? do a google search on alberto gonzales torture and you can find lots of good stuff he wrote about getting around international law regarding torture. and to those who argue that they are doing it to us, so whats wrong w/ us doing it to them - this is america. we are supposed to be better than "them". i guess im foolish to hold america to a higher standard.
Put the shoe on the other foot. The biggest GWB Admin apologists would go completely effing ape if videos floated around the internet of captured US GIs in naked pyramids of homosexual fun. Culturally, the photos of the AG abuses are even more offensive to Arab Muslims than to us.
So we should adjust our policy, morals, and values based on the actions of Al Qaeda? Gee don't hold yourself up to such high standards. I will never let Al Qaeda, Saddam, or anyone else dictate the moral principles I think are right and wrong. Because they behave in a way that I see as immoral, doesn't mean I have to take the first possible opportunity to behave in the same way.
One more thing that you probably won't attempt to defend is the idea that this torture somehow defends U.S. troops. The army had directly stated that torture puts our troops in more danger. IF you want to support the troops, then oppose torture.
