Lawyers in Iraq Abuse Case Look for Links to Commanders

[achtungbaby]

Oops, another little scandal I forgot to mention...!

By Jim Loney

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (Reuters) - Lawyers for Private Lynndie England probed on Thursday for links between abuse at Abu Ghraib prison and the military chain of command at a hearing for the female soldier who caused widespread outrage when she was pictured holding a naked Iraqi prisoner on a leash.

Looking to bolster their theory that England was just following orders, her lawyers repeatedly asked military criminal investigators how much control the Military Intelligence unit had at Abu Ghraib, where England and other soldiers were seen in the photographs that shocked the world and hampered the U.S. war effort.

Prosecutors asked Special Agent Manora Iem, a military criminal investigator, if detainees offered any evidence the U.S. chain of command was involved in abuse.

"No, not the detainees. They were all talking about the guards who were actually there," Iem said. His testimony and that of other witnesses was by telephone.

The hearing, which began on Tuesday, is to determine if England should stand trial on charges of abusing prisoners, committing indecent acts and disobeying orders, but in the past day it has strayed from specifics of her case into issues of who controlled Abu Ghraib and who was behind the abuse as her lawyers seek to prove that she was just following orders.

England, a pregnant 21-year-old, faces up to 38 years in prison if convicted on all charges. She became the public face of the abuse scandal with the worldwide distribution in the spring of photographs taken at Abu Ghraib, including one in which she held the naked prisoner on a leash and another showing her pointing at the genitals of an inmate.

Witnesses have told the military court at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, that prisoners were thrown into piles, stripped of clothing in their cells and intimidated or bitten by dogs. One prisoner was handcuffed with his arms above his head and toes barely touching the floor.

But there has been little testimony so far, aside from hints and vague allusions, that Military Intelligence or commanders ordered or sanctioned the abuse.

Special Agent Tyler Pieron, an official with the military's Criminal Investigation Division who led prisoner interviews at Abu Ghraib, said some soldiers at the prison suggested, "Yeah MI told us to do it" but they could not identify the officers who had given the orders.

Pieron said he believed from interviews with witnesses that abuse at Abu Ghraib happened to a large extent around Ramadan -- the holy Muslim season of fasting and prayer which last year was in October and November. But he said that abusive behavior, "the beatings, the running people into walls, seemed to go on all the time." He identified Specialist Charles Graner as the apparent "ringleader."

"If he wasn't there it didn't happen as much," Pieron said.

continued

[nonamerasian]

I don't like one of her lawyers. Iono which one it is.

Anyhoo, during an interview, he seemed to be excusing England by saying what she did isn't uncommon at certain event like Mardi Gras.

WTF?

Yeah, mofo. Sodomy isn't uncommon at events like Mardi Gras, but that's no fucking justification for it.

[hooligan]

Mardi Gras at Abu Ghraib? Hmmm, yeah right.

[mr. x]

psssh for one thing whatever goes on in mardi gras is consentual

[nonamerasian]

Anyone think 38 years is excessive? Not enough?

[younggiftedandblack]

Originally Posted by nonamerasian

Anyone think 38 years is excessive? Not enough?

That's plenty of time. She would be doing it in a military prison.

About the Mardi Gras thing. I think her lawyer is trying to set up a "mob" mentality defense. I've seen used a few times before on T.V.