Posted on 05/04/2005 11:33:02 AM PDT by cweese
FORT HOOD, Texas — A military judge on Wednesday rejected Pfc. Lynndie England's guilty plea agreement in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal after another prisoner's testimony cast doubt on the prosecution's case. Earlier in the day, Pvt. Charles Graner Jr., the reputed ringleader in the scandal, contradicted a key part of England's guilty plea, in which she said she knew she was committing wrongful acts when she took part in the mistreatment of Iraqi detainees. Graner said that the notorious photos taken of England at the prison had a legitimate use, endangering England's guilty plea to seven abuse charges. Under military law, a judge can formally accept England's guilty plea only if she knew at the time that what she was doing was illegal. The judge, Col. James Pohl, planned to question England again Wednesday afternoon to try to clarify her state of mind when the abusive acts occurred. Graner, who is said to be England's ex-boyfriend, was found guilty in January and is serving a 10-year prison term for his role in the scandal. Pohl abruptly stopped England's sentencing hearing after Graner testified for the defense that three pictures he took of England holding a naked prisoner on a leash were meant to be used as a legitimate training aid for other guards.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I agree.
we should be proud of them.
they found a way to humiliate and extract information from the muzzies that did not involve pliers, gasoline and fingernails.
Loreena bobbit got off easier than these soldiers do.
We have thousands of men raped in prison here in the USA every month... guards looking on and laughing. Freepers snickering about Democrats one day being in a cell with their new boyfriends named bubba and such....
these folks in the prison were terrorists.
I don't think lindie went far enough.
panties on the head is NOTHING. NOTHING.
and its disgusting that americans would be calling for her or any other soldiers head over such trivial bulcarp.
Another freeper thought Graner should have been executed
LOL is right!
Yes. 10 years.
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/LAW/01/16/graner.court.martial/
Interesting twist.
The comment "You can't have a one person conspiracy." is telling. During SENTENCING PHASE, ex-boyfriend/father of her child says something in mitigation testimony that causes the judge to think that her guilty plea to conspiracy in the previous TRIAL PHASE was not genuine or that she was ill-advised/informed/served by defense counsel. Tough break, but the MCM is pretty specific about protecting against defendants making false guilty pleas.
She may, indeed, have to go through trial. Maybe ex-boyfriend/father of her child can testify again and get her acquitted. Unlikely.
That is such b/s. She knew what she was doing was illegal. They are trained to know that.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/library/reports/2004/800-mp-bde.htm
The report ordered by commander Lt. General Ricardo Sanchez showed many things that were not okay. Screening processes were grossly inadequete and huge amounts of civilians acused of no crime were kept there. Nothing these "soldiers" did was part of their job. The pictures they took sullied the reputation of the US Army and help fuel dissent against the Coalition.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ghraib_prisoner_abuse
Taguba's 53-page report, classified "Secret" and dated April 4, 2004, concluded that U.S. soldiers had committed "egregious acts and grave breaches of international law" at Abu Ghraib. [1] (http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/library/reports/2004/800-mp-bde.htm) Taguba found that between October and December 2003 there were numerous instances of "sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses" of prisoners. In violation of Army regulations, intelligence officers asked military police to "loosen up" inmates before questioning. The report estimates that 60% of the prisoners at the site were "not a threat to society" and that the screening process was so inadequate that innocent civilians were often detained indefinitely. Guards invented their own rules and supervisors approved of their actions. Personnel lost track of prisoners, did not count their prisoners, and kept no records regarding dozens of escapes. The facility held too many inmates and supplied too few guards. Training of those on guard was insufficient, and superiors neglected to visit the facilities in person. Top military personnel disagreed on whether military police or military intelligence should be in charge. Prisoner treatment varied between shifts and between compounds.
A soldier is seen punching restrained prisonersTaguba cited numerous organizational and leadership failures at Abu Ghraib. Reservists tasked with guarding the prison population were inadequately trained, and Taguba faulted senior commanders for failing to address these deficiencies. Specifically, intelligence officers and members of one company, the 372nd Military Police Company, based in Cresaptown, Maryland, in charge of security, took part in the documented abuses.
Taguba's report cited numerous examples of inmate abuse, including:
Punching, slapping, and kicking detainees; jumping on their naked feet.
Videotaping and photographing naked male and female detainees.
Forcibly arranging detainees in various sexually explicit positions for photographing.
Forcing detainees to remove their clothing and keeping them naked for several days at a time.
Forcing naked male detainees to wear women's underwear.
Forcing groups of male detainees to masturbate while being photographed and videotaped.
Arranging naked male detainees in a pile and then jumping on them.
Positioning a naked detainee on a MRE Box, with a sandbag on his head, and attaching wires to his fingers, toes, and penis to simulate electric torture.
A detainee forced to stand on boxesWriting "I am a Rapest" [sic] on the leg of a detainee alleged to have raped a 15-year old fellow detainee, and then photographing him naked.
Placing a dog chain or strap around a naked detainee's neck and having a female soldier pose for a picture.
A male MP guard raping a female detainee.
Taking photographs of dead Iraqi detainees and MPs posing with cheerful looks.
Breaking chemical lights and pouring the phosphoric liquid on detainees.
Threatening detainees with a loaded 9mm pistol.
Pouring cold water on naked detainees.
Beating detainees with a broom handle and a chair.
Threatening male detainees with rape.
Allowing a military police guard to stitch the wound of a detainee who was injured after being slammed against the wall in his cell.
Sodomizing a detainee with a chemical light and perhaps a broom stick.
Using military working dogs (without muzzles) to frighten and intimidate detainees with threats of attack, and in one instance actually biting and severely injuring a detainee.
Something else, I have no problems, with torturing the sob's. In fact if it was up to me, I would 'outsource' their care, somewhere like Pakistan or Turkey [smile], where the really know to look after them,[sarcasm] quietly, effectively or else. In fact, I do hope than when I see Bin laden again, will dead... I would hate the idea of just putting him in prion (just like Saddam now), for what?.. they can't even touch them or get the intelligence we need. Ok, enought of this... we maybe have different points of vew. see ya.
Americans by and large don't care.
Neither do I.
I approve of her actions.
period.
You're stating my thoughts to a "t".
you are right, we should have done a "dresden" on them first.
nobody to whine about panties then.
It's war.
War is hell.
I don't care about the reports, the pc rules of engagement and proceedures for processing enemy combatants.
It is nothing to me or most Americans.
In fact, it's stupid.
Graner said that the notorious photos taken of England at the prison had a legitimate use
can anyone explain this?
New reality game.
I think this is awesome news. She was never abusing anyone. Humiliating? Yes. Abusing? No way!
That's not to say that she doesn't deserve punshment. But she definitely shouldn't be locked in prison for what she did.
The pictures could be used as threats to other inmates, I suppose.
E.g., "Repent, recant, divulge, and confess, or else you too will have panties put on your head or be inserted into a human pyramid."
I don't agree with it per se, but we're talking about discomfort compared to beheadings, kidknappings, and savage torture.
In Europe when this broke, you'd have thought it were proof that the Americans were truly fascists by the media that was playing 24/7. It's a lesson we'd better learn well: our "western" "friends" aren't really friends, and PR in the "west" "matters."
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