Posted on 05/14/2004 1:41:09 AM PDT by kattracks
UNIONTOWN, Pa. --Spc. Charles A. Graner Jr., the military policeman photographed with a big smile as he stood behind a pile of naked Iraq prisoners, was a target of abuse allegations long before he was singled out by an Army investigator as the worst of the guards in the Baghdad scandal.His ex-wife once accused him of dragging her out of a room by her hair and trying to throw her down the stairs during a fight over their breakup.
At the Pennsylvania prison where he worked as a low-level guard in civilian life, the Army reservist was accused in two lawsuits of brutality. In one, an inmate said Graner planted a razor blade in a plate of his potatoes.
The lawsuits were dismissed and no charges were ever filed in the dispute with his wife, but the accusations continue to haunt Graner now that he faces court-martial in the abuse scandal.
Pictures from the Abu Ghraib prison show Graner standing behind a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners, his arms folded. In one photo, he is standing arm-in-arm with Pfc. Lynndie England, who is four months pregnant with his child and has become the face of a scandal that has shocked Americans and inflamed tensions with the Arab world.
Graner, 35, is scheduled to be arraigned May 20 on military charges of maltreatment and indecent acts, his civilian attorney, Guy Womack, said Thursday. Graner will plead not guilty, said Womack, who has said Graner was following orders at the prison and would not have known that his conduct might be illegal.
Graner is one of seven soldiers facing criminal charges for alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners. An Army investigator, testifying this month at a military hearing in Baghdad, identified Graner as the most abusive, according to a document obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
And in an April 12 memorandum, Lt. Col. Jerry L. Phillabaum, who was reprimanded and relieved of his command at Abu Ghraib prison, singled out Graner and a second soldier discharged for abuses as having "led acts of abuse in clear violation of any standard of morality." He said training alone would not have prevented their actions.
Spc. Jeremy Sivits, the soldier scheduled to be the first to be court-martialed, told Army investigators that Graner and another accused soldier, Sgt. Ivan L. "Chip" Frederick II, led other guards as they stripped the prisoners naked, struck and kicked them, and even forced them to hit each other, according to documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
Sivits said Graner was always "joking, laughing, pissed off a little, acting like he was enjoying it," the newspaper reported in its online edition Thursday.
Sivits said Graner punched one detainee in the head so hard the man fell unconscious, and another inmate was bitten by a police dog after Graner "provoked" the detainee to "go after him," the Times reported.
Raised in the Pittsburgh suburb of Whitehall, Graner joined the Marines after high school and married in 1990.
Seven years later, his wife, Staci, filed for divorce, claiming her husband had been violent and threatening against her and their two children, now 11 and 13. When a friend tried to calm him down after the hair-pulling incident, she said he replied, "I have nothing if she's not my wife. She's dead," court documents show.
The two divorced in 2000. She obtained a protection-from-abuse order in 2001 after claiming that Graner had tried to throw her down the stairs following a heated argument about her leaving him. In all, she filed three such orders.
She refused an interview, and Graner's lawyer has declined to discuss the soldier's previous legal difficulties.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Former civilian prison guard and abusive spouse reverts to type.
"Sivits said Graner punched one detainee in the head so hard the man fell unconscious, and another inmate was bitten by a police dog after Graner "provoked" the detainee to "go after him," the Times reported."
Ah, the dog incident. So he used insults to provoke the man into going after him. Not a very nice guy. And even in this instance, what part of the Geneva convention was violated? If the prisoner was a soldier who didn't wear a uniform, he had only one right that I know of: the right to die. I'm no expert on the Geneva convention, but I had heard that you can shoot un-uniformed soldiers on sight.
This guard insulted a prisoner. He did not attack the prisoner. I think that is important to make clear. This is the question we need to ask until we know more about each prisoner: what if this were Bin Laden?
If I were Bin Laden's guard, I hope I had the right to at least insult the man. And if he provoked a dog to attack him from the insults I would laugh right in his face and reward the dog with a chew toy.
Until I know more about this prisoner, how can I make a clear judgement on this? The blindfold of justice does NOT apply to military prisons with foreign prisoners, most of whom are either terrorist-wannabes or refusing to provide us with information.
Was he the one who was trying to get onto the police force - and was rejected six times (failed the psychological)? In a situation where there is no control - and it sounds like Karpinski, whose soldiers no longer even saluted, had lost control much earlier in the game - one power-crazed little brute can wreak havoc. That's precisely why police departments don't let folks like that join, if they can identify them in advance.
People keep telling me that we should send convicts up to war. If we ever do, we'd need to keep a sharp eye on them, wouldn't we?
I had not heard that, nor could I find it on the net.
"...and even forced them to hit each other..."
He's the guy I want to interrogate Bin Laden.
That's interesting.
The guy sounds like a complete thug and never should have been sent over.
Since this is the Bottom Globe...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1135389/posts
Those fake rape photos: Boston Globe attempts cover-up of fake rape pix
Is it unusual for someone to join the Marines in 1990 and then turn up in a National Guard unit in 2003?
I saw that.
Supposedly Globe will issue an apology. ( Without actually admitting an responsability, of course! )
However, I'm not sure I get your point.
Carolyn
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