Posted on 09/23/2005 10:22:12 AM PDT by linkinpunk
Today: September 23, 2005 at 10:12:33 PDT
Psychologist: I Failed Abu Ghraib Soldier
By T.A. BADGER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) -
A West Virginia school psychologist said Friday that he realized he had failed Lynndie England when he saw the Army private posing in prisoner abuse photos at Abu Ghraib.
Thomas Denne, who had worked with England since early childhood, testified that he and other educators focused too much on getting the mild-mannered girl through school and not enough on providing her with real-life skills.
"Maybe I thought, 'I didn't shoot high enough for Lynndie England,'" said Denne, who works for the Mineral County school system. "Maybe I thought, 'We should have taught her how to think.'"
Denne's testimony supported England's core defense that she was overly compliant and she did what her soldier boyfriend, Pvt. Charles Graner, told her.
Graner, who England has said fathered her son while they were deployed, is described by prosecutors as the ringleader of detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib.
"She would seek some form of authority in order to follow," Denne said. "She almost automatically, reflexively complies."
England, 22, was charged with seven counts of conspiracy and abuse that carry a maximum sentence of 11 years in prison.
She became the most recognizable of the Abu Ghraib soldiers charged with abuse when the photos of naked detainees on leashes and in other demeaning poses became public.
Two former guards at the Iraqi prison testified Thursday that Graner dominated England, but Graner stopped short of agreeing in his testimony.
Graner said England was generally compliant and trusted him, and that she had no reason to believe he would do anything "illegal or inappropriate."
Ex-guards Robert Jones and Pvt. Ivan Frederick said Graner's strong personality trumped military rank to make him the de facto leader of the prison section where the abuse occurred.
Graner surrounded himself with people with weaker personalities, including England, Jones said.
Frederick said England was naive and completely devoted to Graner, who was convicted in January and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
"Did she do everything he asked?" asked Capt. Jonathan Crisp, lead defense lawyer.
"Pretty much, yes," replied Frederick, a former staff sergeant now serving a 7 1/2-year prison term for mistreating prisoners at Abu Ghraib.
But another convicted former guard, Pvt. Jeremy Sivits, said England appeared to enjoy a November 2003 incident in which prisoners were stripped, forced to masturbate and stacked in a pyramid. She was laughing, he said.
"She seemed to be having a good time," Sivits said.
Prosecutors maintain that her smiles and thumbs-up in the photos show she was a willing participant.
Frederick outranked Graner at Abu Ghraib, but he said he was afraid of Graner's temper and didn't try to tell him what to do.
"I didn't want no conflict," said Frederick. "I didn't want to die that way."
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Free the woman. She didn't do anything wrong.
I wonder what her parents look like - she looks like what my great-aunt would call a "tinker" and what I would say looks like a half-aboriginal Aussie, not a West Virginian.
'We should have taught her how to think.'
Whoa...the NEA is NOT gonna like this!
Is that the kid that used to be on Lost in Space?
Maybe a two-handed grip would have helped.
I wonder what Danny Bonaducci (sp?) thinks of this???
she looks like ET. should have phoned home more often.
So was it this guy's fault that the "woman" was a whore?
Lost in Iraq...
Mike
That woman failed to disregard an unlawful order. The U.S. Army is very, very clear that lawful orders are to obeyed, unlawful ones are not to be followed.
"I was only following orders" is not an excuse. A soldier knows right from wrong.
I find the people she was guarding to be repugnant. I understand why anyone would want to hurt them in any fashion possible. A good, well disciplined soldier does not give into those impulses, however. This woman is not good, nor is she truly a soldier. She is an embarrassment and I hope to God she is given the strongest punishment possible under the UCMJ for what she did and for the shame she has brought on the most noble profession possible, the profession of arms.
Danny from the Partridge Family.
Ah, that's why he looked familiar.
Not taught how to think ? We're all born knowing how to think. What she never learned, or had crushed out of her, was HOW TO THINK FOR HERSELF.
Priceless.
Or she was too lazy to bother thinking for herself, or she was too much of a coward to think for herself, or she was just bad and did what she did because she wanted to and thought she could get away with it.
I ain't forgivin' this maroon. She was just a bored hick-chick having some fun on a Saturday night.
There weren't any orders involved except "Hey, hold my beer and watch this!"
I would say not so much Aussie, as Australopithecus
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