Lynndie England lawyer hits out at Bush

Swiss Politics ^ | May 11, 2004 | Reuters

[BigSkyFreeper]

DENVER (Reuters) - An attorney defending a female U.S. Army private accused of abusing Iraqi prisoners says her client is being made a "poster child" for the Bush administration's flawed Iraq war policies.

Denver lawyer Rose Mary Zapor represents Pfc. Lynndie England, who is depicted in a series of photographs purportedly humiliating Iraqi detainees, images that have outraged the Arab world and sparked a political firestorm in the United States.

"We believe Lynndie is being made a poster child for the deficiencies of the administration's Iraq war," Zapor told Reuters on Monday, saying military commanders shared the blame because they had assigned poorly trained soldiers to staff the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.

England, 21, of Fort Ashby, West Virginia, is one of seven U.S. Army reservists charged with inhumanely treating detainees at the prison. In one photograph, England is seen holding a leash attached to a prone Iraqi prisoner and in another she is seen smiling as she points to the genitals of a naked and hooded Iraqi man.

Sent home from Iraq in March because she was pregnant, England was charged on Friday with one count of conspiring to maltreat prisoners, three counts of assaulting prisoners by battery and conduct discrediting the service.

Possible penalties for those charges include a reduction in rank, dishonorable discharge and, potentially, a maximum of 15 1/2 years in prison.

The Army has 120 days from Friday, the day she was charged, to bring England up for arraignment.

Zapor said President George W. Bush's comments about the widening scandal, including saying he found the photographs "despicable," could jeopardize England's right to a fair court martial hearing.

"The president illegally undermined the military chain of command and we'll be asking the president to cease and desist his comments about our client," Zapor said.

"Those comments violate the Code of Military Justice and the president is the commander in chief," she said.

[texasflower]

Let me get this right, this lawyer and her trashy client are trying to tell the President of the United States to keep his mouth shut.

Is that right?

Good thing I'm too much of a lady to say what I think of that.

[ambrose]

Yes, she is the victim.

</ sarcasm>

[Mike Darancette]

"We believe Lynndie is being made a poster child for the deficiencies of the administration's Iraq war,"

Madam your client is a slut.

[Spotsy]

The wife of one of the guys involved in this scandal has been all over tv
reciting DNC talking points.

Apparently, "Bush lied to me that Iraq was involved in 9/11"
is a defense for the behavior depicted in those pictures.

[Burkeman1]

Oh she is "Trashy"? Who told you that? The same "media" you hold in disgust?

[kcvl]

Ms. Rose Mary Zapor

rzapor@familylawcolorado.net

[ambrose]

Somehow, I don't think a defense of playing victim and trashing the President is going to play well with a military jury.

[dougherty]

She is absolutely disgusting. At first, when people called her white trash I thought they were only saying that because she comes from a poor family. Now that I've seen and read more about her, she gives trash a bad name.

[MJY1288]

You can best believe that every DNC operative has contacted these defendants with offers of free legal representation if they simply recite the DNC talking points

[texasflower]

I am not in the mood for your crap today.

[BigSkyFreeper]

LOL. You think she isn't? That's a stretch.

[Burkeman1]

Fine.

[Ken H]

Zapor said President George W. Bush's comments about the widening scandal, including saying he found the photographs "despicable," could jeopardize England's right to a fair court martial hearing.

"The president illegally undermined the military chain of command and we'll be asking the president to cease and desist his comments about our client," Zapor said.

Sound like Ms. Zapor plans to turn this into a political circus.

Without cameras and mikes in the courtroom, she may not be able to pull it off.

[kcvl]

It doesn't take much to figure out that she is trashy. I agree with you.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Trash oughta be offended.

[Spotsy]

Good point!

Nor with the vast majority of Americans . . .

[BigSkyFreeper]

Or saying she was "catching up with friends in another unit" and that she was a "paper pusher", won't help either. She's already given her alibi, but pictures don't lie.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Trash's dignity is deeply wounded by the comparison. Even trash can validly claim that it is not garbage.

[okie01]

Oh she is "Trashy"? Who told you that? The same "media" you hold in disgust?

"Trashy" seems an accurate enough characterization of Ms. English's behavior. How would you characterize her behavior, if not "trashy"?