The press does not want them hold Gen Karpinski accountable. She is a woman.
Posted on 05/23/2004 1:40:19 AM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A lawyer for a soldier charged in the Abu Ghraib abuse case said a captain at the Iraqi prison has charged that Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez was present during some unspecified "interrogations and/or allegations of the prisoner abuse," The Washington Post reported on Sunday.
Citing a recording of a military hearing obtained by the newspaper, The Post said the military lawyer, Capt. Robert Shuck, was told that Sanchez, the highest-ranking U.S. military officer in Iraq, and other senior officials were aware of what was taking place at Abu Ghraib.
Shuck is assigned to defend Staff Sgt. Ivan Frederick, one of the seven U.S. soldiers, four men and three women, accused of abuses at the prison. One pleaded guilty on Wednesday and was imprisoned.
The Post reported on Saturday that Frederick had been accused by military police officers involved in the scandal of being an organizer of the abuse.
The U.S. Congress and the Pentagon are both investigating the revelations of physical and sexual abuse of Iraqi inmates at the prison outside Baghdad that have surfaced in the past month. Details of the abuse, including graphic photos and sworn depositions, have shaken the Bush administration as it attempts turn back sovereignty to the Iraqis on June 30.
The Post on Saturday published testimony of soldiers speaking of fun and sadistic pleasure in abusing prisoners. A day earlier it published new images, including video, of Iraqis being beaten and sexually humiliated.
The newspaper said Shuck made the allegation regarding Sanchez at an April 2 hearing, stating he had been told that by the company commander, Capt. Donald Reese.
"Are you saying that Captain Reese is going to testify that General Sanchez was there and saw this going on?" the military prosecutor asked, according to the transcript.
"That's what he told me," Shuck said.
A Defense Department spokesman referred questions to U.S. military officials in the Middle East. The spokesman told The Post that statements by defense lawyers or their clients should be treated with "appropriate caution." The hearing was held at Camp Victory in Baghdad, the newspaper said, and that it obtained a copy of an audio recording.
Shuck was quoted as saying, "Present during some of these happenings, it has come to my knowledge that Lieutenant General Sanchez was even present at the prison during some of these interrogations and/or allegations of the prisoner abuse by those duty (noncommissioned officers)."
The newspaper said Reese did not testify that day, instead invoking the military version of his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. The Post said Reese has not been granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony.
"..As a civilian, Karpinski is currently self-employed as a corporate con-sultant for Executive Training Programs and Corporate Improvement Pro-grams in Hilton Head Island, S.C..."
Though the actual quote claims merely that he was at the prison...somewhere.
They are really reaching.
Investigate everybody who was present in Bagdad at the time.
Or present in Iraq.
Or on the earth. Yeah, the earth, that's the ticket. Then they could get GWB, Rummy, and anyone else.
Worst of all, she did not know the abuse happened in Nov. and she did not find out till 1-19 and then by the "afterthought" of CID. Karpinski says she could not be everywhere at once, but in her entire command only one prison had a cell block controlled by MI(Military Intellegence) and even she admits she, ""probably should have been more aggressive" about visiting the cell block, particularly after military intelligence officers went "to great lengths to try to exclude the ICRC (International Committee for the Red Cross) from access to that interrogation wing"". With some other entity taking control of an area still under her command and still her responsibility, red lights should have gone off for her. A General officer with any sense, of even career self preservation, should have watched or had watched that area very closely.
Her years of experience should have told her that even under correctly applied,(ie legal per opinion of DOD) methods, they were not doing the Hokey Pokey in those interogations and potential for abuse and fallout was high and her reputation and that of her Brigade would suffer. Already, members of the Brigade who were eligible for decorations for their service are not going to get them and the name of the 800th MP Brigade is disgraced and that hurts all of the command, not just the guilty.
".. Hagerstown, Md.: General, how and when did you first learn of the abuse?
Brig. Gen. Janis L. Karpinski: I first learned of the abuse via an e-mail on the 19th of January and the e-mail was not sent to me by anybody in my chain of command. It was sent to me almost as an afterthought by the commander of the Criminal Investigation Division (CID).."
".. Washington, D.C.: General Karpinski- I read that you are the first woman to serve as a general commanding troops in a U.S. war. Has this been a difficult position to fill? Do you feel that you have been treated differently in this situation as a result of this?
Brig. Gen. Janis L. Karpinski: That is true statement to the best of my knowledge. I was the first female general officer to command soldiers in a combat situation. It was not difficult from a leadership perspective. There were additional challenges and certainly the element of placing your life on the line brings extraordinary responsibility to the table. I believe there were some male commanders particularly in the active component who resented my success in a theater of war and communicating to me at times that I was not going to succeed and how dare I think I could succeed in their theater of war. I got the distinct impression it was an insult to their warrior instinct and to their masculinity. .."
Washington, D.C.: In your view, with whom did "the buck stop" when it came to Abu Ghraib military policy? Who should be held accountable for what occurred there?
Brig. Gen. Janis L. Karpinski: I think it's a shared responsibility. The Military Police personnel were assigned to an MP company that was a subordinate company of my brigade, so I am responsible for those soldiers. I cannot be responsible for other senior people who may have given them instructions specific to these incidents. I had 16 locations and 3,400 soldiers to take care of so I can't be in all of those locations all of the time.
But in terms of where does the buck stop, I think it will be determined as the investigation continues to unfold.
She was a General for God’s sake. Every General worth a crap that had anything to do with this should be falling all over themselves to take responsibility rather than have this reflect on the nation or military as a whole. But she’s going on talk shows with her lawyer claiming to be “scapegoated”?
Privates and sergeants are scapegoats, Generals are responsible. This one sounds like a dirt bag.
Great synopsis in #9 BTW!
Yep. She better start looking for a middle manager fallback position from an old friend, maybe one that starts in 3 - 5 years.
The media wanted to take down Bush with out of context images, hype and exageration but they've blown with their over the top hyperbole.
Thanks. I agree, Generals are responsible. Karpinski should
never have been a General. The more I look at her performance
and statements in this affair the worse she looks.
-"A LAWYER for a soldier charged in the Abu Ghraib abuse case said..."
'Nuf info at that point.
The press does not want them hold Gen Karpinski accountable. She is a woman.
I believe what they're doing is equating the legitimate intelligence techniques (sleep deprivation, etc.) with the hazing-type incidents, and then claiming that knowledge and approval of the "abuse" went up the chain of command, right up to Rummy or even Bush.
Not only that. They can use her statements to blast the higher ups and the war effort generally. Karpinski will be getting support from people that not only are against the war, but also hate the Military and DOD. It's easy, just put her on TV for her CYA routine and that will do it. They don't even appear biased or certainly can plausibly deny it.
In late January, 1997, Guy Lee Womack, an Assistant U.S. Attorney, resigned his office and agreed to pay a $5,000 civil fine. Womack confessed that he used his office to promote the Quadro Tracker®, a bogus drug and weapon detecting device. He paid $13,600 for distribution rights in Alabama, Arkansas, New Mexico and Wyoming and hosted meetings with investigators in Houston to show how the device worked (Richard Stewart, "Tracking-device sellers cleared of fraud counts," Houston Chronicle, January 30, 1997, p. 21A).
snip
The men were indicted on August 21, 1996 for deceiving customers into buying what they knew was a worthless device. Prosecutors claimed that the Quadro Tracker® was just a radio antenna attached to a hollow plastic box containing "chips" constructed of paper and plastic. The device was sold primarily to law enforcement agencies and school districts. Sales of the Quadro Tracker® were enjoined in April 1996 by U.S District Judge Thad Heartfield, who cited the fraudulent nature of the device.
It's Reuters.
Flush twice.
Also Lyndie England's lawyer had problems himself bad enough for him to be fired by the England family lawyer in consultation with the family.
Pretty standard military stuff. The enlisted guys get sent away for life and the officers get slapped on the wrist.
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