Posted on 05/12/2005 6:48:49 AM PDT by Former Military Chick
WASHINGTON May 12, 2005 — The Army reprimanded and fined a colonel who was in charge of an intelligence unit at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq during the period of prisoner abuse, but the service chose not to press criminal charges, an official said Wednesday.
Col. Thomas M. Pappas, commander of the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade, based in Germany, had faced the possibility of criminal prosecution under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, but a two-star general instead administered what the military calls nonjudicial punishment.
Pappas is among the highest ranking officers whose actions have been scrutinized in the abuse scandal. Only one general Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski has been punished. She was demoted to colonel.
The question of whether Pappas would be relieved of his command had not been settled Wednesday, according to an Army official who discussed the matter only on condition of anonymity because it had not been publicly announced.
Pappas was not accused of ordering abuse or participating in it, but the Army said some soldiers under his command were involved and he was faulted for two instances of dereliction of duty.
Maj. Gen. Bennie Williams, who decided not to press criminal charges, ordered Pappas to repay $8,000 in salary and gave him an official letter of reprimand. Taken together the penalties essentially stop him from being promoted in rank and thus hasten the end of his career.
Pappas had the option of refusing the nonjudicial punishment and contesting the allegations in a court martial, but he chose not to, the Army official said.
The Army said it verified a finding by previous Army investigations that Pappas had failed to obtain approval from superior commanders before authorizing an unsanctioned interrogation method: the presence of military dogs during interrogations as a method of scaring prisoners.
The Army also said Pappas was derelict in his duties by failing to ensure that soldiers under his command were informed of, trained in and supervised in the application of interrogation procedures.
Has anybody noticed the MSM trend of focusing on the three women involved in this? Karpinsky lost her star and England is being criminally prosecuted, along with another woman. However, Bill Maher and other liberals are claiming that only women are being punished. They conveniently leave out England's former boyfriend who's serving EIGHT YEARS and now this guy is losing his career. Many more heads will roll.
BTW, does anyone know what type of viewer ratings Bill Maher's show is getting these days?
His career is over, but I believe his pension at O-6 level is intact.
I agree - former E-5 here. The integrity of the Officer Corps, and by extension, the service, depends on it.
MP's serving under BG Karpinsky made statements to the effect that, and I'm paraphrasing, "Intel wanted us to 'soften up' the detainees so that they could get some good information out of them." Now it's entirely possible that these public statements were not testified to under oath, but if they were you'd expect that this MI colonel would be in for more severe punishment.
I only watch his show (just in bits and pieces) so I know what crap comes out of his mouth. Honest.
I steal HBO so they can't count me as a viewer ;)
Former artillery Captain here, and you're both right.
Officers need to set the standards that they expect others to follow. Karpinsky ran the prison, and wether or not she knew, she SHOULD HAVE KNOWN. I cringe when I think of the prison scandal, especially when my fellow officers were involved. They should have been punished FIRST and HARSHEST.
"Soften them up" can mean many things, even legal actions.
Prisoners have often been "softened up" (legally) through confinement, isolation and lengthy "preparatory" interrogations which do little but exhaust the prisoner. All of these are legal and legitemate tactics.
I'd like to see the full report to know MI's involvement in any illegal or immoral conduct.
Point taken.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.