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Soldier describes wiring Iraq abuse victim
Reuters via swissinfo ^ | 14 May 2005 | Debbie Stevenson

Posted on 05/13/2005 4:30:28 PM PDT by Cornpone

FORT HOOD, Texas (Reuters) - A soldier already convicted of abuse in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal testified on Friday that he was the one who attached wires to a naked, hooded Iraqi in an attempt to gain information about the whereabouts of the bodies of four U.S. soldiers and locate their killers.

Pvt. Ivan Frederick's testimony did not appear to help the government's case against Spc. Sabrina Harman, who the government has charged with placing wires on the prisoner pictured in a photo that sparked global outrage.

Harman faces six and a half years in prison if convicted on all charges, which include posing with a broad smile before a pyramid of naked detainees and photographing them as they were forced to masturbate.

"She was kind of happy like it was a joke," Spc. Jeremy Sivits, who has already pleaded guilty to abuse charges, said about Harman's reaction to the naked pyramid.

Her outlook changed when the detainees were forced to masturbate as they lined up along a prison hallway. "She was pretty disgusted by it," he said.

The Friday testimony shed new light on the incident in which U.S. soldiers attached wires to the Iraqi and told him he would be electrocuted if he stepped off a box.

Frederick, serving an eight-year prison sentence, said the Iraqi man was thought to have information about who killed four U.S. troops and where their bodies were. An investigator wanted him to be sleep deprived before interrogation the next day, he said.

"Agent Romero wanted him stressed," Frederick told a military court at the nation's largest Army base. He quoted the agent as saying, "I don't give a f--- what you do, I just want him to talk tomorrow."

Frederick said a second soldier later placed the Iraqi man on the box.

The soldier, temporarily on leave from prison to testify at Harman's court-martial which began on Thursday, said investigators found the Iraqi did not have information about the deaths, and he was eventually given special privileges.

In later testimony, a military intelligence soldier said he was present when three men accused by the U.S. military of raping a boy were brought in and were handcuffed together naked in a pile on the prison floor by Frederick and abuse ringleader Charles Graner.

Spc. Israel Rivera said he was too intimidated to report the incident or to protest. "They were the ones with the authority," Rivera said.

Asked why he did not report the incident, he responded: "It seemed like it would be compromising my own safety. If they were willing to do this to a detainee, why wouldn't they do this to me?"

The prosecution rested its case after a series of witnesses on Friday, many of whom appeared to diminish Harman's role in the abuse. The court planned to meet on Saturday to discuss legal motions and then reconvene the jury to hear the defense case on Monday.

Six U.S. soldiers including Frederick have already pleaded guilty to Abu Ghraib abuses, and Graner was convicted in a court-martial and is now serving a ten-year sentence.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: abughraib; iraq; iraqipow; torture

1 posted on 05/13/2005 4:30:29 PM PDT by Cornpone
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To: Cornpone

Ummm, lemme see here.... Our soldiers put panties on prisoners' heads, make them pose naked.

They make their prisoners pose - BEGGING FOR THEIR LIVES - just before they're BEHEADED for the camera.

Equal?? I don't think so!


2 posted on 05/13/2005 4:37:59 PM PDT by Humidston (Pubbies - GROW SOME!!!)
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To: Cornpone

This is a TA-312. I'd be willing to bet that well over 50% of US Army soldiers who have ever had access to one in training or operationally, have been involved in horseplay, either as shocker or shockee. I'm not condoning the outright stupidity of Abu Ghraib, it was certainly of the highest order, and damaging to the US cause.

I AM minimizing "the horror," that Kennedy and his MSM minions painted of the "torture," that took place there.

3 posted on 05/13/2005 4:42:14 PM PDT by Joe 6-pack
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To: Humidston

media gets orgasms over these sex stories.


4 posted on 05/13/2005 4:48:58 PM PDT by LoudAmericanCowboy (''If the president just does more of the same every day...I may be handed Lebanon..."-John F'n Kerry)
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To: Joe 6-pack

Kennedy was faking it. The man has no feelings at all.


5 posted on 05/13/2005 5:30:21 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: Joe 6-pack

That POS telephone looks 50 years old :)


6 posted on 05/13/2005 5:32:05 PM PDT by dennisw (the country music station plays soft but there’s nothing, really nothing to turn off)
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To: dennisw
"That POS telephone looks 50 years old :)"

The electricity it generates is very current...;-)

7 posted on 05/13/2005 6:26:43 PM PDT by Joe 6-pack
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To: dennisw
"That POS telephone looks 50 years old :)

Probably close. Fifty years ago we had the EE-8.

8 posted on 05/13/2005 6:37:36 PM PDT by OldEagle (We might be in the end times, but it looks like we are finally moving in the RIGHT direction.)
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To: Humidston
he was the one who attached wires to a naked, hooded Iraqi in an attempt to gain information about the whereabouts of the bodies of four U.S. soldiers and locate their killers.

Why did he expend so much effort? Why wire the prisoner up when somebody shoulda just sort of "took him out back" for a real discussion of the matter at hand.

9 posted on 05/13/2005 6:41:51 PM PDT by ErnBatavia (I don't drink and FReep...it just looks that way)
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To: Joe 6-pack

When visiting a S. Korean battalion headquartes, I noticed five or six Korean Army privates squatting against the wall. All of sudden, one jumped up, ran to the bn commander's desk and hooked up the phone with commo wire. After the bn commander answered the phone, the private removed the wire and retreated to the wall. It was then I noticed all of the privates were holding commo wire between their fingers. The battalion only had one phone and needed to terminate six circuits so they had six privates hold the wire..... Yeah, that's torture.


10 posted on 05/13/2005 6:42:49 PM PDT by DugwayDuke
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To: ErnBatavia

I like your style....


11 posted on 05/13/2005 6:52:04 PM PDT by Humidston (Pubbies - GROW SOME!!!)
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To: OldEagle

An old eagle is a good eagle 'cause he's still flying.


12 posted on 05/13/2005 6:57:10 PM PDT by dennisw (the country music station plays soft but there’s nothing, really nothing to turn off)
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To: dennisw
"An old eagle is a good eagle 'cause he's still flying."

Thank you. Not as high or far or often, but I can still get off the ground.

13 posted on 05/13/2005 7:19:54 PM PDT by OldEagle (We might be in the end times, but it looks like we are finally moving in the RIGHT direction.)
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To: OldEagle

Blessings ... not that they are mine to give.


14 posted on 05/13/2005 7:31:56 PM PDT by dennisw (the country music station plays soft but there’s nothing, really nothing to turn off)
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To: dennisw

And to you too.


15 posted on 05/13/2005 8:18:32 PM PDT by OldEagle (We might be in the end times, but it looks like we are finally moving in the RIGHT direction.)
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