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Soldier's Family Set in Motion Chain of Events on Disclosure [Hackworth involved in CBS photos]
NY Times ^
| 5/8/04
| James Dao and Eric Lichtblau
Posted on 05/07/2004 11:02:41 PM PDT by saquin
CUMBERLAND, Md., May 7 Ivan Frederick was distraught. His son, an Army reservist turned prison guard in Iraq, was under investigation earlier this year for mistreating prisoners, and photographs of the abuse were beginning to circulate among soldiers and military investigators.
So the father went to his brother-in-law, William Lawson, who was afraid that reservists like his nephew would end up taking the fall for what he considered command lapses, Mr. Lawson recounted in an interview on Friday. He knew whom to turn to: David Hackworth, a retired colonel and a muckraker who was always willing to take on the military establishment. Mr. Lawson sent an e-mail message in March to Mr. Hackworth's Web site and got a call back from an associate there in minutes, he said.
That e-mail message would put Mr. Lawson in touch with the CBS News program "60 Minutes II" and help set in motion events that led to the public disclosure of the graphic photographs and an international crisis for the Bush administration.
It is still not entirely clear who leaked the photos and how they got into the hands of a "60 Minutes II" producer. What is clear, however, is that the furor over the photos is unlikely to dissipate any time soon.
And it may only get worse.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld disclosed Friday that there were "many more photos" and videos of abuse that have not yet become public. And he acknowledged in Senate testimony that the military might have mishandled the affair by not alerting members of Congress and the public to the growing seriousness of the military's investigation into the abuses before the images became public on "60 Minutes II."
"I wish I had been able to convey to them the gravity of this before we saw it in the media," Mr. Rumsfeld said.
The irony, Mr. Lawson said, is that the public spectacle might have been avoided if the military and the federal government had been responsive to his claims that his nephew was simply following orders. Mr. Lawson said he sent letters to 17 members of Congress about the case earlier this year, with virtually no response, and that he ultimately contacted Mr. Hackworth's Web site out of frustration, leading him to cooperate with a consultant for "60 Minutes II."
"The Army had the opportunity for this not to come out, not to be on 60 Minutes," he said. "But the Army decided to prosecute those six G.I.'s because they thought me and my family were a bunch of poor, dirt people who could not do anything about it. But unfortunately, that was not the case."
Many of the incriminating photographs appear to have been taken on a digital camera by a soldier in the 372nd Military Police Company who is now facing a court-martial. From there, they appear to have circulated among military personnel in Iraq via e-mail and computer disks, and some may have found their way to family members in the United States.
But there are still numerous unresolved questions about the photographs. One is why they were taken. Some officials suggest that soldiers wanted the photographs as souvenirs, but some relatives said they believed that the photographs were going to be shown to other prisoners to pressure their cooperation.
Then there is the question of how the photographs became public.
Lt. Gen. Lance Smith, deputy commander of forces in the region, testifying Friday before Congress, said he was still unclear how that happened. "It was a surprise that it got out," General Smith said.
Military officials were aware of two disks with photographs on them that were part of continuing investigations, one in Iraq and another in Washington, he said.
"That was the limit of the pictures, and we thought we had them all," General Smith said.
Producers at "60 Minutes II" are not saying exactly how they got the photographs. But Jeff Fager, the executive producer, said, "We heard about someone who was outraged about it and thought that the public should know about it."
Digital cameras have become so ubiquitous in the military that many relatives of personnel in the 372nd and other units in Iraq said they routinely received photographs by e-mail. But the photographs were usually tourist-type photographs of smiling sons and daughters, relatives said.
Officials said that the photographs showing psychological or physical abuse numbered in the hundreds, perhaps more than 1,000, with Mr. Rumsfeld hinting Friday that more may come out.
Among some prison personnel in Iraq, the photographs were apparently an open secret. "Some soldiers in Iraq had them I'm hearing that soldiers were showing them to everybody," Mr. Lawson said. He said he did not have the original photos and did not turn them over to anyone.
The photographs have now turned soldiers like Mr. Lawson's nephew, Staff Sgt. Ivan Frederick, and Pfc. Lynndie R. England into graphic symbols of military abuse. But for Mr. Lawson, they are evidence of a complete breakdown in training and authority in the Iraqi prison system.
He shared his frustration in his March 23 e-mail message to Mr. Hackworth's Web site, writing: "We have contacted the Red Cross, Congress both parties, Bill O'Reilly and many others. Nobody wants to touch this."
Less than five weeks later, images of his nephew interviewed on "60 Minutes II" with Mr. Lawson's help would be shown around the world. Far from untouchable, the story would become unavoidable.
TOPICS: Breaking News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 2004electionbias; 60minutes; abugerbil; agitprop; bushhaters; cbs; ccrm; crazyivan; dontaskdonttell; hacknut; hackworth; iraq; iraqaftermath; iraqipow; iraqipowphotos; ivanfrederick; jailhouselawyers; loathesthemilitary; media; mediabias; moralrelativism; prisonabuse; propaganda; saddamites; therestofthestory
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To: saquin
"Our military is always boasting they have the best-trained soldiers in the world, but this shows someone has been a little lax training those boys, and I'm really upset about it," Fredrick said.
Nonmilitary interrogators urged the soldiers to "loosen up" the prisoners so they would be more cooperative, Frederick told his father.
In his journal, Frederick noted: "I questioned some of the things I saw," he wrote in neat block letters. "Such things as leaving inmates in their cells with no clothes or in female underpants, handcuffing them to the door of the cell. I questioned this and the answer I got was this is how military intelligence wants it done."
Frederick spoke to his son for about two hours Friday night using an Internet telephone-camera.
221
posted on
05/08/2004 12:40:30 AM PDT
by
kcvl
To: BykrBayb
I responded your post to Fledermaus.I replied to
YOU and it was meant FOR
YOU!
That spurious,childish,oh so emotional and irrational post was beyond the pale and I called you on it.And whether you call them feces or something else,it's still inappropriate language.
To: ValerieUSA
Your are correct, I mispelled "here".
Secondly, who cares what you think?
To: MJY1288
Scott Ritter...
You knowm he is the only person
who came to mind in this, when in
fact we should have thought of Hackworth.
WOW! That would beat all if we could link
the two men along with the Oil for Food scam.
224
posted on
05/08/2004 12:41:10 AM PDT
by
onyx
(WHO LEAKED TO CBS? Was it you Col. Hackworth?)
To: Ernest_at_the_Beach; MEG33
Telford man linked to controversyAn Army report on the abuses at a Baghdad prison that have shocked the world names a local man as one of those responsible.
The report of an investigation by Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, compiled in February and leaked to the public last week, recommended that Steven Stefanowicz be fired and reprimanded over his actions at Abu Ghraib prison.
Stefanowicz, whose name apparently is incorrectly spelled as Stephanowicz in the report, is described as a civilian interrogator working for defense contractor CACI International Inc. The report said he was assigned to the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade at the Baghdad prison.
Click on link to read article.
225
posted on
05/08/2004 12:41:38 AM PDT
by
TexKat
(Just because you did not see it or read it, that does not mean it did or did not happen.)
To: Fledermaus
Don't give me that awwwwwwwwwww shucks routine.You and I bolth know that your knowledge of several subjects is far superior to anyone else's on FR! :-)
To: TexKat
227
posted on
05/08/2004 12:42:43 AM PDT
by
kcvl
To: John Lenin
How much experience can 20 year olds have at extracting information from prisoners ? Even to have them 'softening up' the perps seems strange to me. The whole story is not adding up to much yet.
To: A CA Guy
Well you are not going to see a "hanging" over this. You need to read the UMCJ and what constitutes a capital offense.
229
posted on
05/08/2004 12:43:03 AM PDT
by
Texasforever
(The French love John Kerry. He is their new Jerry Lewis)
To: conservative in nyc
I don't mean to sound like an owl, but who,who,who, WHO ?
To: Howlin
If I were to send it to anybody, they (Armed Service Comm.)would be first on the list.
To: Fledermaus
Secondly, who cares what you think? Yet another arrogantly moronic thing to say in a public debate forum.
To: nopardons; Fledermaus
Why don't you two just get a room...
233
posted on
05/08/2004 12:45:59 AM PDT
by
Keith in Iowa
(Life's a beach, and liberals are the sand in your swimsuit that can't be washed away.)
To: Fledermaus
Yes,I DO owe you an actual E-mail. The problem IS fixed and you'll get one soon.:-)
To: McGavin999
I'm exhausted too and it's only the beginning of May!
To: John Lenin
Taguba's report charged that Stefanowicz "made a false statement to the investigation team regarding the locations of his interrogations, the activities during his interrogations and his knowledge of abuses." He also allowed or ordered military police untrained in interrogation techniques to make interrogations easier by "setting conditions," which were neither authorized nor in accordance with Army regulations, the report said.
"He clearly knew his instructions equated to physical abuse," Taguba wrote.
The report said the allegations were corroborated by confessions from several of the perpetrators, detailed statements from witnesses and "the discovery of extremely graphic photographic evidence."
Stefanowicz, though, is a different story.
Defense contractors are not subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Casey said, according to a transcript of Tuesday's DOD briefing. If military leaders feel charges are warranted against a civilian contractor, the allegations would be taken to the U.S. Attorney for prosecution, Casey said.
Though Taguba's report recommending that he be fired was submitted on March 9, Stefanowicz reportedly still is in Iraq and still working at Abu Ghraib.
In a conference call with investors on Wednesday, CACI's president of U.S. operations, Ken Johnson, said, "The employee in question is still on the site, still performing the duties there and, by all accounts, from our understanding, just doing a damned fine job."
After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, he quit his job as an information technology recruiter in Australia and returned to the United States. He volunteered for active duty and was sent to the Middle East in March 2002, according to the press service's story.
Acquaintances of Stefanowicz's family said he later left the military, taking a civilian job with CACI.
In Tuesday's conference call with investors, though, Jack London, the company's chairman and CEO, said he has launched an internal investigation of its employees' alleged wrongdoing in Iraq. Any found responsible would be punished, he said.
"If we've had somebody who's gone berserk and off the reservation and committed a crime," London said, "they'll have to suffer the consequences."
236
posted on
05/08/2004 12:49:45 AM PDT
by
kcvl
To: Keith in Iowa
Ahem...it's not like that!
To: nopardons
I suggest you read the posts you respond to. It's rather late now, but go ahead and read it anyway. While you're at it, read the thread leading up to it. If you're still confused, taking a reading comprehension course. I did not use any foul language, though I did use the word "foul." If you think my post should be pulled because I used the word "feces," I suggest you notify the moderator. I will not refrain from telling the truth just to shield your eyes from it.
238
posted on
05/08/2004 12:50:23 AM PDT
by
BykrBayb
(5 minutes of prayer for Terri, every day at 11 am EDT, until she's safe. http://www.terrisfight.org)
To: Fledermaus
I can take anything you can dish out, troll. I've seen the way you bait legitimate posters with your liberal garbage. You've been doing it for a long time. You show disdain for all things American. You promote al Qaeda's view of women. You insult every woman who dares speak her opinion in your presence. The only troops you support are the ones who commit crimes and bring wrath down on our honorable troops. You attack anyone who disagrees with your distructive attitude. When some of our troops disgrace the uniform, you claim that's normal behavior to be expected of American soldiers. You blame the problem on anyone except those who committed the crimes. You're a liberal, and you're too stupid to know it.
239
posted on
05/08/2004 12:50:43 AM PDT
by
BykrBayb
(5 minutes of prayer for Terri, every day at 11 am EDT, until she's safe. http://www.terrisfight.org)
To: ValerieUSA
Then just WHY did you poke your nose into something that didn't concern you in the first place...if you didn't want a reply?
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