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

[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.

[beautifulgirl]

How do you figure that the media showing pictures is going to endanger anyone? The Iraqis already seem to hate us. I have no doubt that prisoners who have been released were spreading tales or torture and murder throughout the region.

It seems that American citizens were the last to know, and the military didn't exactly get on the ball until the press lit a fire under their asses.

The fact that we put depraved sexually deviants in charge of some prisoners probably has a little to do with why some of them see us as the enemy. Now we have a chance to show them that real Americans don't go for that crap.

[McGavin999]

If you can't figure it out, you don't know enough about the subject to discuss it.

[Anti-Bubba182]

I have never heard of Hack taking the side of an administation or the Pentagon. Any barracks lawyer or service miscreant can contact him and expect a sympathetic ear, sort of an ACLU for the military, and the armed forces is always wrong.

I can recall how he went on before Gulf War I about how the US tanks wouldn't work and that they were overengineered crap and how the invasion would be a disaster with thousands of US casualties. I'll bet he's still embarrased over some of the crap he put out.

[Texasforever]

Great unfounded character assassination!...

How about this, he has done exactly what Kerry did if he helped leak these pictures. He has helped the enemy and hurt the soldier on the ground. If he is behind this his character has committed suicide…not assassinated.

[Barlowmaker]

Monty?

[nw_arizona_granny]

I noticed several months ago that Scott Ritter, David Hackworth and Joyce Riley all say almost the same words, it is the same speech they give.

None of them wanted the U.S. to go to war in Iraq and now are still saying that we are wrong.

As I never leave the house, it is easy for me to hear these people on the radio, I don't have to live according to a clock, so am often up all night, one of the perks of being retired.

Before that I learned from you FReepers that Scott was paid by Iraq to make a movie, I had already started hearing the same speech from them and having discovered the communist websites, considered it to be communist speech.

My opinion.

[BykrBayb]

Why yes, you did claim to have superior reading comprehension skills. And that proves that he didn't hint at his own skills... how?

[McGavin999]

Hack is trying to relive his youth by bring Vietnam into everything he sees. He's just like Kerry.

[philman_36]

Most of that is old news, as the article details. It was quite the story at the time. I'm surprised you didn't read about it at the time. I could've sworn, though, that I'd seen you on some of those old threads. I don't recall now.

[nopardons]

I bookmarked these and read the short version. Ye gods and little fishes...what a horror and not one peep in any news media at all about this.

[leadpenny]

Just a thought:

A few weeks ago an all-out effort to subdue Fujallah was about to begin. Soon, the siege was lifted and the cordon was reduced. From the enemies point of view we blinked.

At about the same time the radio-active reports of prison abuse must have been percolating up through the chain of command into the Pentagon and into the halls of Congress.

The leadership knew this was going to be a media extravaganza and a PR nightmare and a decision was made not to go forward with the attack on the insurgents in Fujallah.

Thoughts?

[BigSkyFreeper]

Hack betrayed his country and "every single member of the military"? By doing what exactly??

Getting his hands on evidentiary materials he shoudln't have had his hands on.

Trying to call attention to gross violations that were already being investigated by the military, violations which cast a horrible light on the majority of actual honorable soldiers who are still "somehow" able to tell the difference between right and wrong???

Why would he waste time calling attention to something that was already known, because CNN was at the CentCom briefing when it was announced there were allegations brewing to the surface of prisoner abuse at a number of Iraqi prisons, which the military was forming an investigation over the matter. CentCom released a statement at that very same briefing, which can be found on the CentCom's website. Anyone with a TV and a keyboard would have known about it. Maybe you didn't know about it, but I certainly did. It was all over the media at the time.

[faithincowboys]

Cool. I think it is important to the debate. What must be understood is that things that violate our standards happen every time America is deployed overseas. This ought not be politicized. When an American does something wrong, they should be punished.

The politicization of this by the media and the Left should not be happening. When dame Hillary had the chance to protect women and children in Bosnia she took a powder. The American people were never notified about what was going on by some in a postwar environment. Congress never held hearings. 60 Minutes 2 never brought it up and CNN didn't refuse to hire Wes Clark because of it--on the contrary, they let him sling arrows and act like he was an "expert" on all things. Clearly, the contractors in Bosnia had been dabbling in some very unsavory things for quite some time.

What did they know and when did they know it and why were the American people kept in the dark?

Had that been fully flushed out, the Abu Ghraib incident might never have even happened.

[Terp]

"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.

Unfortunatley these soldiers as far as I know were all Reservists. Not regular Army and they don't get the same training.

I hate to say it but I can hear the Regular Army types saying "friggin weekend warriors".

And there just may be something to that. Go ahead and flame away!

[philman_36]

BTW...who decided that you were the typing police? LOL
I'm not the typing police, haven't made myself the typing police and nobody decided to make me the typing police.
I just noticed that you have the same tendency as another poster.
If I were the typing police you'd have a bunch of tickets. ROTFLMAO!

[faithincowboys]

Clearly, Hack should not in anyway have facilitated or advised the transfer of these demoralizing, mission endangering photos to the Leftist media during wartime. That's pretty damn clear.

[TexKat]

I deplore this lack of military discipline and breakdown in command and control.

You and me both.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Hackworth is just Henny Penny with a bad haircut, a bird lapel on his hat and a chip on his shoulder.

[nopardons]

Go get help...ASAP.

And since you crave attention,hie thee to the nearest biker bar.

[MEG33]

I haven't dared express an opinion on Hack.I really got turned off before and during the war.He thinks he is the friend of the grunt.I think he hates Rumsfield,the Pentagon.

This was not helpful,it may have cost lives and caused us to pull back on military hard action.Someone just suggested Fallujah was going on and this picture airing may have affected our decisions about Fallujah,as the military was aware they would be aired.