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.

[Texasforever]

That they would print this. This is potentially a big deal. If Hack is still drawing any kind of military benefit, pension or otherwise and he is behind this, he can be Court Martialed.

[ClancyJ]

Very interesting he was afraid the 6 GI's would take the "fall" for this? Duh...you bet your life - the pictures show them doing it!!!!!!

Did he really believe that the military would prove them innocent victims and take down the generals?

Looks to me like he saw his chance to "sell" the photos to the highest bidder and, of course, contacted Hack. Who do you suppose Hack contacted? Hm.....would it have been the Clintons?

[nopardons]

Nuremberg.

[McGavin999]

He really,really does not like brass.

Yeah, well he just screwed every man and woman in the military. They're going to hunt him down if this turns out to be true. Talk about betrayal.

[CWOJackson]

Active duty soldiers aren't allowed to give interviews; it seems that some Reservists and Guards members have a hard time adjusting to the reality of active duty service.

I want to qualify that right up front: There are thousands of Reserve and Guard on active duty doing an outstanding job. There are always exceptions in the ranks; active and reserve component.

This has been going on since this war started: disgruntled people called up to active duty and going to the media. I believe it will continue to happen, and will erode morale, until one of the services decides to make a full and complete example of one of them.

[Anti-Bubba182]

Near Reservists' Base, Disappointment at Accusations of Abuse

"..Sergeant Frederick works as a civilian as a correctional officer in Virginia, neither he nor his father believes he was adequately trained by the military to handle prisoners of war..."

This guy was also 37 yrs. older at the time.

[Fledermaus]

Orchestration? Try worthless government bureaucracy. It's now so prevalent it's impossible to stop. Communism is better than entrenched bureaucracy.

The other big problem is the video/picture mentality. These reports have been out since January 2004 but only when pictures came up they whine. Congress is nothing but a "Girls Gone Wild" infomercial fighting for airtime they are so insignificant.

I say we stop this PC crap, kick the women out of the military, and just nuke the Middle East and get on with the future. Why are we wasting time, money and our military lives to help these 4th century idiots?

No wonder I don't post any longer! Am I the only sane one left? lol

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

I know it's a bit late, but these soldiers should keep their traps shut unless it's an official request and only with a lawyer present.

[Mr. Mojo]

Hack is back.

Not too surprising that a guy with a Roman haircut and a lisp is somehow involved with pics of naked Iraqi men being stacked on top of each other.

[Texasforever]

I hear this alluded to a lot but if my memory serves correctly there were no enlisted soldiers tried in that court. The "I was only following orders" defense was used by the officer ranks that were on trial. You are more historically aware than I am but that is my recollection.

[Howlin]

That, according to the US "boots on the ground" in Iraq, more Iraqi civilians may being killed than the Bush administration and the Pentagon are letting on and that those who are left standing are becoming increasingly antagonistic toward their ostensible "liberators" who, along WITH the Iraqi civilians, are the ones caught in the middle, here.

Independent [London], 12/5/03

Col David Hackworth (USA, ret.) hasHackworth's two websites, www.hackworth.com and www.sftt.org maintains two Web site whose "entries may discuss subjects [about conditions the US troops are facing in Iraq] ranging from shoddy food and badly performing equipment to a lack of ammunition. He says he receives up to 2,000 such messages a week from troops whose anonymity he scrupulously protects. His website currently carries a letter from a veteran helicopter pilot, discussing the recent attack that brought down two Black Hawk helicopters.

In the aftermath of America's worst month in Iraq, when 79 of its soldiers died, Col Hackworth this week received an email from a "combat leader" involved in the firefight in the city of Samarra in which US forces claimed to have killed 54 attackers. Local people insisted that only eight people, mostly civilians, had been killed.
In his email to Colonel Hackworth, who he has known for eight years, the soldier with the 4th Infantry Division wrote of Sunday's incident: "Hack, most of the casualties were civilians, not insurgents or criminals as being reported...“We drive around in convoys, blast the hell out of the area, break down doors and search buildings; but the guerrillas continue to attack us. It does not take a George Patton to see we are using the wrong tactics ... Much of Samarra is fairly well shot up. The tanks and brads rolled over parked cars and fired up buildings where we believed the enemy was. This must be expected considering the field of vision is limited ... Not all the people in this town were hostile, but we did see many people firing from rooftops or alleys that looked like civilians, not the Feddayeen reported in the press. I even saw Iraqi people throwing stones at us, I told my soldiers to hold their fire unless they could indentfy [sic] a real weapon.
Since we did not stick around to find out, I am very concerned in the coming days we will find we killed many civilians as well as Iraqi irregular fighters. I would feel great if all the people we killed were all enemy guerrillas, but I can't say that. We are probably turning many Iraqi against us and I am afraid instead of climbing out of the hole, we are digging ourselves in deeper."

(Hackworth's two Web sites that contain troops' accounts of what's happening are at www.hackworth.com and www.sftt.org. )

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=470213

[patriciamary]

Hackworth the traitor,is his past in the military alittle tainted

[nopardons]

Which can't happen soon enough! And from here on out, ALL manner of cameras should be confiscated.

[Texasforever]

Hackworth the traitor,is his past in the military alittle tainted

As I recall no, he was just "career limited" as they say.

[Arkinsaw]

I hope Fredericks' family is happy. Not only have they stained the reputation of the U.S. military with the release of these photos, and put our troops at risk, they have virtually guaranteed a harsher sentence for Fredericks than he would have gotten if this hadn't become an international incident.

But CBS and Hackworth are going to profit greatly, so it had to be worth it. Eh?

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

I want to qualify that right up front: There are thousands of Reserve and Guard on active duty doing an outstanding job.

Haven't you heard? According to John Kerry, Guard service isn't honorable. I swear we're going to have to start selling programs.

[MJY1288]

This could be the end of Hackworth if so

[BykrBayb]

I say we stop this PC crap, kick the women out of the military, and just nuke the Middle East and get on with the future.

And what do you propose we do to the men?

[Texasforever]

LMAO. Good to see ya.

[nopardons]

That's correct.But that " I WAS ONLY FOLLOWING ORDERS " bit won't get the rank & file perps off either. And using that phrase,makes everyone reading/hearing it immediately think of the Nuremberg Trials.