Female GI In Abuse Photos Talks

CBSNEWS ^ | 5/12/04 | CBSNEWS.com

[NYC Republican]

Army Pfc. Lynndie England, seen worldwide in photographs that show her smiling and pointing at naked Iraqi prisoners, said she was ordered to pose for the photos, and felt "kind of weird" in doing so.

In an exclusive interview with Brian Maass of Denver CBS station KCNC-TV, England also confirmed that abuses worse than those depicted in the photos were carried out at the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, but she declined to discuss them.

England, 21, repeatedly insisted that her actions were dictated by "persons in my higher chain of command."

In the photos, England is seen smiling, cigarette in her mouth, as she leans forward and points at the genitals of a naked, hooded Iraqis. Another photo taken at Abu Ghraib shows her holding a leash that encircles the neck of a naked Iraqi man lying on his side.

"I was instructed by persons in higher rank to stand there and hold this leash and look at the camera," she said.

England said the actions depicted in the photos were intended to put psychological pressure on the Iraqi prisoners.

"Well, I mean, they [the photos] were for psy-op reasons," she said "And the reasons worked. I mean, so to us, we were doing our job, which meant we were doing what we were told, and the outcome was what they wanted. They'd come back and they'd look at the pictures, and they'd state, 'Oh, that's a good tactic, keep it up. That's working. This is working. Keep doing it. It's getting what we need.'"

England, an Army reservist from West Virginia who is four months pregnant, is now stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. The interview was taped Tuesday at Fort Bragg.

England is among seven soldiers from the 372nd Military Police Company who face charges for allegedly degrading and humiliating Iraqi prisoners. One soldier, Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits of Hyndman, Pa., will face a court-martial in Baghdad next week.

"To all of us who have been charged, we all agree that we don't feel like we were doing things that we weren't supposed to, because we were told to do them. We think everything was justified, because we were instructed to do this and to do that," England said.

She told KCNC she was looking forward to having her baby and hopefully one day putting the abuse scandal behind her.

[GOP_Proud]

For those who have served in the military. Don't you have a right to question authority when you think it's wrong? Hasn't "I was ordered to" become a flimsy or non-excuse? What are the repurcussions to questioning authority.

I think I'd just have to take the punishment. I couldn't have done it.

[Iron Matron]

LOL!

[raptor29]

"Get the women and homos out of the military. What a circus!"

I'll second that.

[eleni121]

Vee ver juss following oh-dahs.... Sound familiar?

Actually your conclusion is sickening.

To compare US military to some reptilitan Nazi (or even worse Communist) machine is despicable.

You need to retract your comment now!

[bird4four4]

This makes perfect sense to me. I saw one iraq interview, where the guy said he was so humiliated he couldn't go back to his home town, he said he'd rather have been killed.

So this psy-op really is working. These people don't fear death, they invite it. What they do fear, is pictures of their naked bodies being released. We need to use that. They were not physically tortured.

[holdmuhbeer]

i'm beginning to wonder if this thing wasn't put out on purpose. this is a show of raw power by us, disgusting or not, which is the only thing the 7th century arabs respect.

[ravingnutter]

I suspect that what she’s saying is at least half true.

If you believe in such things, there was a woman who described herself as a "transmedium" on talk radio this morning who said that this whole thing was perpetrated by several groups that paid a million dollars to a soldier with two stars on a tan uniform to stage this. She said the money is in a Swiss bank account under the soldier's girlfriend's name. I wish I had gotten her name at the beginning of the interview!

A little wild I know, but she stated that she predicted the Maryland snipers months before it happened and gave the cops the descriptions of the suspects (black males, one old, one young) that eventually got them arrested. She also stated that she does work for the Secret Service in this capacity. Could it have been Soros and his minions?

[Camerican]

Sorry. Ain't going to happen. If soldiers want to abuse these thugs, fine. I don't care. Frankly, I would rather see no prisoners taken other than for intel purposes. Catch'em and shoot'em on the spot. But to participate in the activities that were taken and then try to weasel out of any responsibility by claiming that you were just following orders? Please. If you can't see the Nurenburg parallel, that's your blind follower hang-up, not mine.

[dead]

I suspect that what she’s saying is at least half true.

I believe the part about it working.

[Conspiracy Guy]

If I hated America like these people do I would leave. Instead that want to destroy it.

It make no sense that our greatest enemies were born here and live here.

[Auntie Toots]

"To all of us who have been charged, we all agree that we don't feel like we were doing things that we weren't supposed to, because we were told to do them. We think everything was justified, because we were instructed to do this and to do that," England said.

I believe she is telling the truth. It is all too obvious that the photo was staged. And I also think she is one tough, little cookie to be able to go along with it without mentally falling apart. I would have been a basket case, a person like me would be useless to the cause.
And it has been reported that her group was told that their methods of dealing with the prisoners was working. Apparently they were getting information out of the prisoners/detainees, or whatever you want to call them.
Hey, who ever said war is a sanitized operation? I happen to believe that this kind of "stuff" has been going on forever. It just hasn't been public knowledge before. How else do you think officials get the kind of necessary info out of people who know bits and pieces to help form major decisions? These people belong to a group that wants to kill us and ruin our way of life. The so-called humiliating treatment given to these prisoners was mild compared to Saddam's and Al Quaida's methods.
We are trying to be way too politically correct in this country. Maybe we should just hand each prisoner a rose, and a nice fluffy white terry-cloth robe so they can enjoy their stay.
No matter how you put it, War is Evil.

[Oztrich Boy]

One of the pictures show her smoking - and while being pregnant - the horror of it

No. This is the one charge she can beat. She's 4 months pregnant and the pictures were taken in November/December.

[monday]

"She's a lying disgrace."

And you know this HOW? Were you there? If you have evidence to back up your claim lets hear it. If not, STFU.

[Catphish]

Yesterday one of the Generals stated that the perpetrators couldn't name specific officers who were giving the orders which is one of the reasons a seperate investigation was neccesary. The hooded prisoners, the personal cameras with sex pictures between the soldiers, the fact they were being distributed on disc - her story doesn't add up.

[churchillbuff]

I remember being taught in no uncertain terms, that we were to refuse any unlawful orders

fine - BUT WHO GAVE THE ORDERS? If you agree they were unlawful, we need to know who gave them, and were the order part of a policy. If the orders were - as you say - "unlawful," then this trailer-park 21-year-old shouldn't be the only one of trial, don't you think?

[AD from SpringBay]

I'm sorry - but I'm still having a difficult time caring about her pointing at genitals or holding a leash on an Iraqi prisoner.

[NYC Republican]

The smiles and utter enjoyment, blaming President Bush, getting pregnant while on duty... It all paints a picture, and it isn't pretty... I suggest that YOU STFU instead.

[Frank_Discussion]

You're off-base, here. I don't think the intention was to smear the ENTIRE U.S. military with the Nueremburg defense. Just this one "soldier" and her fellow morons-in-arms.

And that IS what she is attempting to do, blame her superiors. She's still going down for this.

[Conspiracy Guy]

If I hated America like these people do I would leave. Instead that they, want to destroy it.

It make no sense that our greatest enemies were born here and live here.

[NYC Republican]

And you know this HOW? Were you there? If you have evidence to back up your claim lets hear it. If not, STFU.

I'm not in Iraq either, and I know our enemies when I see them. Loser.