Home > U.S. Soldiers Abused Iraqis ’For Fun,’ Court Told
by Jim Loney
Fort Bragg - U.S. troops who abused Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison did it "just for fun," a military investigator testified on Tuesday at a hearing for a female soldier photographed holding a naked Iraqi on a leash.
A military court at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, began the hearing to decide whether Pfc. Lynndie England will be tried for the prisoner abuse that outraged the Arab world and embarrassed the Bush administration as it sought to stabilize Iraq.
Chief Warrant Officer Paul Arthur, the lead criminal investigator into the abuse at Abu Ghraib, was the first witness to take the stand in a red-brick judge advocate’s building in Fort Bragg.
England, visibly pregnant, has been stationed at Ft. Bragg since her return from Iraq.
Arthur told the court England said in a sworn statement in January - three months before the abuse photos were made public - that one of her superiors, Spc. Charles Graner, had put the leash on the naked Iraqi prisoner and told her to pose for the infamous photograph.
U.S. media reports have said Graner, who has also been charged, is the father of England’s child.
"(She said) Graner suggested she pose in a photograph with him (the prisoner) ... as if she was dragging him," Arthur said. He repeated several times that England and other soldiers said they were just joking around.
Asked if he had determined why the troops had abused the prisoners, Arthur said: "Basically it was just for fun ... and to vent their frustration."
England, dressed in camouflage uniform, black boots and beret, entered the courthouse moments before the hearing began, ignoring dozens of media cameras and reporters. Inside the courtroom, she answered "Yes Ma’am" and "No Ma’am" to simple questions from Col. Denise Arn, the investigating officer, about the charges.
Bush Apology
England, 21, was charged along with six other U.S. military police reservists in a scandal that prompted an apology from President Bush, who placed the blame on a small group of soldiers.
England has said she was following orders when she appeared in the pictures, which also included one in which she pointed at a prisoner’s genitals, a cigarette dangling from her lips.
Special Agent Warren Worth, a military criminal investigator, said he found no evidence that orders came from higher in chain of command than Graner and Staff Sgt. Ivan Frederick, another of the seven soldiers charged.
Worth said more than 1,000 photographs had been found on CDs and computers and about 280 had evidence of prisoner abuse. He described the widely publicized "naked pyramid" of prisoners, photos of prisoners being forced to masturbate, of a prisoner who was bitten by a military dog and others of England and Graner engaged in "oral sodomy" and other sex acts.
Most of the abused prisoners had no military intelligence value, Worth said. Lawyers for some of the charged soldiers have indicated intelligence officers told them to "soften up" detainees for questioning, but the Pentagon has denied sanctioning rough treatment.
Prosecutors introduced other evidence including a sketch of Abu Ghraib, photographs and statements from some of those charged, including England, Spc. Sabrina Harman of Virginia, and Sgt. Javal Davis, of Maryland.
The hearing officer said among the witnesses approved to testify was discharged Pvt. Jeremy Sivits, the only soldier convicted so far. He pleaded guilty to mistreating prisoners, dereliction of duty and conspiracy to maltreat.