Philadelphia Inquirer
October 16, 2007 At the court-martial, the defense said he sought to win Iraqi 'hearts and minds.'
By Katarina Kratovac, Associated Press
CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq - A prosecutor said yesterday that a former U.S. military police commander aided the enemy by letting top detainees make unmonitored cell-phone calls, but his attorney described the officer as only trying "to win the hearts and minds of Iraqis."
The sides faced off at the opening of the court-martial of Lt. Col. William H. Steele, an Army reservist who oversaw lockups that included the area where Saddam Hussein spent his final days.
Steele, 52, of Prince George, Va., is accused of four crimes that include allowing the prisoners to use a cell phone and giving special privileges to an Iraqi woman working as an interpreter.
Steele pleaded guilty this month to three other charges, including storing and improperly handling classified information. They carry a maximum sentence of six years in prison, forfeiture of pay, and dismissal from the Army, according to the U.S. military.
If convicted in the court-martial, Steele faces a life sentence for the most serious charge stemming from the cell-phone use.
The alleged incidents took place between October 2005 and February 2007. Steele was commander of the 451st Military Police Detachment at Camp Cropper prison, which held Hussein before he was hanged in December.
The prisoners Steele allegedly let make the cell-phone calls have not been identified. Much of the opening day of the trial was closed because classified information was before the court, officials said.
"This trial is not about aiding the enemy, but about a lieutenant colonel who wanted to ensure the humane treatment of civilians held at Camp Cropper," said Steele's defense attorney, Capt. Yolanda D. McCray. "He sought to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqis."
During pretrial testimony in June, witnesses said Steele approved buying Cuban cigars for Hussein, fraternized with a detainee's daughter, and used his service pistol to intimidate tower guards. He has been behind bars in Kuwait since March.
The prosecutor, Capt. Daniel J. Myers, asked the judge to find Steele guilty of all charges.
"Some of the most important and most dangerous detainees were in custody at Camp Cropper," Myers said. "It's a remarkably simple case.. . . The prosecution will show that the accused does not think the rules apply to him."
He said "incidents" resulted from those phone calls that put lives of U.S. servicemen in danger, but he did not elaborate.

Things taht make ya go hmmmmmm. Wonder if CID checked the Lt. Colonels financial report.

If they didn't, then they aren't the CID types I remember.

He's dirty or he's an idiot, either way he should be culled from the herd.

Sad! There's not much else to say until the details are known.

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq: Dismissing e-mails calling her "darling" and how the former military police commander hoped to see her in his dreams, an Iraqi interpreter testified Tuesday she and Lt. Col. William H. Steele were nothing more than colleagues and friends.
It was the second day of testimony in the court-martial of Steele, 52, a U.S. Army reservist who's accused of aiding the enemy, failing to obey an order and carrying on an inappropriate relationship with Bahar Ahmed Suseyi.
But in her testimony at the court-martial at a U.S. army camp just west of Baghdad, the interpreter, Suseyi, was not swayed — there was never anything more between the two than a hug, an hour-long walk together and a planned trip to Qatar that never happened, she said.
Other charges against Steele — who commanded the jail that housed Saddam Hussein in his final days — include aiding the enemy by allowing high-profile prisoners to use his own cell phone for unmonitored calls, failing to obey an order and having unauthorized possession of classified documents.
Steele is the first U.S. officer accused of aiding the enemy in the Iraq war. The only other U.S. officer known to have been accused of collaborating with the enemy since 2003 war was Capt. James J. Yee, a Muslim chaplain who was linked to a possible espionage ring at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, military prison. He was eventually cleared and given an honorable discharge.
At the start of the court-martial on Monday, the defense said Steele was only trying to be humane and treat the prisoners — many of whom were top members of the former regime — with dignity and respect.
Steele, 52, is a U.S. Army reservist from Prince George, Virginia.
The alleged incidents took place between October 2005 to February 2007, when Steele commanded the 451st Military Police Detachment at Camp Cropper prison that held Saddam, and in his later post as a senior patrol officer at nearby Camp Victory with the 89th Military Police Brigade.
Steele has pleaded not guilty to all four charges. If convicted, he faces a life sentence for the top charge — aiding the enemy by allowing unmonitored use of a cell phone.
Prosecutor Capt. Daniel J. Myers on Tuesday read excerpts from downloaded e-mails seized during a February search of Steele's living quarters in Iraq.
"My darling, sweet Bahar ... I just wanted to send you a message to tell you I am thinking of you and I hope to see you in my dreams tonight," Myers read from one e-mail. And from another: "There is a thing or two I want to do with you and to you tonight ... I think you know what I mean."
The excerpts were read during the testimony of Lt. Col. John D. Gardner, NATO deputy commander at Heidelberg, Germany, who oversees detention operations of all detainees in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Gardner held weekly discussions with Steele on the treatment of high-ranking detainees. He said he had never "approved unmonitored cell phone calls" and that secret documents uncovered in Steele's trailer were potentially very harmful.
If the adversary had "got their hands on them, then it would have put a big number of people at risk," Gardner said.
Asked for his opinion on the e-mails Steele sent Suseyi, both of whom were married at the time, Gardner said that "most people would consider that inappropriate behavior."
Suseyi, appearing to be in her late 20s, was originally from Suleimanyiah, in Iraq's northern Kurdish region. Now a U.S. citizen of Seattle, Washington, she works as a cultural adviser to a reconstruction team in the western Anbar province.
Visibly nervous, Suseyi testified she worked with Steele between January and May 2006. She said their relationship was professional, and the two later became friends.
Asked if Steele ever tried to kiss her, Suseyi answered: "I was very upset one evening, with my room mate, he found me in a very emotional state, and he hugged me. But he did not kiss me, no."
Steele's wife, Judith, who was in the courtroom during Suseyi's testimony, demurely smiled.
Initially, Steele faced a possible death sentence on the charge of aiding the enemy, which under U.S. military law, is a capital offense. But a former acting commanding general of U.S. forces in Iraq, Maj. Gen. James Simmons, decided against the possible death sentence.
Steele has already pleaded guilty at a pretrial hearing Oct. 7 to three other charges — including storing and improperly handling classified information and possession of pornographic material — which carry a maximum sentence of six years in prison, forfeiture of pay and dismissal from the Army.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/...dier-Trial.php
Yep, he's an idiot.