Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Long Island Newsday
January 12, 2008
Pg. 17
By Associated Press
BALTIMORE - The revelation that the Army threw out the conviction of the only officer court-martialed in the Abu Ghraib scandal renewed outrage from human rights advocates who complained that not enough military and civilian leaders were held accountable for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners.
Those critics found an unlikely ally in the officer himself, Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan, whose conviction on a minor charge of disobeying an order was dismissed this week, leaving him with only an administrative reprimand.
Jordan, 51, a reservist from Fredericksburg, Va., doesn't dispute the abuse but maintains he was never aware of it. He said he believes many officers and enlisted soldiers did not face adequate scrutiny in the investigation that led to convictions of 11 soldiers, none ranked above staff sergeant.
If rough interrogation techniques were taught to the soldiers who abused prisoners at Abu Ghraib, Jordan said, "the question at that point is, who's responsible for that? Is it Donald Rumsfeld? [Lt.] Gen. [Ricardo] Sanchez? ... I don't know."
Barring any startling new information, the decision by Maj. Gen. Richard Rowe, commander of the Military District of Washington, to throw out Jordan's conviction brings an end to the four-year Abu Ghraib investigation. And it means no officers or civilian leaders will be held criminally responsible for the prisoner abuse that embarrassed the U.S. military and inflamed the Muslim world.
Jordan had been accused of not supervising the soldiers convicted in the abuse, which included photographing Iraqi prisoners in painful and sexually humiliating positions. His conviction stemmed from disobeying an order not to talk about the probe. He acknowledged e-mailing a number of soldiers about the probe, though he claims the order was not made clear to him until after the e-mailing.
Human rights advocates said the decision sent a troubling message. "Although the abuse was systemic and widespread, the accountability for it has been anything but," said Hira Shamsi, an attorney with the National Security Project of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Mila Rosenthal, deputy executive director for research and policy for Amnesty International USA, said: "I think we're emboldening dictators and despots around the world. We're saying that it's OK to allow these kinds of abuses to flourish."
January 12, 2008
Pg. 17
By Associated Press
BALTIMORE - The revelation that the Army threw out the conviction of the only officer court-martialed in the Abu Ghraib scandal renewed outrage from human rights advocates who complained that not enough military and civilian leaders were held accountable for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners.
Those critics found an unlikely ally in the officer himself, Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan, whose conviction on a minor charge of disobeying an order was dismissed this week, leaving him with only an administrative reprimand.
Jordan, 51, a reservist from Fredericksburg, Va., doesn't dispute the abuse but maintains he was never aware of it. He said he believes many officers and enlisted soldiers did not face adequate scrutiny in the investigation that led to convictions of 11 soldiers, none ranked above staff sergeant.
If rough interrogation techniques were taught to the soldiers who abused prisoners at Abu Ghraib, Jordan said, "the question at that point is, who's responsible for that? Is it Donald Rumsfeld? [Lt.] Gen. [Ricardo] Sanchez? ... I don't know."
Barring any startling new information, the decision by Maj. Gen. Richard Rowe, commander of the Military District of Washington, to throw out Jordan's conviction brings an end to the four-year Abu Ghraib investigation. And it means no officers or civilian leaders will be held criminally responsible for the prisoner abuse that embarrassed the U.S. military and inflamed the Muslim world.
Jordan had been accused of not supervising the soldiers convicted in the abuse, which included photographing Iraqi prisoners in painful and sexually humiliating positions. His conviction stemmed from disobeying an order not to talk about the probe. He acknowledged e-mailing a number of soldiers about the probe, though he claims the order was not made clear to him until after the e-mailing.
Human rights advocates said the decision sent a troubling message. "Although the abuse was systemic and widespread, the accountability for it has been anything but," said Hira Shamsi, an attorney with the National Security Project of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Mila Rosenthal, deputy executive director for research and policy for Amnesty International USA, said: "I think we're emboldening dictators and despots around the world. We're saying that it's OK to allow these kinds of abuses to flourish."