US soldier guilty of prison abuse

[Poodles]

Last Updated: Monday, 26 September 2005, 19:52 GMT 20:52 UK



US soldier guilty of prison abuse

Lynndie England, the woman at the centre of the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal, has been found guilty of abusing prisoners at the Iraqi jail.
England, 22, was found guilty on six of the seven charges, including maltreatment of prisoners. She faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.

She was the last in a group of nine army reservists charged with mistreating inmates at the prison.

She was retried after a judge rejected her original guilty plea in May.

England showed no visible reaction as she stood to attention in the military court in Texas to hear the verdict.

A military prosecutor had argued that England humiliated prisoners because she enjoyed it and had a sick sense of humour.

Her lawyers said she took part in the humiliation because she had a compliant personality and was dominated by her boyfriend at the Iraqi prison.

In photographs published around the world, England was shown holding a naked Iraqi prisoner by a leash, and pointing to a naked inmate's genitals.



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[Peregrina]

I heard people try to excuse their behavior by pointing out they were just following orders and if they had refused they would have been court-marshalled. They should have stood by their much-vaunted military honor and refused to participate.

I read a book once, about the Holocaust. The quote that always stuck with me was when they were interviewing civilians who had provided food and various services to the camps. They knew what was happening, knew what had been done to their Jewish neighbors. This one man just shrugged and said, 'we were doing what we were told. that's all.'
and at Nuremburg, that was....Himmler or was it Goering....sorry, my brain is tired tonight, I cannot recall which was in charge of the concentration camps. Anyway, ole'whassiname, that was his defense. they were just jews, he said, while they showed pictures of the camps. we were doing what we were told.