A military court Tuesday acquitted an Army officer of failing to control U.S. soldiers who abused detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, but it found him guilty of disobeying an order not to discuss the abuse investigation.Hum....
Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan was the only officer and the last of 12 defendants to go to trial in the 2003 Abu Ghraib scandal that embarrassed the Pentagon and shocked the Muslim world.
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The defense countered that Jordan was outside the command chain and therefore not responsible for the military intelligence soldiers who interrogated detainees and the military police who guarded them.
"There is no evidence of a failure to train and supervise, no evidence of failure to ensure compliance," Maj. Kris Poppe said in his closing for the defense.
Eleven enlisted soldiers have been convicted of crimes in connection the Abu Ghraib scandal. The longest sentence, 10 years, was given to former Cpl. Charles Graner Jr., of Uniontown, Pa., in January 2005. Lynndie England, who was an MP reservist from Fort Ashby, W. Va., and the most recognizable face from the Abu Ghraib photos, was sentenced to three years.
[ cf Split Verdict for Officer at Abu Ghraib ]
Which chain of command were the enlisted personnel in???
Or is that the real problem here, there was, and is, no one in charge. No One who is accountable. No One who is responsible.... We're all just on the boat going up river.....
Col Kurtz, which Col Kurtz...
Or worse yet, are we just the Photojournalists, just snapping the Holiday Snaps....
Thank God Al Qaeda doesn't Surf....