posted on January 16, 2005 05:52:17 AM new
I think the military found its scapegoat for this case. Personally, I tend to believe there were more people involved in this scandle, but just like with the Iran Contra Scandle, the government found their fall guy(s).
FORT HOOD, Texas - Army Spc. Charles Graner Jr., who grinned in photos of Iraqi prisoners being sexually humiliated but told jurors, “I didn’t enjoy what I did there,” was sentenced Saturday to 10 years behind bars in the first court-martial stemming from the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.
Graner, labeled the leader of a band of rogue guards at the Baghdad prison in late 2003, could have received 15 years.
Asked if he felt remorse after the sentence was handed down, Graner said, “There’s a war on. Bad things happen.”
Graner will be dishonorably discharged when his sentence is completed. He also was demoted to private and ordered to forfeit all pay and benefits.
A day after convicting him, the jury of four Army officers and six senior enlisted men deliberated about two hours to determine Graner’s sentence. He could have received 15 years.
'He's scared to death'
Graner, who had been free prior to trial, was taken into custody after the sentence was read. He gave his mother, Irma, a big hug and his father, Charles Sr., a firm handshake before the jury foreman read the sentence.
“He’s scared to death,” Irma Graner said later.
Graner was accused of stacking naked prisoners in a human pyramid and later ordering them to masturbate while other soldiers took photographs. He also allegedly punched one man in the head hard enough to knock him out, and struck an injured prisoner with a collapsible metal stick.
Defense lawyer Guy Womack said his client and the six other Abu Ghraib guards charged with abuses were being scapegoated, but added that he thought the jury did its job well.
“I firmly believe there should have been reasonable doubt, but we respect their decision,” he said outside the courthouse. He added that he had feared Graner could have received a harsher sentence than the 10-year term.
Prosecutors Maj. Michael Holley and Capt. Chris Graveline would not speak to reporters, but they said in a joint statement, “We think it is important that the world was able to observe this court-martial.”
Under military court rules, Graner’s case will be automatically appealed to the Army Court of Criminal Appeals. He also could request clemency from his commanding general.
Defense: Graner was following orders
Graner did not testify during his trial, but during the sentencing phase Saturday he took the witness stand to repeat the defense claim that the jury clearly rejected: that he had been ordered by intelligence agents at Abu Ghraib to abuse the prisoners to make them easier to interrogate.
Womack asked him why he was smiling in the infamous photos, some of which were shown while Graner spoke.
“I’m smiling now, and that’s a nervous smile,” Graner said.
Graner described himself as a by-the-book prison guard corrupted by superiors who ordered him to physically mistreat and sexually humiliate detainees.
He said he initially resisted pressure to mistreat prisoners, but his Army superiors made it clear to him that he was expected to obey the commands of the military and civilian intelligence agents who ran his part of Abu Ghraib.
Graner said a lieutenant in his unit told him: “If (military intelligence) asks you to do this, it needs to be done. They’re in charge, follow their orders.”
He said he now knows that those orders were unlawful, but “at the time my understanding is that they were (lawful), or I wouldn’t have done them,” he said.
Graner, a 36-year-old reservist from Uniontown, Pa., spoke for nearly three hours as an “unsworn statement,” meaning he was not subject to cross-examination by prosecutors. He did not testify during his trial.
He concluded by saying: “I didn’t enjoy what I did there. ... A lot of it was wrong, a lot of it was criminal.”
Holley, the co-prosecutor, said in his final statement that Graner was a disgrace to the military and urged the 10 jurors to send him to prison for the maximum sentence.
“The time for Specialist Graner to be responsible for his actions is finally here,” Holley said.
Graner faced 10 counts under five separate charges: Assault, conspiracy, maltreatment of detainees, committing indecent acts and dereliction of duty. He was found guilty on all counts, except that one assault count was downgraded to battery.
Four soldiers have pleaded guilty in the case. Two other guards from the 372nd Military Police Company, a reserve unit from Cresaptown, Md., are awaiting trial, along with Pfc. Lynndie England, a clerk at Abu Ghraib who last fall gave birth to a baby believed to be fathered by Graner.
Prosecutor: 'It was for sport, for laughs'
Throughout Graner’s 4½-day trial, prosecutors depicted him as a sadist who took great pleasure in seeing detainees suffer.
“It was for sport, for laughs,” prosecutor Graveline told jurors in his closing argument Friday. “What we have here is plain abuse. There is no justification.”
Iraqi detainee Hussein Mutar, in videotaped testimony shown as the sentencing phase began Friday evening, said he had supported the U.S.-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein until he was abused.
“The Americans came to free the Iraqi people from Saddam,” Mutar said. “I didn’t expect this to happen. This instance changed the entire picture of the American people (for me).”
Irma Graner, testifying in the sentencing phase, described her son as a kind and gentle man who faithfully served his country.
“He is not the monster he’s made out to be,” she said quietly. “In my eyes he’ll always be a hero.”
The shocking photos of reservists abusing and sexually humiliating prisoners were first broadcast on CBS’s “60 Minutes II” in April.
A month later, President Bush urged Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to make sure that any guilty U.S. soldiers be punished for “shameful and appalling acts.”
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
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"Give it up for George W. Bush, the best friend international jihad ever had."
[ edited by logansdad on Jan 16, 2005 11:21 AM ]
We agree, again. Don't you remember your mother saying, "If so and so jumped off a bridge. . ."? At some point, we have to be responsible for our own actions.
“In my eyes he’ll always be a hero.” Personally, those kinds of heros I can do without.
EVERYONE involved in these crimes should be punished from the top on down.
Cheryl
"No drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power." ~ P.J. O'Rourke
posted on January 16, 2005 09:23:21 AM new
My favorite statement from that trial came from an interview with his lawyer after court one day where he tried to trivialize the pic of the stacked naked prisoners by comparing it to a pyramid of cheerleaders stating that this type of thing was done everyday on football fields across america and no one was hurt or humiliated.
After hearing that one I thought the lawyer should habve been court martialed for undue acts of complete stupidity.
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on January 16, 2005 12:05:08 PM new
He can be dishonorably discharged prior to release (unless that's changed in the past 10 years. And since he's sentenced to 10, he'll probably serve 4 1/2, with good behaviour.
I especially like the guy who said Graner should get the death penalty. What do they want to do, cut off his head? Oh. Yeah, they probably DO want that.
Many Iraqis Say Graner Abuse Sentence Too Lenient
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By Mussab al-Khairalla
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Many Iraqis reacted angrily on Sunday to news that U.S. soldier Charles Graner had been sentenced to 10 years in jail for his role in prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib jail, saying he should have faced harsher punishment.
But struggling to cope with daily violence, crime, and fuel and food shortages, and fearing more bloodshed ahead of Jan. 30 elections, most said they had paid little attention to Graner's court martial.
Some said members of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s regime responsible for torture and killing at the notorious prison west of Baghdad before the U.S.-led invasion should also be brought to justice.
"It's too little. This isn't justice," trader Ali Ahmed, 23, said of Graner's sentence.
"Even capital punishment isn't enough. But since it's forbidden to torture him the way he tortured the prisoners, I would have settled for the death penalty."
A military jury in Fort Hood, Texas, sentenced Graner on Saturday to 10 years' imprisonment for his leading role in the torture of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib, five years less than the maximum sentence possible.
The sentencing came a day after a jury convicted Graner on 10 counts related to the abuses, many of which were documented in photographs that included naked prisoners stacked into a pyramid and being forced to masturbate.
But Iraqi newspapers had only limited coverage of the court martial and many Iraqis said they had not been following it.
OUTRAGE OVER ABUSE
"As an ex-soldier, I admit that no army is perfect," said 38-year-old meteorologist Ali Mahawi.
"It isn't just the American army that has these things. We had abuse that happened in our army," he said. But he added that he did not think the sentence was sufficient:
"I think 10 years isn't much and a stronger sentence would have produced a more effective deterrent."
Even before the scandal of U.S. abuse at Abu Ghraib erupted, the prison had a grim reputation because many of Saddam's enemies were jailed, tortured and killed there.
Some Iraqis said that should not be forgotten.
"The abuse in Abu Ghraib prison was far worse under Saddam. I don't blame a foreign army ending up abusing Iraqis because they don't care about us, but it hurts me to know that Iraqis were abusing Iraqis with the most horrific torture and it's those I want to see brought to justice," said Salih al-Jubouri, a 33-year-old unemployed man.
He said two of his brothers were tortured during Saddam's rule.
The U.S. prison abuse scandal helped turn many Iraqis who initially welcomed the overthrow of Saddam against the foreign troops who removed him from power.
Some Iraqis said the best punishment was for Graner to suffer the same treatment he subjected others to.
"The torture in Saddam's time was worse than this, but this was also quite bad," said Ahmed Ali, 20, a van driver from Baghdad's Shi'ite Sadr City district.
"What use is 10 years when he humiliated other humans? They should use on him the same torture methods he used on others."
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posted on January 16, 2005 01:09:01 PM newSome Iraqis said the best punishment was for Graner to suffer the same treatment he subjected others to.
I would agree 110%. I wonder how Graner would like it if he was made to walk around naked tied to a leash or stacked in a pryamid with the other prisoners.
In my opinion he should serve the 10 years in an Iraqi prison. Let him and the rest of the soldiers who did this get a taste of what they dished out.
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
---------------------------------- "Give it up for George W. Bush, the best friend international jihad ever had."
posted on January 16, 2005 03:28:12 PM new
I base my estimate of actual time served on what I have witnessed....If an active duty soldier, upper enlisted with over 20 years service and a spotless record, can receive a sentence of 13 years for child molestation and serve less than 4, I'm sure this guy will serve 4 1/2 with good behaviour.
