:: NEWS COCKTAIL aka BlahBlahBlog ::
"Everything is being compressed into tiny tablets. You take a little pill of news every day - 23 minutes - and that's supposed to be enough." -Walter Cronkite, RE TV news. The Web has changed that for many, however, and here is an extra dose for your daily news cocktail. This prescription tends to include surveillance and now war-related links, along with the occasional pop culture junk and whatever else seizes my attention as I scan online news sites.:: 5.21.2004 ::
:: "First soldier sentenced in Iraq abuse scandal" ::
Bedford County reservist pleads guilty, given a year in military prison
From The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
By Edmund Sanders and Richard Serrano, Los Angeles Times
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Choking back tears and expressing remorse, U.S. Army Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits pleaded guilty yesterday to abusing detainees at the Abu Ghraib detention center and was sentenced to a year in a military prison -- making him the first American soldier court-martialed in an evolving scandal that authorities say could reach beyond the seven soldiers implicated so far.
At a heavily guarded military hearing in Baghdad, the 24-year-old Army reservist from Hyndman, in Western Pennsylvania's Bedford County, who snapped one of the now-infamous photos of prisoner maltreatment apologized to the detainees, the Iraqi people, the Army and his family for his actions last November.
"I let everyone down," said Sivits, his voice cracking with emotion during the 3 1/2-hour hearing in downtown Baghdad's Green Zone, headquarters for the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority. "I should have protected those detainees that night. ... I'm sorry for what I've done."
As the first of the guards to be prosecuted, and as one who has already admitted guilt, Sivits is shaping up as the government's star witness -- a fellow reservist from the 372nd Military Police Company who was on the prison tier when detainees were abused and humiliated. His testimony would give critical context to the photographs that prosecutors likely would use to seek convictions of the others.
But Sivits also could end up helping the defense. He has told military authorities that intelligence officers often encouraged the guards to "soften up" the detainees, an assertion that lies at the heart of their defense. Future criminal charges could be filed against intelligence officers.
Sivits testified that he watched and took one photograph as other soldiers physically abused and sexually humiliated seven Iraqi detainees, who were punched, stripped and forced to masturbate and simulate oral sex. As they carried out the abuse, the soldiers photographed themselves laughing and smiling next to the detainees -- images that spurred outrage throughout the world and launched numerous investigations in Washington and Iraq.
Before sentencing, the U.S. Army judge, Col. James Pohl, asked Sivits: "Did you know this was wrong?"
"Yes, sir," Sivits replied.
"Did you have a duty to prevent this?" the judge asked.
"Yes, sir."
"Did you try to stop this?"
"No, sir."
RELATED
U.S. Opens Criminal Investigation Over Iraq Abuse
A Reuters report
WASHINGTON - The U.S. government has opened its first criminal investigation into a civilian contractor in Iraq over possible mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners, the Justice Department said on Friday.
"Yesterday, the Department of Justice received a referral from the Department of Defense regarding a civilian contractor in Iraq, and opened an investigation into the matter," said Justice Department spokesman Mark Corallo.
"We remain committed to taking all appropriate action within our jurisdiction regarding allegations of mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners."
posted by me
:: 10:46:00 PM [+] ::
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