U.S. Officer Tells of Order to Lie in Abuse Probe

[TacticalPeek]

U.S. Officer Tells of Order to Lie in Abuse Probe
Thu Jan 6, 2005 05:12 PM ET

By Jon Herskovitz

FORT HOOD, Texas (Reuters) - A senior U.S. Army officer ordered soldiers to lie to investigators probing an incident in which two Iraqi civilians were pushed from a bridge and one may have drowned in the Tigris River, an army major testified on Thursday.

At the first of two military trials at Fort Hood this week over alleged abuse of Iraqis by U.S. occupation forces, Maj. Robert Gwinner said Lt. Col. Nate Sassaman had ordered soldiers to lie about the bridge incident to the Army's Criminal Investigation Command, or CID.

"They (senior officers) did not want CID to know that the Iraqis had gone into the water," Gwinner said.

He was testifying in the court-martial of Army Sgt. 1st Class Tracy Perkins, who faces more than 25 years in military prison on charges of involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault and obstruction of justice.


more
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=7259429

[molly]

1. The abuse scandals - yes, plural - are NOT going away

much as they try.

[UpInArms]

2. that's because it is not just a few "bad apples" - it is

systemic and the orders come from the top - all the way to the top - to the CiC and the SoD
:grr:

[AlbizuX]

3. i posted this on my blog

no longer bad apples...it's a bad orchard.

This is why we need to speak of the Iraq War as a war crime, not just a "mistake".

We commited war crimes in Abu Ghraib, and all across the nation, not to mention the Nuremberg SUPREME crime of aggression.

Let's start calling a spade a spade...and work toward rectifying those problems. While we continue to delude ourselves about what we did, the rest of the world considers our actions for what they are...and plans their resistance (often in the form of terrorism) accordingly.

That's why we are always shocked by anti-Americanism...and can't understand it...because we never hold a frank conversation about what this country does.

Tell Americans we committed a war crime...and they'll understand why we get 9/11s.

[Karenina]

6. Yes.

:kick:

[Supersedeas]

8. but it is not like the MSM is giving this issue much time or attention

[Massachusetts]

4. Hey gang

There shouldn't be any surprise here.:shrug:

[mhr]

5. Just Because There Are No Surprises Does Not Dismiss The Crimes

Remember, the Christian leadership is claiming they are totally righteous when they kill illegally!

Some Christians!

[Oilwellian]

7. Here's another interesting article

Published on Sunday, December 12, 2004 by The Sunday Herald (Scotland)
Victim of Latin American Torture Claims Abu Ghraib Abuse was Official US Policy
by Andrew McLeod

FOR many Latin American victims of torture, the infamous pictures of abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison brought back not only chilling recollections of their own experiences, but also confirmed what they have long maintained: that their torturers were following interrogation guidelines set by the US Army School of the Americas (SOA).

"I had flashbacks when I saw the guy with the hood ," says Carlos Mauricio, a Salvadorean who was tortured in 1983. Founder of Stop Impunity, a group that seeks to prosecute human rights violators, dismisses as a "whitewash" the Bush administration's view that Abu Ghraib abuse was the work of a few US army misfits.

"What happened at Abu Ghraib was torture by the book; they were implementing US policy," Mauricio, 51, told the Sunday Herald.

"The US military deny they teach torture and say it happens in Latin America because soldiers have always been brutal. But what happened at Abu Ghraib belies this."

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1212-02.htm

[NYC]

9. This story should be read by all.

[TacticalPeek]

10. Sunday kick.

:kick: