January 14, 2005


Graner Guilty...damn, I'm shocked

Convicted sadist SPC Charles Graner, who almost singlehandedly, was stupid enough to carry out the orders from Abu Gonzales and get photographed doing it is possibly facing 15 years in prison. The jury came back in about five hours and offloaded a carload of military justice whoopass on Graner.

An Army Reservist was convicted by a military jury here today for his role as the ringleader in the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

Specialist Charles A. Graner Jr. faces up to 15 years in prison as a result of his conviction in the scandal that erupted last year after Army investigators were given pictures of naked Iraqi prisoners in sexually humiliating positions.
...
Earlier today in the closing arguments, the prosecutor in the case told jurors that Specialist Graner abused the prisoners only to hurt or degrade them, and not for interrogation purposes or because they posed any threat.

Capt. Chris Graveline said the detainees had been "handcuffed and defenseless," in some cases wounded.

"There is no justification; it's for sport, it's for laughs," he said.

"Fortunately," he said, "the accused does not have the final word on the abuses at Abu Ghraib." That, he said, would come from the jury's verdict.

"It will speak volumes to the accused, it will speak volumes to our Army, it will speak volumes to our country, it will speak volumes to the world," Capt. Graveline concluded. "The true word to the abuses at Abu Ghraib is 'guilty.' "

I agree with Capt. Graveline 100%. But for these trial to truly be seen as justice for all, some of the civilians in charge of this fiasco need to appear in the prisoners dock. Abu Gonzales would be a good start, followed by John Yoo, Rumsfeld and the Hugger-in-Chief.

If Graner were sharing a cell with Gonzales, think they could talk about interrogation techniques to pass the time? And would Gonzales have to give back all his awards from his exemplary career in public services? It would mean that Mrs. Abu G would not have to get the maid to polish that thingy from the Ford Dealers anymore....

You know, Gomer Graner and soon-to-be-tried Lyndee Englund, his Paramour o' Pain are expecting a child. I wonder what happens there...poor kid.

posted by Jo Fish on 01.14.05 at 07:35 PM





Comments:

Burn the boots, and anyone higher than 04 gets a pass. The only thing surprising about this is that anyone would be surprised about it. This is the way the military has always worked.

And I hate to laugh about any aspect of this situation, but "almost singlehandedly" was very wry.

By the by, didn't I read somewhere about a couple of token junior officers in the docket? Something?

posted by: Grotesqueticle on 01.15.05 at 08:22 AM [permalink]



the child of those two sub-human creatures is a gift from god. i'll bet they name it george or condaleeza.

posted by: the drunken cheerleader on 01.15.05 at 10:54 AM [permalink]



He just got 10 years. What do you think Rummy would get?

posted by: F-Stop on 01.15.05 at 05:40 PM [permalink]



Take a breath, everyone. I'm sure the Army will deal appropriately with anyone guilty of violations, including senior officers. So far, a brigadier general has lost her job, and there is more coming. Let's wait and see how it plays out.

As far as civilians and politicians are concerned, they're outside the Army's purview. And Gonzales...exactly what law are we saying he violated? Or are we now advocating locking people up because we don't like their politics?

posted by: Tom Carter on 01.15.05 at 07:47 PM [permalink]



Actually Tom, his published policies are acknowledged by a diversity of educated opinions to endanger our service personel. A reasonable line of logic could lead directly from the prison abuses/prisoner treatment to the spate of kidnappings, beheadings and general abuse of coalition (wink wink) forces including civillians from a variety of nations including Iraq. It may well be that such arguments would stand a better chance in a civil case and, I certainly believe that he should be sued for what he has done but, I would be extremly hesitant to label legal actions against him as "politics". No, he was not physically involved in the abuse. Yes, his policies likely lead to said abuse. That isn't politics. That looks like willful and/or reckless endangerment to me.

I suspect that of the two of us, he would rather have you on his jury.

posted by: CAFKIA on 01.15.05 at 09:10 PM [permalink]



Good God! A senior officer lost a job! Haven't they all been punished enough for beating people to death, piling them naked in heaps, forcing them to sexually abuse eachother, raping them, smearing them with shit, siccing dogs on them?

What next?! God forbid, but will some officer be fined $20, or WORSE?

What a world - what a world!

posted by: on 01.16.05 at 01:25 PM [permalink]



I just started Sy Hersh's Chain of Command, and it's the kind of book you pray is wrong. Not because you want the author to be discredited, but because you want the stuff he writes about to be wrong, that a bunch of soft-handed Macchievelli wannabes could take the country in the direction it's going.

And yeah, I don't think the court-martials are going to go any higher than Graner. Otherwise, questions might have to be answered.

posted by: suburban refugee on 01.16.05 at 05:35 PM [permalink]



The judge sentencing consent guidelines the SCOTUS rule on is their way out for the higher-ups...

As for Lynndie's baby- what if it looks like Ahmed Chialabi and Graner gets locked into child support? Will she name him Alberto or Rush? If is it's a girl she can have Mann Coultier be her nanny.

See fraternity pranks can get outta hand. Girls gone wild, baghdad style.
There is no reason to follow bad orders.End of the line so he's still guilty.
Being ordered to do so is another issue. You go to torture with the orders you have...

posted by: Mr. Murder on 01.16.05 at 11:24 PM [permalink]



typos :( sorry

posted by: Mr. Murder on 01.16.05 at 11:25 PM [permalink]



What? That's what MPs do to each other all the time. You have to remember that. No doubt those Abu Ghraib MPs never did anything to those POWs that they didn't do to each other at their parties stateside.

Never let anyone know that you know any MPs, people'll automatically think you're involved in S&M and all kinds of other weirdness. I think it must be part of MP training.

Hey, if MPs do that kind of thing to each other for fun, then they really shouldn't have been doing it to POWs! It's like, they were partying with them, instead of breaking their spirit! Whoa! Trouble!

I tell ya, American military. They get in trouble, don't they?

Appellate procedure's at risk, though...

posted by: Whoa! on 01.20.05 at 02:10 AM [permalink]






Post a Comment:

Name:


Email Address:


URL:


Comments:


Remember your info?



















usdemvet -at- hotmail.com
or
usndemvet -at- usdemvet.com (coming soon)






All the original material © 2002-2003 Jo Fish
steal what you want, all I ask is an attribution of some sort
Thanks