Report: Pittston woman ordered detainee beaten

[PaDUer]

A Pittston woman directed the beating of an Iraqi detainee in what became one of the first instances of prisoner abuse involving the 320th Military Police Battalion, according to a published report. Citing court-martial testimony, The New York Times reported in Sunday's edition that Master Sgt. Lisa Girman urged one soldier to hold a detainee down during a riot and then had two other soldiers beat the inmate.
-snip-
Ms. Girman, who was found guilty of mistreating Iraqi prisoners, said she believed the soldiers, not the officers, were being made scapegoats.

She said the chain of command has been pointing fingers "down, down, down," which did nothing to stop the mistreatment of prisoners. "The writing was on the walls, but everybody refused to read," she said.

On ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," investigative journalist Seymour M. Hersh said he was recently given evidence of this alleged abuse in the form of 20 new digital photographs taken by a member of the 320th on Dec. 12, 2003.

-snip-
Mr. McKenzie, Ms. Girman and Mr. Canjar accepted less-than-honorable discharges in plea bargains to avoid courts-martial and possible prison time.
-snip-
Entire article-
http://www.scrantontimes.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=11618607&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=415898&rfi=6

[molly]

1. If you watched C-Span this morning

you observed the ignorance of supporters of these soldiers. One obviously brainwashed man called in and said that what Clinton did with a cigar is worst than what these soldiers did. Others actually said it was the Democrats' fault. Then, of course, we have the ones blaming the fact that we are in Iraq on Israel. C-Span is better than coffee in the morning.

[PaDUer]

2. They're so whacked..

sounds like that retired military nurse that I met last week when the hearings were going on that I blasted at the mammogram facility!

[PaDUer]

3. They're so whacked..

sounds like that retired military nurse that I met last week when the hearings were going on that I got into it with at the mammogram facility!

[ex_jew]

7. Don't know about cigars and Clinton but without Israel there would

be no attack on Iraq. Wolfowitz, Feith, Libby, and the rest of the neocon echo chamber would have no reason for any interest in Iraq. Ergo no war. Or am I brainwashed too ?

[molly]

8. Probably -

:shrug:

[ex_jew]

9. OK - you've convinced me. PNAC was just a dream

The fact that 25 of the top 50 neo-cons who pushed like crazy for the war are Jewish is likewise "all in my mind". Or I'm just jumping to conclusions. Yeah right.

[molly]

10. Jumping to conclusions ?

what does Israel have to do with the PNAC? Nowhere do I see Israel mentioned. The world is full of Jews - does that make you uncomfortable? BTW - why are you "ex_jew"? Where you ever?

[ex_jew]

13. I'm an "ex-Jew" because

I was raised as one but no longer participate in any of the rituals. The spectacle of Jewish people carrying out endless atrocities in the Middle East was just a little too much for me to stomach.

As for Israel's connection to PNAC, I am honestly amazed that you haven't noticed a connection. Nothing comes to mind while you ponder this ? A simple google of Israel + PNAC turns up 15000 hits. Do you want me to select a reading list ? Do the words "A clean break" mean anything to you ? Again - try googling. Maybe learn about Douglas Feith, Richard Perle, or of course - Paul Wolfowitz.

I'm sorry, but I suspect that you and I are so many, many political universes apart that I really don't see much point in communicating with you. People who willfully close their eyes to the actual situation in the world today are no fun to talk with ! Bye.

[scarletwoman]

14. Here, "Securing the Realm"

A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm

Following is a report prepared by The Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies’ "Study Group on a New Israeli Strategy Toward 2000." The main substantive ideas in this paper emerge from a discussion in which prominent opinion makers, including Richard Perle, James Colbert, Charles Fairbanks, Jr., Douglas Feith, Robert Loewenberg, David Wurmser, and Meyrav Wurmser participated. The report, entitled "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm," is the framework for a series of follow-up reports on strategy.

[Eric J in MN]

12. oil and 8 billion for Halliburton in contracts (nt)

nt

[Randers]

11. Molly Ivins had an interesting article about Chalabi & the PNAC & Israel

"In our continuing quest to understand how we got where we are, let us turn our attention to Ahmed Chalabi. He's a most plausible con man and comes with excellent credentials. Born to a prominent Iraqi family in 1944, exiled in 1958 with buckets of family money, went to MIT at age 16, got his Ph.D. in math from the University of Chicago, where he first encountered one of the founders of the neo-conservative movement, Albert Wohlstetter. According to a profile in Salon.com, he there met future neo-con leaders Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz.

<snip>

The neo-cons fell for Chalabi for one reason: He said he would help Israel. Once Saddam was overthrown, he said he would reinstate the Iraq-Israel pipeline, recognize Israel, trade with Israel.

Chalabi, with our backing, became a member of the current Iraqi Governing Council. He has also made his nephews into power players in postwar Iraq. Gone are the promises about Israel. Whether justified or not, most Iraqis believe Chalabi corrupt beyond counting. Even some of the neo-cons who have so long discounted the CIA and State Department reports about Chalabi's essential dishonesty, are starting to doubt him. Could this entire disaster in Iraq be as simple as, "We wuz conned"? "

http://www.creators.com/opinion_show.cfm?columnsName=miv

[SWPAdem]

4. Worse yet....

http://www.nbc10.com/news/2362629/detail.html

McKenzie is a state prison guard and decorated soldier. Girman is a Pennsylvania state trooper who helped run a summer camp for teenagers at the troopers' training academy. Graff said some officers at Camp Bucca resented Girman's rapport with her fellow troops


Wonder what barracks she works out of? Might want to be super-duper careful to obey the speed limit in her patrol area

[PaDUer]

5. As the article says...

she's from Pittston, PA..Has to be one of the local barracks..She's one of the people who appeared on the local and national news stations when they first came home after this story opened...Our local newspaper has tons of info on this story, and also, two reporters from the paper were to Iraq with the troops. Pix and reportscan be found here--
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10975117&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=415898&rfi=6

There's a lot of info in this paper and can be accessed by utilizing the paper search feature.

[PaDUer]

6. Broken promises of going home..

At Abu Ghraib, U.S. Army discipline disintegrated among bitter Pennsylvania reservists

By JIM KRANE, Associated Press Writer , The Associated Press 05/08/2004

A U.S. Army investigation into abuses at Abu Ghraib prison depicts the military police unit from Pennsylvania that was running the penitentiary as a motley lot, overwhelmed by one of the worst assignments in Iraq and bitter about the military's broken promises of going home.

http://www.scrantontimes.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=11615628&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=415898&rfi=8

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1569262