{"article":{"id":125879,"heading":"England Pleads Guilty to Some Abu Ghraib Charges","author":"Todd Davis","created":"2005-05-03 16:10:26","modified":"2013-11-11 00:33:07","last_modified":"Mon, 11 Nov 2013 07:33:07","article":"

Lynndie England, the Army soldier who was photographed sexually abusing

several detainees at Abu Ghraib, has decided to accept a plea bargain. England

who is now 22, could be sentenced for up to 11 years for her crimes at

Abu Ghraib.

England’s attorney Rick Hernandez, said that, \"This is in her best interests.\" One of the counts in regard to indecent acts will be dropped according Hernandez, and another count of failure to obey an order will also be dropped.

Specialist Charles Graener Jr, the ringleader of the Abu Ghraib torture scandal, will

be called as defense witness at England’s trial. Graener, England’s former boyfriend,

and father of her son, was already convicted in January of several abuse charges, and

was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

England became known world wide for the infamous photos of her posing with the

stacked pyramid of prisoners. There was also another photo where England has a

detainee on a leash, and is pointing at his crotch, while smoking a cigarette.

The convictions of England, and Graener follow a pattern in regard to Abu Ghraib

where soldiers who were fairly low in the chain of command are being blamed

for the abuses that were created by those in command. Attorney General Gonzales,

the architect of the torture memos that led to Abu Ghraib, was recently confirmed

as US Attorney General.

Lt General Ricardo Sanchez was recently cleared by the Army in regard to his role

in the Abu Ghraib scandal, despite the fact that he was in charge of US forces in Iraq

at the time the torture scandal occurred. Lt. General Stanley Green also cleared

two other General’s on Sanchez’s staff, and a colonel on the staff.

A defense report that was done by Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger found

that Sanchez could have taken steps to prevent some of the abuses in 2003, when

he found out about the torture chambers at Abu Ghraib. Sanchez failed to stop

the Graener torture ring, and failed to adequately respond to the torture allegations

after he learned about the detainee sexual abuse, and torture that became a common

practice at Abu Ghraib.

The Army has singled out Brig. General Janis Karpinski who was in charge of the Iraq

prison system in 2003, and 2004 for a reprimand for dereliction of conduct. According

to Karpinski’s Attorney Neal Puckett, \"I don't think it's fair, and it continues to make her the

scapegoat for this entire situation, which has been her feeling all along.\"









<\/p>\n","contact":"","link":"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/worldlatest\/story\/0,1280,-4977076,00.html","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","summary":"A short article about Lynndie England's\r\nguilty plea in regard to charges related to\r\nthe Abu Ghraib scandal.","numcomment":1,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/2005\/05\/lynndie_england_with_detainee_on_a_leash.jpg","filesize":"22.0 kibibytes","article_url":"\/news\/2005\/05\/125879.php","image":{"original":"\/uploads\/2005\/05\/lynndie_england_with_detainee_on_a_leash.jpg","small":"\/uploads\/2005\/05\/lynndie_england_with_detainee_on_a_leash.jpgthumb.jpg"}},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":125885,"heading":"Additional England Photo","article":"","author":"Todd Davis","parent_id":125879,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","created":"2005-05-03 16:25:13","modified":"2005-08-15 03:10:30","fileurl":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2005\/05\/england_abu_ghraib_2.jpg","image":{"original":"\/usr\/local\/www-domains\/la.indymedia.org\/public\/uploads\/2005\/05\/england_abu_ghraib_2.jpg"}}]}