NEWS
The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 28, 2005 - 5
Pfc England gets 3 years
in prisoner abuse case
Soldier blames her
misconduct on boyfriend
she loved and trusted
FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) -
Army Pfc. Lynndie England apolo-
gized yesterday for posing for the
notorious detainee abuse photos at
Abu Ghraib prison, saying she did it
at the behest of the soldier boyfriend
she loved and trusted.
England, convicted Monday of
prisoner mistreatment, directed
blame for her conduct toward Pvt.
Charles Graner during her unsworn
statement to jurors who will deter-
mine her punishment.
"I was used by Pvt. Graner," Eng-
land said. "I didn't realize it at the
time."
England, the most recognizable of
the nine enlisted soldiers charged in
the scandal after photos of the abuse
became public, was convicted on six
of the seven counts against her.
England testified yesterday dur-
ing the sentencing phase of her trial.
The 22-year-old reservist from rural
West Virginia faces a maximum nine
years in prison.
The defense has contended that
England took part in the detainee
maltreatment at the Iraq prison to
please Graner, whom prosecutors
have labeled the ringleader of the
abuse by a group of U.S. troops.
Earlier yesterday, defense witness
Stjepan Mestrovic, a sociology pro-
fessor at Texas A&M University who
has interviewed England, said offi-
cers in charge failed to control the
guards, creating stressful conditions
that disoriented her and led her to
take part in the mistreatment.
"She was caught up in this chaotic
situation like everyone else," said
Mestrovic, who also testified that
officers at Abu Ghraib "knew or
should have known what was going
on.
That testimony was later support-
ed by Graner, who's now serving a
10-year sentence.
He said he once severely beat a
detainee while military intelligence
personnel watched.
England was photographed at Abu
Ghraib holding a naked prisoner on
a leash. In other images, she posed
with a pyramid of naked detainees
and pointed at the genitals of a pris-
oner while a cigarette hung from the
corner of her mouth.
Her court-martial was the last of
the nine. Two Abu Ghraib guards
were earlier convicted, and six other
soldiers struck plea bargains. No
officers have gone to trial, though
several have received administrative
punishment.
Graner testified that he, England
and others who worked the overnight
shift in a high-security section of
Abu Ghraib had scant supervision.
"It seems like the junior soldiers
were on their own," Graner said.
"We had little leadership."
Graner said he told officers about
detainee maltreatment, which he
claimed was done on orders from
military intelligence personnel. And
at times, he said, the intelligence
personnel were actually present for
the abuse.
"I nearly beat an MI detainee to
death with MI there," he said before
Col. James Pohl, the judge, inter-
rupted his testimony.
Also yesterday, a New York psy-
chologist said England came from
an emotionally abusive family, was
prone to depression and suffered
from post-traumatic stress disorder
even before she was sent to Iraq.
Xavier Amador said England also
had a deviant sexual relationship
with Graner that affected her ability
to know her actions were wrong.
"It changes your view of what's
OK and what's not OK," he said.
"You don't recognize indecent acts
as readily as you would have."
During her trial England was
depicted as having an overly com-
pliant personality who wanted to
please Graner, who she says fathered
her baby.
AP PHOTO
U.S. Army Pfc. Lynndle R. England, right, walks out of the courthouse with a member of her defense, Capt. Jona-
than Crisp, left, Monday, in Fort Hood, Texas.
Rivals of Karzai likely to gain parliament seats
Electoral officials hope
to have total provisional
results by Oct 24
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -
Two main rivals of President Hamid
Karzai and a reputed warlord reviled
by rights activists are likely to win
seats in Afghanistan's parliament,
partial preliminary election results
suggested yesterday.
With 9.6 percent of ballots count-
ed from Kabul province, Karzai's
top challengers in last year's presi-
dential election - Mohammed
Mohaqeq and Yunus Qanooni - had
the most votes, according to results
posted on the Web site of the U.N.-
Afghan election board.
Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, a powerful
former guerrilla leader who Human
Rights Watch says is implicated in
rights abuses, was running fourth
in the province, which includes the
Afghan capital.
The results could change signifi-
cantly as more votes are counted
after the landmark Sept. 18 polls, in
which Afghans voted for a national
assembly for the first time in more
than three decades as well as provin-
cial councils.
Candidates currently leading have
a good chance of winning seats in
Kabul, which will have 33 represen-
tatives in the Wolesi Jirga, or lower
house of parliament. Nine of those
seats are reserved for women.
Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jala-
li said yesterday he is resigning to
return to his academic career.
Jalali, 63, scheduled a news con-
ference for today to give his reasons
for stepping down. Karzai's chief
of staff, Jawed Ludin, played down
the impact of Jalali's resignation on
the government, saying "individuals
come and go."
In the partial election results
released so far, Mohaqeq, a former
anti-Taliban militia commander,
was first with 6,375 votes, according
to the Joint Electoral Management
Body. Mohaqeq was third in the
October 2004 presidential election.
Qanooni, who finished second to
U.S.-backed Karzai last October and
leads a coalition of parties opposed
to the president, was second with
4,307 votes. Sayyaf had 1,295 votes.
Observers have said the presence
on the ballot of warlords responsible
for past bloodshed could have kept
some Afghans away from the polls.
Electoral officials have estimated
turnout at about 55 percent, down
from 70 percent in the presidential
election.
Electoral officials hope to have
complete provisional results from all
34 provinces by Oct. 4 and certified
results by Oct. 22. As of yesterday,
they had released partial provisional
results from eight provinces
The government and its Western
The U.S. military said yesterday that
two U.S. troops were killed in separate
militant attacks in southern and eastern
Afghanistan.
backers hope the elections will help
restore stability after decades of
war, but there are fears that parlia-
ment could be split along the same
ethnic and tribal lines that have tra-
ditionally riven the country.
The U.S. military said yesterday
that two U.S. troops were killed in
separate militant attacks in southern
and eastern Afghanistan.
One U.S. soldier died during
a "ground assault operation" by
Afghan and U.S. forces west of the
southern city of Kandahar on Mon-
day, when militants fired rocket-pro-
pelled grenades and small-arms fire
at their vehicles, the military said in
a statement.
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