Private Lynndie England, the woman who has become the emblem of the US' shame over the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, on Tuesday showed little expression aside from an occasional nervous giggle at a hearing to determine whether she should face the full weight of a court martial.
When first confronted with pictures of her gloating over naked and cowering Iraqi prisoners, England had shown no alarm, telling the officer who led the investigation of the Abu Ghraib scandal in Iraq: "It was just for fun."
PHOTO: REUTERS
That lack of comprehension returned to haunt her yesterday as the prevailing view of the US military -- that England and the handful of other lowly reservists charged in the abuse were rogue soldiers -- began to emerge more fully.
"They didn't think it was that serious. They were just joking around and having some fun during the night shift," Chief Warrant Officer Paul Arthur told the court.
He added later: "From the get-go, it was jokes and frustration."
In the drab courtroom on a military base in North Carolina, England looked even younger than her 21 years, and her pregnancy -- now in its seventh month -- was concealed beneath the loose tunic of her camouflage uniform.
She is the only soldier accused in the abuse scandal to face legal proceedings in the US. She was returned to Fort Bragg last spring because of her pregnancy, and has spent her time doing administrative work at the base.
Aside from her legal team, she had only one ally in the court on Tuesday, her mother, Terrie. They are in for some lurid proceedings over the next few days as the court details England's alleged role in the abuse, and her relationship with the alleged ringleader, Corporal Charles Graner, who is the father of her child.
If England is convicted on all 19 charges, she could face 38 years in the brig. Some 25 witnesses are to appear including Specialist Joseph Darby, the soldier who first came forward about the abuse, and Specialist Jeremy Sivitz, who was granted relative leniency for cooperating with the investigation.
Graner, and the other soldiers facing separate proceedings in Baghdad, will not appear although other soldiers are expected to give testimony over the phone from Iraq.
Although the focus of the proceedings yesterday was England, it was impossible to escape a greater impression of a dysfunctional administration at Abu Ghraib.
Much of the prosecution's evidence is from photographs, with more than 280 images of abuse of detainees, and of England engaged in sex acts with Graner. The images first came to the attention of the authorities last January.
Arthur, a member of the military CID, was at Abu Ghraib when a soldier in England's military police unit slipped a packet under his door containing CDs of scores of horrific images. Naked prisoners were stacked in human pyramids, others were made to simulate sex acts. One man trembled in front of two dogs, and England tugged at the end of a dog leash coiled around the neck of an Iraqi detainee lying on the floor of his cell.
Arthur said England never worked on the cell block, but visited the wing after hours to visit her lover.
"I don't think she received orders from military intelligence," he said. "It came through the grapevine, or was implied."
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
RSS