No "Warm and Fuzzy" Feelings

The prosecution has introduced 14 witnesses through two days of the court martial of dog handler Sgt. Michael Smith but if you walked into the courtroom I couldn't blame you if you thought many of these persons were defense witnesses.  Person after person has testified that Abu Ghraib was dangerous, overcrowded, filled with tension, and most importantly - there were little or no standards, rules or regulations.

 

Private Ivan Fredrick, who is serving 7 1/2 years for his role in the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib testified for the prosecution yesterday.  Fredrick was the Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge at the now infamous "hardsite" where many of the infamous photos of abuses were shot.  A complete selection of photos of the dogs there may be found at Salon's just introduced terrific site, "Abu Ghraib Files," which houses all the Criminal Investigation file digital images.

 

Fredrick testified that there were no SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) regarding the use of dogs with detainees.  Instead, Fredrick said, Smith followed verbal orders from his higher-ups.  He related that Col. Thomas Pappas had authorized the use of dogs inn interrogations and that civilian contract interrogator "Big Steve" (Steven Stephanowicz) often told the dogs handlers to bring their dogs in to interrogations.  Big Steve has been mentioned by a number of witnesses as wielding quite a bit of power at the prison.  Although Taguba recommended punishment of Stephanowicz way back in February of 2004 for his role in authorizing abuses, to my knowledge no criminal charges have ever been brought against him.

 

One of Big Steve's contract interrogator colleagues (both men worked for CACI, under a DOD contract), Stephen Pescatore testified that he saw a dog handler with a black dog stop  at every cell in Tier 1A in the hardsite and have the dog bark (Sgt. Smith's dog was black).  Pescatore said this use of the dog and the fear it elicited in detainees actually hindred the efficacy of the interrogations.  But he also said that in mid-December, when Saddam Hussein was captured, Col. Pappas gave his approval for harsher interrogation techniques.  At least three CACI employees and four army soldiers were briefed on this new authority.  It was unclear from the testimony what techniques in addition to dogs in interrogation were then authorized.  But these men became part of some sort of "special projects team" at Abu Ghraib.  Pescatore related that Pappas said they could request authorization but should assume it was approved - silence was consent.

 

What was frighteningly clear from the testimony yesterday and today of at least those who had been at Abu Ghraib between October and January of 2003 was how acceptable the depraved and abusive became.  Soldiers who have never been punished and are unlikely to be, testified to the normal and commonplace scenes of detainees kept naked, or chained to the bars of their cells, or subjecting them to "sleep management" and "sleep deprivation." Instructions from militry intelligence to the guards to take Qurans away, deny detainees food, and make them do "PT" - physical training were everyday  occurences.  How was a guard to know whether he should follow the order or not?   It was not ultimately through any written guidance because almost none existed, but depended rather on whether you got or didn't get, as Sgt. Hydrue Joyner put it during his testimony, "a warm and fuzzy."  That's not an adequate source of guidance for anyone  - particularly young and inexperienced soldiers feeling beseiged.

 

So far, I only have more questions as this court martial goes on.  How could be there be so little clarity?  Who had ultimate authority and responsibility for what transpired at Abu Ghraib?  Who are these CACI guys?  What's the story with Big Steve?  What harsher techniques did Col. Pappas authorize in December, 2003?  What did Sgt. Smith think when he received orders to bring his  dogs into  interrogations?  I confess that I have no "warm and fuzzy" feelings as I ponder these questions.