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I was scapegoat - US commander
17/11/2005 10:35 - (SA)
Washington - The former United States commander of Abu Ghraib prison says she was held up as a scapegoat by "male warriors" but the real blame for the abuse scandal rests with military leaders and the White House.
In her newly released autobiography, One Woman's Army: The Commanding General of Abu Ghraib Tells Her Story, Janis Karpinski recounts her side of the scandal that led to her demotion and prompted international outrage over the mistreatment of Iraqi detainees at the US military-run prison.
While accepting her "share of the responsibility" for some of what occurred when she presided over military police across Iraq, Karpinski said the abuses at Abu Ghraib "were not the work of a few wayward soldiers and their female leader".
Karpinski 'stood out' as a scapegoat
"They were the result of conflicting orders and confused standards extending from the military commanders in Iraq all the way to the summit of civilian leadership in Washington," said Karpinski.
While other senior army officers have yet to be prosecuted - or demoted - Karpinski said the male-dominated military quickly pinned blame on her after the scandal erupted in 2004.
"When things went wrong at Abu Ghraib prison, nobody stood out as a more convenient target than the female general who looked so out of place from the perspective of all those male warriors," said Karpinski.
Karpinski was demoted from the rank of brigadier general to colonel on the order of US president George W Bush. Lower ranking officers and soldiers have been punished as well.
Photographs of US soldiers sexually humiliating Iraqi prisoners shocked the world and damaged the US image, particularly in the Islamic world. Human rights groups have accused Washington of turning a blind eye to similar abuses of detainees in Afghanistan and at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
She had no idea of the scandal
Karpinski writes that she had no idea of the brewing scandal until she learnt in a brief e-mail that proof of abuse from an internal investigation would be presented to the commander of US troops in Iraq.
"Prisoner abuse? Photographs? An aide looked at me closely and said, 'Ma'am, are you okay?,'" writes Karpinski.
According to her book, it was the first time she had heard about possible abuses at Abu Ghraib and the first time she had heard about the internal investigation.
Ten days later, she met General Richard Sanchez, then commander of US forces in Iraq, and she remains bitter that she was made a "sacrificial lamb".
"Nothing sticks in my craw more than Sanchez's comment during our meeting. 'Do you have any idea what this will do to my army?'" says Karpinski of the meeting.
"There was nothing subtle about that message. This was his army."
- AFP
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