I'll be cleared: Iraq jail chief (Karpinski)

I'll be cleared: Iraq jail chief
From correspondents in Newark, New Jersey
May 08, 2004

THE former commander of American prisons in Iraq has acknowledged that several soldiers under her command were "clearly guilty" of abusing prisoners, but predicted she would be cleared of all wrongdoing.

Brigadier-General Janis Karpinski, who was suspended pending an investigation into the abuse, said in today's Star-Ledger that she has been unfairly blamed by the US Army's investigation.

"I was sick to my stomach when I saw pictures of what those soldiers were doing in that prison," she said. "But I was also sick when I first saw that report. I thought: Why are they doing this to me?"

In emails sent from Iraq to a Presbyterian pastor in the New Jersey town where she grew up, Ms Karpinski called the abuse of prisoners at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison "deplorable."

"Several of my soldiers are clearly guilty and will be punished," she wrote to the Reverend Howard Bryant in a March 31 email. "Some things are simply out of my control."

(more)

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,9502556%255E1702,00.html

She was in charge of the prison, which makes her in charge of the guards.

No passing the buck on this one.

if she is trying to say they would let her in or be involved in the interrogations, that's bullshit. She has the obligation to find out what's going on and resign if they don't let her do her job which is the protection of not only the prisoners but her troops as well.

It's a common mental disease most conservatives suffer from.

... since she spouts off this one-liner!

I thought: Why are they doing this to me?"

Because you didn't exist! An this one gets me as well ...

In previous interviews Ms Karpinski said that she suspected military intelligence officials who were not under her command had condoned the abuse.

Hell, if these MI (somewhat of a contradiction) types were in my facility, I would have them under my command.

sidelined or have her authority taken away. It's not like she is some trooper. She is a one star general and if she had the balls to stand up for herself and more importantly for her people when she started making waves people would have listen. This is what's missing in our society nothing is anyone's fault and no one accepts responsibility. Saying I'm sorry is just forming words. Falling on your sword is the honorable thing to do when you fail.

... once this starts to fade from memory. I agree that she should have fallen on her sword and resigned.

Wonder if she ever did any walk-through of her facilities?

Remember the Policewoman Maurice was crazy about on the show "Northern Exposure"? Karpinski puts me in mind of her. Her looks anyway.

... poor leadership and were definitely asleep at work! Next time, god forbid, do frequent walk-arounds!

THAT prison, implying a degree of seperation, as if she's only read about it.

sad. sad sad sad.

This sounds like the " six soldiers" line that was being thrown around yesterday. Everyone in this chain of command wants to hang the "six soldiers" and walk away, we can't let that happen.

Janis needs to take responsibility for her role in this crime against the Iraqi prisoners.

she may be correct... as her command was put under the command of Miliary INtelligence, she was nominally in charge, and this was signed off by Sanches.... this is now part of the record, congressonal record.

She will be clearned but this shit just rolls higher, and would you rather have a three star or a one star? To be specific Sanches... oh and Abizaird and Miller are not out of this, nor is the Joints Chief or for that matter Rumsfeld.

THose of us watching the hearings can tell you this, it may very well be over for Rummy, by the way

...gave the orders to her troops to torture the Iraqis, as well as those that told her to stay out of the way.

She didn't get as far in the military as she has without knowing how to play the documentation game.

He's the guy that controlled that section.

Wait til the Courts Martial start

and the good General opens up her box of CYA memos

THEY WILL BE SINGING LIKE SONG BIRDS

We need middle muricans to see the full horror

Just doing my job, doesn't carry much weight anymore.

"My soldiers" will be .... This to me indicates that she was their supervisor.

Did she have any idea or inkling of what was going on. If not then why not.
I would say she was not doing her job. If things were taken out of her command and she was aware of what was going on then, I would say that she is as culpable as the individuals doing the work. And this same attitude has to extend up the chain of command to all levels. Otherwise there is no chain of command.

what was going on. She has lost the respect of her troops and she is unable to command any unit now because she doesn't have the guts to stand up for what's right.

the Red Cross had lodged several complaints about the torture the inmates were suffering from. Apparently she refused to speak with them.

She is every bit as guilty as the soldiers. And the good news is, she's going to get it.

If it were up to me she'd be writing LOTS of letter from a little fort in Kansas.

Her's was...
a failure to insist on adequate training for her command.
a failure to establish and maintain discipline.
a failure to establish and maintain authority.
a failure to control control of the mission she commanded.

While I cannot forgive the enlisted people, I cannot and will not forgive the officers who let morale and control slip through their fingers.

I hope all the guilty get appropriate prison sentences. They have betrayed their comrades in arms and brought disgrace upon their nation.

are with yu on that from the hearings

This is basically what she is saying. Unfortunately, for her, this is not the way the military operates. She is fully the property of the U.S. government. That fact bears with it the weight one her from the chain of command. Those thugs are HER thugs. Her incompetence and, perhaps, malice allowed that brutality to flourish.

that she will be.