ABU GHRAIB Officer Says Higher-Ups To Blame For Prison Abuse

Abu Ghraib officer fights reprimand
An Army Reserve captain who supervised Charles Graner says higher-ups were to blame for prison abuse.

By Mark Benjamin and Michael Scherer


Army Reserve Capt. Christopher Brinson, who supervised some of the military police prosecuted for abuse at Abu Ghraib.

March 10, 2006 | WASHINGTON -- A senior staffer to a Republican congressman revealed Thursday that he has been formally reprimanded by the Army for his role in the Abu Ghraib detainee abuse scandal -- and that he is fighting the disciplinary move. He says that higher-ups were responsible for the treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib.

U.S. Army Reserve Capt. Christopher R. Brinson, who in civilian life works as the deputy chief of staff for Alabama Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, was directly in charge of some of the military police later prosecuted for abuse at Abu Ghraib during the notorious autumn of 2003. Brinson received the reprimand in January 2005, but it had not been revealed publicly until his attorney, David P. Sheldon, confirmed it to Salon Thursday, noting that Brinson has since submitted a rebuttal to the Army. The attorney would not reveal the exact reason for Brinson's punishment.

Through Sheldon, Brinson told Salon that he was unaware of his soldiers' actions, and blamed superior officers for what happened at the prison.

"The responsibility for the command and control of the facility, and for the treatment of detainees, rests entirely with individuals well above him in the command structure," Sheldon said in a statement to Salon. "The command structure that Captain Brinson inherited at Abu Ghraib was not of his making. Nor was the treatment of detainees something that members of his unit initiated. Captain Brinson had no knowledge while he was at Abu Ghraib of conduct by certain soldiers that subsequently led to criminal prosecutions of those soldiers," Sheldon's statement says. "At all times, Captain Brinson's service to the United States Army has been and will remain honorable."

more at:

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/03/10/brinson/

The lieutenants and the captains take the fall.

Fuckin' Rummy laughs his crazy laugh all the way to the bank.

Damn him.