Nothing But Politics

[Rick Faurot]

Lawyers in Iraq Abuse Case Look for Links to Commanders
Thu Aug 5, 2004 12:59 PM ET

By Jim Loney
FORT BRAGG, N.C. (Reuters) - Lawyers for Private Lynndie England probed on Thursday for links between abuse at Abu Ghraib prison and the military chain of command at a hearing for the female soldier who caused widespread outrage when she was pictured holding a naked Iraqi prisoner on a leash.

Looking to bolster their theory that England was just following orders, her lawyers repeatedly asked military criminal investigators how much control the Military Intelligence unit had at Abu Ghraib, where England and other soldiers were seen in the photographs that shocked the world and hampered the U.S. war effort.

Prosecutors asked Special Agent Manora Iem, a military criminal investigator, if detainees offered any evidence the U.S. chain of command was involved in abuse.