Army witnesses play down Abu Ghraib victims' import

By Seattle Times news services

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"They were of no military-intelligence significance for us," Special Agent Paul Arthur said of the detainees, many of whom were photographed in humiliating poses with their clothes off — stacked and chained into human pyramids or forced to assume sexual positions. "Only two had even been interrogated out of the whole group."

The testimony came on the first day of a weeklong military preliminary hearing into the case against Pfc. Lynndie England, one of six enlisted soldiers now facing possible courts-martial as a result of the abuse. A seventh already has pleaded guilty. England's case is being heard by Army Col. Denise Arn, who will recommend whether the matter should proceed to a court-martial.

The investigators said yesterday that they had found no reason to believe any of the soldiers' superiors bore responsibility.

They also said the fact that the prisoners were of no intelligence value undercut the claims of the soldiers, who have asserted that they had been encouraged or ordered by military intelligence officers to mistreat the detainees.

England's attorney, Richard Hernandez, blasted the government for holding a few rank-and-file soldiers accountable for a "systemic problem" in Iraq. He said it was "far from the truth" that interrogators and senior officers were not aware of what was happening at Abu Ghraib.

"You've heard only one side of the story," he said.

The alleged abuse took place on Tier 1A, ostensibly reserved for high-value prisoners who were to be interrogated about the uprising against U.S. troops.

Also yesterday, the general who headed the prison at Abu Ghraib said in a broadcast interview that there had been a conspiracy to prevent her knowing about prisoner abuse at the jail.

Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, suspended by the Pentagon in May, has denied knowing of any mistreatment until photographs surfaced at the end of April. U.S. investigators have not implicated her directly.

Karpinski told BBC radio that she had information suggesting officials took action to keep her in the dark about the mistreatment:
 
"I have been told there's a reliable witness who's made a statement ... indicating that not only was I not included in any of the meetings discussing interrogation operations, but specific measures were taken to ensure I would not have access to those facilities, that information or any of the details of interrogations at Abu Ghraib or anywhere else." She didn't identify the witness.

"Correct," Karpinski said when asked if she thought there was a senior-level conspiracy to stop her knowing what was going on.

Asked if she thought the conspiracy reached to the Pentagon or White House, she said: "The indication is that it may have."

Compiled from reports by the Los Angeles Times and The Associated Press