Lynndie England Gets 3 Years In Jail

The Woman Who Held The Leash
Infamously, Lynndie England landed in our consciousness as the woman who held the leash on an Iraqi POW in Abu Ghraib. She's in for 3 years at the other end of the leash, so to speak, after some legal squabbling.

In sentencing testimony just hours before, England, who had faced a maximum of nine years behind bars, said she was sorry for her actions but said she remained an American patriot.

"After the photos were released, I've heard that attacks were made on U.S. armed forces because of them," she said.

"I apologize to coalition forces and all the families," England, speaking slowly, told the jury of five officers, also apologizing to "detainees, the families, America and all the soldiers."

England, 22, was convicted on Monday of abuse such as being photographed pointing to the genitals of a naked Iraqi prisoner in a section of the prison were the administrative clerk did not have any official duties.

She stood at attention to hear the verdict and remained standing and looking toward the front of the courtroom after the trial ended as tears welled in her eyes. Her mother, Terrie, then came over to give her a very long hug.

Within 45 minutes, England's hands and feet were shackled and she was slowly walked from the courthouse to a van that brought her to jail. She made no final comments.

In her court testimony, the former West Virginia chicken factory worker blamed her involvement on Charles Graner, the abuse ringleader and father of her child.

"I was embarrassed because I was used by Private Graner; I didn't realize it at the time," she said, sometimes pausing at length to gather her thoughts. "I trusted him and I loved him."

The thing I've commented on previously is that she was probably the most susceptible to the phenomenon of Milgrim's 37. Nobody's talking about it but there she is, probably wondering how the hell she got there.


The really odd thing was that there was this other woman Sabrina Harmon who seems to have escaped any kind of prosecution. Is the beauty-bias working here? Because her smile is certainly a lot more appealing than that of Ms. England's. Can you imagine the media outcry if Ms. Harmon was sent to prison for these photos?





The point I'm making is that all things being equal, the person I actually remembered and associated with the Abu Ghraib fiasco/scandal was this woman with her thumb up, not the short, squat woman holding the leash.
What's going on there?

UPDATE
Naturally, the Iraqis are not happy with 3 years.

Iraqis claim the punishment would have been far harsher if her crimes had been committed against Americans.

"America should be ashamed of this sentence. This is the best evidence that Americans have double standards," said Akram Abdel Amir, a retired bus driver from Baghdad.

"There are Iraqis in jail without any charge, just based on suspicion. But when it comes to Americans, the matter is totally different."

Muntasser Abdel Moneim, a labourer, said: "The sentence is nothing compared to what she has done."

England, who had faced a maximum sentence of nine years, was also given a dishonourable discharge.

The former West Virginia chicken factory worker is the last of a group of US soldiers to be convicted of abuse at Abu Ghraib.
Charles Graner, England's former boyfriend and the father of her child, was sentenced to 10 years in jail last year.

During her trial, England apologised for her actions but accused Graner of being the ring-leader.

The prisoner abuse scandal provoked global outrage and deepened Iraqi resentment of US troops.

Iraqis remember her as the American soldier who held an inmate by a dog leash, a highly degrading act in a country where dogs are considered unclean.

"The whole thing is theatre. The Americans want to pretend they defend human rights and are a civilised nation," said Munir Abdel Sahib, a university lecturer.

"I believe that England would not have committed these crimes without orders from above."

Well, for a university lecturer Mr. Munir Abdel Sahib's probably very ill-informed about psychology, but all the same, the US Military has done nothing to make him think they are legit, so the damage is done. What a mess.

There's also this interestng link to the 'Institute of Public Accuracy'

"Lynndie England was convicted and sentenced but that is not satisfactory for us. It’s obvious that the rank and file people are the small fry. What we would like to know is the whole story: what really happened, from the memos down. Available information clearly indicates that this isn't a case of just a few bad apples. What we want is a credible independent investigation, and just 'bipartisan' is not good enough because my experience has been that bipartisan can also be biased. I think the U.S. should create an independent investigation commission and invite international participation. That would help with the credibility of the investigation, and it would be a very concrete way for the United States to reach out to the international community, to show that we are serious about investigating what really happened and continues to happen, and we would like to redeem ourselves and regain a sense of morality."

Hmmmm. As disgusting as the events may have been, I think an independent investigator might let Ms. England go free.