[Peace-discuss] This is an outrage

[C. G. Estabrook]

  Jury Orders Reprimand, No Jail for Soldier
  Jan 23, 11:09 PM (ET)
  By JON SARCHE

FORT CARSON, Colo. (AP) - A military jury on Monday ordered a
reprimand but no jail time for an Army interrogator convicted
of killing an Iraqi general by stuffing him headfirst into a
sleeping bag and sitting on his chest.

Chief Warrant Officer Lewis Welshofer Jr. also was ordered to
forfeit $6,000 salary and was largely restricted to his
barracks and workplace for 60 days.

Welshofer, 43, had originally been charged with murder and
faced up to life in prison. But on Saturday he was convicted
instead of negligent homicide and negligent dereliction of duty...

Prosecutors described Welshofer as a rogue interrogator who
became frustrated with Mowhoush's refusal to answer questions
and escalated his techniques from simple interviews to
beatings to simulating drowning, and finally, to death.

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  Brutality in a U.S. uniform
  Sleeping-bag trick killed Iraqi general
  By Jim Spencer, Denver Post

Fort Carson, Colo. -- Every American should be forced to see
the autopsy pictures of Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush on
display at the trial of Chief Warrant Officer Lewis Welshofer Jr.

Welshofer is charged with killing the Iraqi general during a
November 2003 interrogation. But what's playing out in a Fort
Carson courtroom is a nation's shame, not just an individual's.

The autopsy photos of Mowhoush make the now-infamous images
from Abu Ghraib prison look like a costume party. Bruises and
welts cover Mowhoush's dead body.

Doctors ruled that Mowhoush was smothered. Officials charge
that Welshofer stuffed him inside a sleeping bag, bound him
with an electric cord, sat on his chest and covered his mouth.
Still, there is no question that Mowhoush was also savagely
beaten.

The prosecution and defense in Welshofer's trial continue to
argue about who bears responsibility. Capt. Elana Matt, a
prosecutor, claimed Welshofer "abandoned the moral high
ground" in his handling of Mowhoush.

Welshofer deserves punishment for killing Mowhoush. But the
presidential administration and Army chain of command that
lets military prisoners be stuffed in sleeping bags or wall
lockers or held down to have water poured down their mouths
and noses won't get their due. The "nonmilitary" folks (read
CIA) whom a witness said beat Mowhoush two days before he died
have not even been charged.

Welshofer's company commander knew he was using the so-called
"sleeping-bag technique."

Mowhoush probably was a "high-value facilitator of the
insurgency in western Iraq," to use the intelligence-speak of
the chief prosecution witness, Chief Warrant Officer Jefferson
Williams. But, as military judge Col. Mark Toole reminded
everyone, "The victim is not on trial."

Williams testified after prosecutors dropped his murder charge
in Mowhoush's death. Testifying, as Williams did, under a
grant of immunity, Sgt. Justin Lamb, the 3rd Armored Calvary
Regiment's chief interrogator, talked about "fear up"
inquisitions. That's why he invented the sleeping-bag trick.
Along with packing prisoners in wall lockers, he used it to
induce claustrophobia.

You slip the end of a sleeping bag over the prisoner's head
and tie the bag in place, Lamb explained. Then you roll the
prisoner back and forth while asking questions.

And, allegedly, if you're Lewis Welshofer, when the prisoner
doesn't give you what you want, you also sit on his chest and
cover his mouth.

Prosecutors claimed this was not business as usual, that it
was the cowboy misbehavior of a lone outlaw. Then their star
witness, Williams, took the stand and described how the
sleeping-bag technique was no more extreme than many other
interrogation techniques he had witnessed.

Williams also said he walked away from the eight to 10
"spooks" as they started to clobber Mowhoush with rubber hoses
two days before the general died. Williams admitted to hearing
screams after he left. He also said he saw "four to five men"
carrying the general back to his "cage" afterward.

When Welshofer invited Williams to be part of the eventually
fatal interrogation of Mowhoush, Williams agreed, but said he
had to get a cup of coffee first. Williams went for a second
cup of Joe as Welshofer lowered the sleeping bag over
Mowhoush's head.

It was, apparently, no big thing.

For as long as it isn't, this question about the humane
treatment of military prisoners remains open for all
Americans: If the sleeping-bag technique was used against your
soldiers, would you consider it wrong?

Jim Spencer is a columnist for the Denver Post

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