Frederick Gets 8 Years in Iraq Abuse Case

[Florida_Geek]

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Iraq-Prisoner-Abuse.html

October 21, 2004
Frederick Gets 8 Years in Iraq Abuse Case
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 10:14 a.m. ET

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- The highest ranking officer implicated in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal was sentenced to eight years in prison for abusing inmates at Abu Ghraib during a court martial Thursday in Baghdad.

Staff Sgt. Ivan ``Chip'' Frederick, 38, of Buckingham, Va., was also given a reduction in rank, forfeiture of pay and a dishonorable discharge. The sentencing came a day after he pleaded guilty Wednesday to eight counts of abusing and humiliating Iraqi detainees.

He had faced a maximum possible sentence of 11 years in prison.

..little more at AP

[Briar]

1. And US voters may give four more years

of absolute power to those who gave the orders for torture and numerous other war crimes which are still on-going. It'll take a lot more than this to satisfy justice.

[amber dog democrat]

2. This needs to go higher up the chain of command

Who were these CIA and security contractors that told him to " soften up" his prisoners ?
Who were their superiors ?

If Frederick knew this was wrong, who was it that urged him to abuse and humiliate the Iraqi prisoners?

It can't end here.

[gratuitous]

3. Correction: He didn't get 8 years for abusing detainees

He got 8 years for torturing people. Let us not sugarcoat what happened here. These were people we were supposed to be liberating from the oppressive regime of Saddam Hussein. And they were tortured by our troops. Some of them were tortured to death. With our tax dollars and in our name.

Is 8 years a sufficient punishment?

[atreides1]

4. 8 Years +

He also received a federal conviction and a dishonorable discharge, that alone will affect the rest of his life, the 8 years is just icing on the cake.

He was a correctional officer for Virginia, he won't be going back to that job with a federal conviction.

So it's not just 8 years, this man is screwed for the rest of his life. But keep an eye out for the book deals.

[Days Between]

5. While I'm glad,

there are still many people involved besides Frederick that won't be touched. He's the fall guy and I always supsect in these kinds of deals that he's paid to fall. It might screw up his returning to work at corrections or other aspects of his life, but considering the political nature of the situation, you can bet there's more than meets the AP eye.

[Bandit]

6. I don't like their use of the term officer..He is/was an enlisted man

Granted they are referred to as non-commissioned officers but in reality they are not officers. They are enlisted men and I am afraid that is as high up the ladder as this will go. This is a deceptive and misleading article but why should that surprise anyone?