Wife of soldier sentenced in prison abuse scandal speaks out

[gottaB]

BRIAN WITTE
Associated Press

The wife of an Army reservist sentenced to prison for abusing prisoners in Iraq said she knows her husband was wrong, but she also blames higher-ranking officials who "sit behind the curtains" for the abuse.

Martha Frederick, wife of Staff Sgt. Ivan "Chip" Frederick, said the eight-year sentence he received Thursday for his role in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal will force her family to "endure hardships and many sacrifices."

"The pain sets deeper yet in knowing that he serves these years not only for his actions or actions of a few reservists, but those included in the chain of command," she wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Her 38-year-old husband, of Buckingham, Va., received the stiffest punishment given so far in the scandal. But she questioned why her husband's superiors weren't being punished for what she said was their complicity on the abuse.

Wife of soldier sentenced in prison abuse scandal speaks out....

[ogradda]

1. good question

i second that question.

[TheDebbieDee]

5. Cause $hit rolls downhill...........and that's a fact.

[Chicago Democrat]

2. This is a travesty and misapplication of justice...

There is no way these soldiers did anything other than obey orders.... What a scapegoat....

[gottaB]

6. yes and no

Some orders should not be obeyed.

What's unjust about the situation is not Franklin's punishment, but the fact that Rumsfeld roams free, and the War Crimes President thinks he's doing a super job.

my 2¢

[Sugarbleus]

23. I agree. His "bosses" SHOULD be held responsible for

their allowing or ordering such things...But Franklin has to face the music too.

I was rather impressed that he was man enough to admit he did wrong..other than that, he still has to face the music, like a man. He is NOT guilt free and should not be pitied. IF he had a conscious, he should have followed it. There are some things that simply aren't right. He wasn't even in a fire fight or on the battle field. He was inside with a locked up bunch of cowtowed, disarmed people!!

Thankfully, there are military people who DO disobey or try to avoid things they know in their hearts are wrong or the orders are stupid--those 17 soldiers who refused to go on the suicide mission come to mind.

Hubby and I were talking about Franklin's sentence today. He is a VN vet. At first he thought it was hard punishment, then I looked at him (lol) and he admitted that punishment WAS appropriate. It was FRANKLINS hands that did the deed, no one was physically forcing him to participate.

I'm sorry for his family, but life is rough all over.

[4dsc]

3. Is her husband talking

or is he taking one for the gipper here???

If I was in his shoes, I would be talking and talking to everybody that would listen..

[atreides1]

4. Maybe

SSG, sorry PVT Frederick, should have said no, especially now that he has stated that he knew it was wrong, but he went ahead and tortured the prisoners anyway, and used that excuse that was used by the Nazis at Nuremberg, "I was just following orders."

Besides what evidence is there that the higher ups in the chain of command gave orders to torture and abuse prisoners. There are no written orders, and word of mouth is nothing short of hearsay.

Mrs. Frederick will now endure hardships, but nothing compared to what was suffered by the Iraqis who were tortured by her husband and
the members of his unit.

[drfemoe]

7. Listen ..

this guy was in trouble with his old job at the hometown prison.
This is not his first experience with torture.

Karma is a beech.
It will come around to those who perpetuated this, my guess.

[atreides1]

11. Different Guy

The guy you're thinking of is PFC England's boyfriend and the father of her newborn son. His name is Charles Graner, and he was the one who was accused of abusing prisoners while working as a corrections officer.

[drfemoe]

21. oh...

thanks for the clarification.

[Nicholas_J]

8. Unfortunately

This is just another My Li, but they wont even go as high as Lieutenant in assigning guilt/
The worse part is, that I live in an area with a lot of military, and I have spoken to many people in the military here, and from the sense of the type of people I am speaking to, I will say flat out that 9 out of 10 of the people I have met in the military would have done the same thing as the people being prosecuted, and flat out that the current military envoroment totally encourages such behavior. Most of the people that I have met who joined either the military or guard are basically thugs, the kind of people who become cops and then beat prisoners.

Again, many of them are totally ignorant about the culture and the people and the country they are occupying, and most have a smug, superior attitude that America and Americans are better than these "towel heads" and the attitude towards Iraqi's and Muslims is basically the same as the attitude that was common in Vietnam with the "Gook" syndrome.

I have met a few people who have come back and when they got back started reading up about not only Iraq, but about the constitution, reading the federalist papers and stuff, coming to the conclusion that the constitution doesnt give the president the power to "liberate" another country. Unfortunately, such insights seem rare among the people I have met who are being sent to Iraq.

Even though they could say NO, and the Nuremburg Accords and the Geneve Convention say they can, I doubt they know anything about those documents, and simply just do what they have been told to do. Unfortunately, most seem to be inclined to obey such orders a bit more willingly than others, but even so, there are a lot of psychological studies that indicate people will do what an authority figure tells them to do in a lot less stressful environments. I dont know what I would do, though I would like to think I would react better, I might not. Though then again I am not the type of person to willingly put myself under someone elses authority,amd even when I am under someone elses authority, I am dont find myself doing what I am told if Idont like it..

Anyway, even though there is no excuse for what the guy did, there is less excuse for trying to pull the "its a few bad apples" crap. Flat out the military should not be investigating this, but an international body.

[progressivebydesign]

9. She's right. She takes responsibility.. BUT the REAL culprits are free..

The ones that provided the hoods, the training, and the orders. It goes all the way to the top! She was right to admit he was wrong for his part, BUT, it completely blows that the higher ups escape ALL responsibility for this... I think the enlisted realize that, and it'll show in the election.

[NMDemDist2]

10. i hope President Kerry pardons these people

flame away

[tkmorris]

12. Flame? Nah, but

Please tell me why you would want him pardoned. I would agree that the blame should be spread around some, primarily upwards, but blame there should be.

[Piperay]

13. If Kerry pardoned them

the rethugs would set up the yowl to end all yowls, they would suddenly say this was a serious matter and not 'fratboy pranks'.

[Kimber Scott]

14. Wrong.

These people did more to damage our reputation in the world than Bush himself. But, besides our reputation, they damaged the psyche of many, possibly innocent, Iraqis - human beings - and must pay the price for their inhumanity. (Which their rank gives them no excuse for. People know right from wrong no matter what they're rank.) And, add to that the fact Americans can never expect to be treated properly should they be taken as POWs by any nation for a very long time, if ever again.

I agree with the other poster, those in charge, possibly up to Bush himself, should be held accountable, but pardoning the people actually perpetrated the crimes would be unconscionable.

[KayLaw]

15. Sure

If two others take his place. Honestly, I am a very understanding and forgiving person who doesn't believe in the death penalty, but I think anyone who tortures another should be removed from society - and then some.

[Voltaire99]

22. LOL! Now yer talkin', pard'ner!

Let's give them the new Congressional Medal of Honor for Torture in Defense of Freedom, too!

[msmcghee]

16. Everyone knows how this works.

It's just like O'Reilly's abuse of Andrea Mackris.

If you want to get ahead, you figure out what your boss wants and you do it. You get special points for doing things that your boss would get in trouble for - if anyone knew he ordered you to do it.

Fail to show the proper enthusiasm for these "special projects" and your career can easily be sidelined while others, who know how to deliver the results, get the promotions the awards and the good duty.

Pretty soon you're considered not a team player.

The people in power always know how to get their subordinates to take all the risk. How else do you think they got there?

[Mandate My Ass]

17. Hey, Martha, your hubby TORTURED people

caused them excruciating physical pain, robbed them of their human dignity and most likely more than one of their lives.

Think of that when you're experiencing "hardship."

Does it suck that his superiors got away scot free? Yeah, it does. But he is guilty of a war crime.

[Downtown Hound]

18. My advice Martha

find a new husband. You have a point about the superiors going free, but your husband is still a piece of shit.

[JitterbugPerfume]

19. hey Martha

If he did that to those prisoners, you think he is not capable of abusing you too??? think about it girl!!

[mike_c]

20. 'I love to make a grown man piss himself'."

Chip Frederick, what a prankster! Lose the key.