US soldier found guilty of abuse in Iraq .. am I the only one who thinks it should go higher up

[Twiglett]

The guys a corporal ... and says he was following orders .. how come none of his seniors have been brought to trial ???

can't help thinking it came from on high .. and wasn't on the ground only

But it said on the news that although that was his defence they didn't actually have any one to bring to trial so perhaps he refused to name names? Or maybe he was a s far as it went?

nope don't believe that a 'corporal' can be the ringleader .. think it goes much much higher

and anyway following the chain of command should not be difficult for the US army .. he shouldn't have to 'name names'

I see your point. He's going to have a horrible 15 years in prison I would have thought.

Typical of the establishment to find a scapegoat and put all the blame on him.

well according to various articles in the Guardian etc I've read he is not just a hapless scapegoat at all.He has a long held reputation as a bully and malicious thug. He and his delightful ' partner' Lindy England represent , IMO, the true meaning of Real White Trash and I make no apologies for using the phrase. If he is protecting any superiors then he's even more stupid than people already think.

donnie - he's not protecting superiors. His defence was that he was following orders, but no superior was called to give evidence.

In fact according to the news today, he even said he "questioned" the orders when they were given (yeah right - looks like he's really reluctant in those photos, but you never know, it may be true).

He's not a nice man, but I think it goes higher up. In fact i would have thought that the "ringleader" was the one behind the camera.

'I was following orders' cut no ice at Neurenburg, or following the Mei Lai massacre.

Dh is an officer in the RAF and he realises that this can never be not an 'easy out' and that you will be held responsible for your own actions.

The guy got was coming to him

Of course he's guilty and should be punished, but so should his superiors who at best encouraged this sort of treament, and at worst actually ordered it. Starting with Bush and Rumsfeld.
The American security services terrify me. On a different but related matter, FBI agents stormed the London office of Indymedia, an independent news agency, and stole their servers. And this was somehow allowed! When did the FBI get the right to operate over here? When the hell were we formally overthrown by the Yanks? Silly me, I thought we were a sovereign nation...

hmb: it's not an excuse, no, but it does soften the offence slightly IMO.

but that's beside the point - the allegation was made and yet the US army are saying that he was a rogue element and the matter is now dealt with. The superiors should have been called/investigated.