U.S. Discharges Troops for Abuse in Iraq [View All]

KUWAIT CITY - The U.S. Army discharged three soldiers for abusing prisoners at a detention center in Iraq (news - web sites), a U.S. military spokesman said Monday.


The three soldiers, all from Pennsylvania, were scheduled to face courts martial this month but opted instead to submit to a nonjudicial hearing, in which their conduct was judged by a commander without a jury, Lt. Col. Vic Harris said.


Brig. Gen. Ennis Whitehead III, the acting commander of the 143d Transportation Command, found the three soldiers had maltreated prisoners at Camp Bucca, southern Iraq, on May 12. He demoted two of the soldiers and ordered that all three forfeit their salaries for two months. All three were also discharged.


The general found that Master Sgt. Lisa Marie Girman, 35, of Hazelton, Pa. knocked a prisoner to the ground, "repeatedly kicking him in the groin, abdomen, and head, and encouraging her subordinate soldiers to do the same," Harris said.

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