Army Drops More Charges in Officer's Abu Ghraib Case

By Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 21, 2007; Page A04

Military prosecutors dropped two charges against Army Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan yesterday, hours before his court-martial for allegedly abusing detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq was set to begin at Fort Meade.

The dismissal of allegations that Jordan lied to investigators in the 2004 probe of the notorious abuses was a last-minute surprise in the military courtroom at the Maryland Army base. Based on new evidence that surfaced over the weekend, prosecutors determined that Jordan had not been read his rights before giving detailed statements to Maj. Gen. George R. Fay, who led the seminal investigation into the Abu Ghraib scandal. Those statements are therefore inadmissible in the proceedings.

Fay's failure to read Jordan his rights appears to be a major oversight in the probe, and prosecutors did not explain the discrepancy. The move reduces Jordan's potential sentence almost by half, to a maximum of 8 1/2 years.

It was the latest in a series of odd twists in Jordan's case. Prosecutors have recommended for years that Jordan face administrative punishment rather than trial. An investigative officer once advocated a reprimand to avoid a public rehashing of the Abu Ghraib abuses. And emerging evidence has now led to the dismissal of eight out of 12 original charges against the Army officer. Jordan said in a recent interview with The Washington Post that he believes he is a scapegoat because authorities want an officer to go to trial as a final chapter in the Abu Ghraib scandal, even though a more senior officer who admitted approving the use of dogs, Col. Thomas M. Pappas, received only a reprimand and a fine.

Jordan, 51, is the last soldier to face charges related to the Abu Ghraib abuses and the only officer to go to court-martial for alleged crimes there. A jury panel of nine Army colonels and one brigadier general is expected to hear opening statements in the case today, and yesterday each member told the court -- under questioning by Capt. Samuel Spitzberg, one of Jordan's defense attorneys -- that they would not use Jordan's trial as "a referendum on Abu Ghraib."


Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan was not read his rights before statements he made about events at Abu Ghraib prison. He says he thinks he is a scapegoat. (By Steve Ruark -- Associated Press)
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/20/AR2007082000491.html?hpid=nation

Make a show of an investigation while giving Jordan a way to weasel out of most charges that resulted.

Read these two memos subpoenaed from the FBI, courtesy of the ACLU.

http://www.aclu.org/torturefoia/released/FBI_4938_4941.pdf
http://www.aclu.org/torturefoia/released/FBI.121504.4940_4941.pdf

Notice how they refer to interrogation methods such as hooding, use of dogs, stress positions, etc. that were "authorized by Executive Order."

Executive Orders can only be made by President Bush, and have his signature on them.

And Congress is complicit in this because they aren't impeaching the bastards, even with direct evidence that Bush signed an executive order authorizing torture.

I've conducted many investigations and you ALWAYS start with a DA Form 3881. You just read the damned form to the suspect, get the necessary endorsements, and you're golden.

If you don't, things like this happen.