Graner, scapegoat for U.S. scandal

Graner and three other reservists were convicted of abusing the Iraqi inmates in a case that sparked international outrage after photographs were released.

Graner was accused of stacking naked prisoners in a human pyramid, while defense lawyer Guy Womack said his client was ordered by superiors to mistreat detainees, while admitting that the U.S. guards committed the inhumane acts just for fun, but the jury rejected his claim and sentenced Graner to 10 years behind bars.

To political analysts, the Abu Ghraib incident, no matter caused by the U.S. soldiers or commanders, will remain an unforgettable scandal for U.S. Army and the Bush Administration.

Most of the human rights groups believe the White House’s violations of international law under the pretext of the campaign against terrorism and insistence on extracting confessions from detainees have caused such a human catastrophe.

Exposed to great pressure by human rights watchdogs, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued documents that showed U.S. President George W. Bush had agreed with torturing the suspect terrorists to make them confess.

The International Red Cross had frequently warned about the physical and psychological torture of detainees in the Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo prisons since winter 2003, but the U.S. Administration shrugged it off.

And now the White House and Pentagon are putting some low-ranking reservists on trial to evade their responsibility while U.S. forces have done what they have been trained to do in the army.

No doubt, U.S. soldiers’ smiles while torturing and humiliating Iraqi detainees will remain in the memory of Middle Eastern people and the imprisonment of some soldiers cannot help close the disgraceful case.

KK/MA/HG

END

MNA