Officer: I'm Abu Ghraib Scapegoat
An Army reservist will be the first officer to face court-martial for abuses at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison when he goes on trial next month.
Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan says the military has made him a scapegoat, a charge backed up by interrogators who say Jordan was not involved in questioning, the Washington Post reports.
Jordan is accused of failing to supervise and train soldiers who interrogated prisoners, of mistreating detainees during a 2003 search for contraband, and of misleading investigators. Jordan denies the charges.
“I’m not guilty of anything to do with Abu Ghraib,” Jordan told the Post. “I feel like I’ve been singled out.”
Retired Staff Sgt. Mark Day, who conducted about 100 interrogations, said Jordan was not in the chain of command for approving controversial techniques.
The Army is “sacrificing him on the altar of public opinion while slowly letting everyone else fade out of view,” he told the newspaper.
