Part I. Charles Graner
I don't know if he [Charles Graner] hit every single one, but pretty close because he hit a lot of people. During the time he was hitting the detainees, he posed for a photograph in which it looked like he was going to hit the detainee. After the photo was taken, he continued to hit the detainees.
Specialist Matt Wisdom
Charles Graner has been released from prison. Graner served 6½ years of a 10-year term for assault, maltreatment, conspiracy, indecent acts, and dereliction of duty at Abu Ghraib. He was released early, on time off for good behavior.
Media reports have said that Charles Graner and Megan Ambuhl had a stand-in prison wedding in 2005. In a 2004 plea agreement, for her role at Abu Ghraib, Ambuhl was convicted of dereliction of duty.
Graner and Ambuhl would have a difficult time finding life partners in this world. They share some intense times and experiences that would be difficult to talk about with others. I'd wish them, and really, a long, happy, and peaceful life together now.
Part II. Christopher Brinson
On the top tear, I had a view of the Captain [Christopher Brinson] throwing the inmate against the wall. The inmate fell to the ground. The Captain began kicking the inmate in the mid section yelling at the inmate.
Sergeant Greg Spiker
One soldier was standing next to the left side of the prisoner's head with the barrell of his rifle pressed against the prisoner's head. I observed the other soldier [Christopher Brinson] kneeling next to the right side of the prisoner at approximately waist level. I observed this soldier begin to strike the prisoner in the small of the back with a closed fist. The soldier struck the prisoner approximately ten times. The soldier then stood up and kicked the prisoner in the right hip and right side approximately three times.
Specialist John Polak
The detainee was screaming while this was going on. The CPT [Christopher Brinson] stated "You like hurting my soldiers". The kicks were full force into the detainee.
Sergeant Greg Spiker
At Abu Ghraib, in 2003, Captain Christopher Brinson was Charles Graner's platoon leader, and was officer in charge of the hard site, where much of the known abuse occurred.
Brinson now serves as Legislative Director and Deputy Chief of Staff for Representative Mike Rogers (R-AL). Rogers serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Committee on Homeland Security.
An eyewitness report from a detainee describes the rape of a 16 year old boy at Abu Ghraib:
I saw the translator Abu Hamid fucking a kid. his age be would be about 15-18 years. The kid was hurting very bad and they covered all the doors with sheets.
Kasim Hilas
MPs brought the boy for medical attention the next day. A CYA note from medical staff records that DNA evidence in the rape was ordered not to be taken, and that a Captain in the MPs had given the order. The name of the MP Captain is redacted.
The next night at Abu Ghraib, in another well known event, three naked detainees were beaten and sexually abused:
They brought three prisoners completely naked and they tied them together with cuffs and they stuck one to another. I saw the American soldier hitting them with a football and they were taking pictures. I saw Grainer hitting one of the prisoners right in the face very hard when he refused to take off his underwear and I heard them begging for help.
Kasim Hilas
The soldiers were told, inciting the abuse, that the three detainees had raped the boy:
One of the MI soldiers pointed to the naked detainees and said "These are the people who raped a little boy".... Then the MI soldiers ordered all three detainees to low crawl on the floor. When the detainees attempted to arch up, two of the MI soldiers put pressure in the middle of their backs and yelled at them to get down.
Sergeant Ken Davis
See this diary for a fuller timeline of these events, at October 25. Understand the horror of what I am saying: that the rape of the 16-year-old detainee, in his cell, by American military, and covered up on the order of an MP Captain, was used by American military the very next night, to incite further sexual abuse of detainees.
More sexual assault of detainees happened the night after that. This was all at the beginning of Ramadan.
Charles Graner has been released from prison, having served his time for his role in the abuse. He will be dishonorably discharged.
Captain Christopher Brinson was officer in charge of where this all happened. He serves, apparently honorably, as a legislative director in Congress.
Contact Information
Is the redacted Captain of the MPs, who had ordered no DNA evidence taken in a rape, MP Captain Christopher Brinson, officer in charge of the prison wing where the rape occurred?
Especially given that Brinson is legislative director for a Congressman who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, Americans, and the world, have a right to know.
And, really, if you do this: be polite.
Web form:
Congressman Mike Rogers (AL-3)
Office phone:
(202) 225-3261
Address:
Congressman Mike Rogers
324 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Further Reading
Abu Ghraib Court Martial: "Ring Leader" Spc. Charles A. Graner, Jr., Sentenced to Ten Years, Steven C. Welsh, Center for Defense Information, 2005. A detailed specification of the charges against Charles Graner.
Abu Ghraib Court Martial: Specialist Megan Ambuhl, USA, Steven C. Welsh, Center for Defense Information, 2004. A detailed specification of the charges against Megan Ambuhl.
Abu Ghraib officer fights reprimand, Mark Benjamin and Michael Scherer, Salon, 2006. Christopher Brinson's reprimand for his activities at Abu Ghraib. Graner's superior officer, Brinson, blames his own superior officers. "The command structure that Captain Brinson inherited at Abu Ghraib was not of his making. Nor was the treatment of detainees something that members of his unit initiated," Brinson's lawyer says.
Graner defense strengthens, jury gets case, Michael A. Fuoco, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2005. Graner Gets 10 Years for Abuse at Abu Ghraib, T.R. Reid, Washington Post, 2005. Graner's attempts to get officers and soldiers to testify in his defense, about the environment at Abu Ghraib. Christopher Brinson is not reported to have testified to his knowledge of events.
The Most Curious Thing, Errol Morris, New York Times, 2008. Morris discusses a photograph of Manadel al-Jamadi's corpse at Abu Ghraib. Christopher Brinson's role in the coverup of the death is discussed.
AR 15-6 Investigation of the Abu Ghraib Detention, Facility and 205th Military Intelligence Brigade,
Major General George R. Fay, 2004. Captain Brinson's assault of a detainee is Incident #25. The report accepts that the assault was staged, to hide the identity of a detainee informant. Fay investigators knew the details of the incident, that there was a staged assault on one detainee first, and a real assault on a second detainee later. The referenced statements from the MP witnesses spell this out clearly.
A Deeply Unfair Cast of Mind. My 2009 diary highlighting assault, sexual assault, and the threat of sexual assault at Abu Ghraib. Charles Graner and Christopher Brinson both have prominent roles in the diary.