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Reservists followed orders, defenders say
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-05-11 20:03

The families of seven Army reservists charged with abusing Iraqi prisoners are fighting back, saying their loved ones are being made scapegoats for doing what they were told.

The families said the CIA , military intelligence and private contractors were running the show at the Abu Ghraib prison and should be held responsible.

"I'll be disappointed if the American people don't rise up and protest the treatment of the foot soldiers," said Ivan "Red" Frederick, whose son, Staff Sgt. Ivan "Chip" Frederick II, has been charged with abusing inmates.

In defending themselves, the reservists, and their supporters, have become increasingly vocal:

** The family of Pfc. Lynndie England, 21, who on Sunday became the seventh soldier charged, held a news conference in her hometown of Fort Ashby, W.Va. "Certain people in the Army told her to do what she did. She follows orders," said her sister, Jessica Klinestiver.

** Spc. Sabrina Harman, 26, told The Washington Post in an e-mail that intelligence officers delivered inmates "already hooded and cuffed. The job of the MP (military police) was to keep them awake, make it hell, so they would talk." Her mother, Robin Harman, told the Post, "They're passing the buck, putting it all on the little kids."

** Spc. Jeremy Sivits, 24, "was just following instructions," said his father, Daniel Sivits. "Apparently, he was told to take a picture, and he did what he was told."

** Sgt. Javal Davis, 26, told investigators he saw prisoners "being made to do things that I would question morally."

Frederick's family has started a Web site - www.freechipfrederick.com - as part of a campaign to exonerate the Mountain Lake Park, Md., man. The soldier's brother-in-law is working with other families to organize a challenge to the charges against the reservists.

England is charged with assaulting detainees and committing indecent acts. She was photographed with a cigarette dangling from her mouth and pointing at the genitals of naked inmates.

The military said Sunday that Sivits would be the first to face a court-martial proceeding in a hearing set for May 19 in Baghdad. The hearing will be open to the public.

The soldiers are under the Army Reserve's 800th Military Police Brigade, which was given the task of guarding suspected insurgents and terrorists at the Abu Ghraib prison on the edge of Baghdad.

Because of the charges against the four men and three women, members of the 2,800-person brigade slated to receive Bronze Stars have been dropped from the list, said Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, the brigade's former commander. Bronze stars are awarded for heroism or outstanding achievement.

Supporters said the accused soldiers were ordered by intelligence operatives and military officers to treat the prisoners harshly.

"The CIA and the contractors were slapping him on the back and telling him what a great job he was doing. (They were) getting more information than ever," said Ivan Frederick, 76, who talked to his son on Sunday.

He said the reservists were poorly trained. When his son, a prison guard in Virginia, asked for the prison's rules and regulations, he was told there were none.

"He was instructed to go back down, do as he was told and don't worry about it," Frederick said.

Other families and friends said they heard the same.

Even if that is true, the accused may still be held accountable since they are obligated not to follow orders considered illegal or immoral. However, if the soldiers were following orders, that could expand the investigation in ways that raise questions about intelligence operations and the use of private contractors.

"The person who brought (prisoners) in would set the standards on whether or not to 'be nice,' " Harman wrote in her e-mail to the Post. "If the prisoner was cooperating, then the prisoner was able to keep his jumpsuit, mattress, and was allowed cigarettes on request or even hot food. But if the prisoner didn't give what they wanted, it was all taken away until (military intelligence) decided.

"Sleep, food, clothes, mattresses, cigarettes were all privileges and were granted with information received."

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