CPL Graner was given a counseling statement 16 Nov 03 on his appearance and the rules of
engagement by his MP superior officer in charge of the hard site prison, CPT Christopher
Brinson.
As far as appearance, we were told by our military intelligence chain of command that we should
not wear our tops so that any detainees that could read English would not be able to see our names
or ranks. Either that or we should cover our name tapes with tape. Thus detainees always
referred to CPL Graner as "Sir", which he had written on tape covering his name. This was the
only thing detainees would call him.
Sometimes they made 2 'O' symbols with their thumbs and forefingers to symbolize glasses
meaning CPL Graner. However, somehow in CID sworn statements, detainees suddenly knew
CPL Graner's name. And, according to one prosecution witness, who was never on the block,
detainees referred to CPL Graner as "Mista, Mista", something which many Iraqis did, but
detainees on Tier 1 never did.
A use of force situation was discussed and properly followed based on the only document MP's
had to follow regarding Abu Ghraib, the rules of engagement (ROE). There was absolutely no
standard operating procedure in place, and one materialized only after the investigation began. The
ROE changed once after an Iraqi corrections officer smuggled a pistol and two knives into the
prison to a Syrian terrorist who tried to kill MPs and other soldiers. Less than lethal rounds were
replaced with lethal rounds in the new rules of engagement.
There were no credible claims of sodomy, rape, nor were their pictures or videos of such, at least not by any of the 7 MP's
involved in this investigation. The claims made by journalists to have seen video of Iraqi juveniles screaming were
irresponsible, because it was never made clear that it did not come from this investigation.
The only incident that I know of involving a chem light was one involving a detainee called "al Qaeda". A senior nco and a
soldier on the day shift put their chemical masks on and poured chem lights on themselves and entered the isolation cell
where this detainee was during a period of sleep management. The soldier may have poured chem light on this detainee, I
am not sure, however I know they did pour it on themselves to scare him to help with interrogations.
I have all the pictures and videos from the beginning of the investigation. I spent almost 13 hours a day on that
block. No rapes or sodomy occurred.
According to the sworn statement of this soldier, another soldier directly in the Chain of Command of CPL Graner not only
had pictures from Tier 1 on his computer, but CID deleted them.
There was no investigation or sworn statement from this soldier, nor was his computer seized and searched with the
recovery software Encase, as it was with the computers of CPL Graner and SPC Harman.
On January 16, 2003 the FOB Commander ordered amnesty boxes placed around the FOB Abu Ghraib and soldiers were
given an amnesty period in the middle of an official investigation for 2 days to get rid of any contraband they had in
their possession, including pictures of abuse. Since amnesty boxes were placed out in the middle of the living areas, widely
visible, soldiers were overheard stating they would throw out contraband rather than risk being seen dropping off anything
in amnesty boxes.
There was supposed to be a base wide inspection, which was never actually done in 4th platoon, I am not sure it happened
at all anywhere on Abu Ghraib. The acting 4th Platoon Sergeant commented to soldiers that he hoped that everyone got rid
of anything they shouldn't have and that it wasn't necessary to conduct an inspection.
There was never a concerted effort to check how many soldiers knew what was going on or for how long because it was
widely known from day one, and that knowledge would have blown the "Bad Apple Theory" away immediately.
Chaplain James Yee - one of the first Muslim Chaplains commissioned by the U.S Army, posted in
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in 2002. Less than a year after serving there, he was accused of
espionage by the military and faced charges so severe, that he was threatened with the death
penalty.
The military leaked information about the case to the press and the media went on a feeding
frenzy. Chaplain Yee was vilified on the airwaves as a traitor to his country and accused of being a
mole inside of the Army.
After his arrest, Yee was blindfolded, placed in manacles and taken to a Navy brig, where he spent
76 days in solitary confinement. When he saw his legal counsel, he was in leg irons.
On Sept. 16, Yee was driven to Charleston and was given the sensory-deprivation treatment the
military had used on Guantanamo prisoners when they were flown to Cuba. He was blindfolded
and placed in shackles, and his ears were covered to block his hearing. He spent the next 76 days
in solitary confinement. Yee was held in maximum security until Oct. 24. He wore hand and leg
irons when he left his cell. Brig guards refused to recognize him as an officer and required him to
identify himself as an E-1, the lowest enlisted rank. He wasn't allowed to send or receive mail,
watch TV or read anything except the Koran. Only his attorneys could visit. After Oct. 25, he
could make two 15-minute calls a day.
Then the military's case began to unravel. Charges of espionage leaked to the press never
materialized. The six counts against Yee that were dropped later were significantly less serious and
included mishandling classified materials, adultery, storing pornography on his Army laptop and
lying to investigators. Eight months after being accused, they were dropped altogether.
The decision to jail Yee was made by Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, then commander of
Guantanamo's detention camp. He oversaw the espionage investigations of all four men.
He has since been transferred to Iraq, where he is now engulfed in the controversy
involving prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib.
Chaplain Yee has written a book about his experiences called "For God and Country: Faith and
Patriotism Under Fire."
