One Honorable Man

Private Lynndie England’s hearing to determine whether she will face court martial is underway. In the midst of this disgrace, it’s worth pointing out that not every soldier in Abu Ghraib was involved in torture. I’m sure some didn’t know, some knew and tried to pretend it wasn’t happening, and one chose to do something about it:

The court also heard testimony from Staff. Sgt. Joseph Darby, who turned over the prisoner abuse photos to military criminal investigators. He said he got them from CDs given to him by Spc. Charles Graner, who has been described as the “ringleader” of abuse at Abu Ghraib.

Graner and England are among seven military police charged in the prison scandal. Press reports indicate Graner is the father of the pregnant England’s child [Ed.: Yikes!].

Darby said he struggled with the decision to turn the photos over to military officials because Graner was a friend.

What he saw on the CDs, he said, “violated everything I personally believed in and everything I had been taught about the rules of war.”

Darby also related an incident in which Graner showed him an image on a video camera of a prisoner standing naked, hooded and handcuffed in a cell.

“He said, ‘The Christian in me knows this is wrong but the corrections officer in me can’t help but make a grown man piss himself,”‘ Darby quoted Graner as saying.

AB