Abu Ghraib officer's jury meets for second day

By Tony Czuczka Aug 28, 2007, 13:22 GMT

Fort Meade, Maryland - A US Army officer who headed the notorious interrogation site at Abu Ghraib prison awaited his fate Tuesday as the jury in his court-martial deliberated for a second day.

Lieutenant Colonel Steven Jordan, 51, is charged with mistreatment and cruelty, disobeying orders and dereliction of duty for his alleged role in abuses by US soldiers, which shocked the world, outraged Muslims and hurt American credibility.

An Army reservist who volunteered for Iraq when US-led forces invaded in March 2003, Jordan could face eight-and-a-half years behind bars. He denies wrongdoing and claims the US military made him a scapegoat for the scandal.

Jordan headed the interrogation centre at the prison outside Baghdad in the fall of 2003. Eleven lower-ranking US soldiers were convicted of abusing detainees at Abu Ghraib during that time, but Jordan is the first - and likely the only - officer to be charged.

A jury of 10 Army officers deliberated for more than four hours Monday before recessing without a verdict.

Military prosecutors allege that Jordan encouraged the rule- breaking by failing to properly train and supervise soldiers. He is also accused of allowing others to mistreat Iraqi detainees.

Jordan headed the site when US military police soldiers on night duty took infamous pictures of naked detainees being mistreated, sexually humiliated and threatened with dogs.

He is not charged specifically for those abuses, but over a November 2003 incident when US troops lined up Iraqi guards for a strip search after a detainee smuggled weapons into his cell. Dogs allegedly were used to control the Iraqis.

Prosecutors argue that the actions happened without the required authorization from the top US commander in Iraq and Jordan, as the senior officer at the scene, should have stopped them.

But the most severe charge is disobeying orders. In 2004, Jordan allegedly ignored a general's order not to communicate with other soldiers about an internal investigation into the Abu Ghraib abuses.

Evidence presented in court indicated that he e-mailed several soldiers he knew from Abu Ghraib, asking whether they believed he was connected to any abuses.

The defence argued that Jordan in effect had no control over military intelligence soldiers and military police operating the centre, which was rapidly built up as US leaders pressed for better intelligence from detainees to help counter a Sunni insurgency.

Jordan was a model soldier who improved living conditions for the troops - providing everything from clean latrines to an internet cafe - and moved them out of tents that were vulnerable to mortar attacks, defence lawyers said.

The scandal erupted when the photos became public in 2004, inflaming anti-Americanism in the Middle East, causing worldwide outrage and damaging US credibility.