Latest Sergeant Stories
By Stuart Grudgings FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - A U.S. Army sergeant was found guilty on Thursday of assaulting a prisoner with his dog at Abu Ghraib prison, becoming the 11th soldier convicted in the scandal that President George W. Bush called the biggest mistake of the U.S. war in Iraq. Sgt. Santos Cardona, 32, of Fullerton, California, was convicted on two out of nine counts against him -- failing to handle his dog properly and using the unmuzzled Belgian shepherd to threaten...
By Stuart Grudgings FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - The defense wrapped up its case on Friday in the military trial of a sergeant accused of terrorizing detainees at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, after struggling to prove that the abuse was approved by superiors. Army dog handler Sgt. Santos Cardona, 32, faces 16 years in prison if found guilty on all charges involving using his dog to scare and humiliate prisoners from late 2003 to early 2004. He would be the 11th soldier, none of them...
By Stuart Grudgings FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - Senior U.S. officials silently condoned harsher methods at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison and one general urged guards to use dogs to the "maximum extent possible" to control detainees, witnesses said on Thursday. The testimony came on the fourth day of the military trial of Army dog handler Sgt. Santos Cardona, 32, who is accused of taking part in abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib that the U.S. government blames on rogue low-ranking...
By Stuart Grudgings FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - The former commander of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay urged the use of dogs to the "maximum extent possible" to control detainees at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, but did not order their use in interrogations, a witness said on Thursday. The testimony came on the fourth day of the military trial of army dog handler Sgt. Santos Cardona, who is accused of taking part in abuse of detainees at the Iraqi prison that the U.S....
By Bill Trott FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - Army dog handler Sgt. Santos Cardona was part of a group of "corrupt cops" who tormented Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison for their own amusement, a military prosecutor said on Tuesday. Cardona allowed his Belgian shepherd, Duco, to bite an inmate and joined another military police dog handler in a competition to see who could make the most prisoners urinate or defecate on themselves, Maj. Matthew Miller said at Cardona's...
By Bill Trott FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - A U.S. Army sergeant went on trial on Monday on charges of abusing Iraqi inmates with his dog in the military's latest prosecution of low-ranking soldiers in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. The court martial of Sgt. Santos Cardona, 32, could be more significant than those of the 10 American soldiers previously convicted of abuse of Iraqi prisoners because testimony is expected from Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, who helped shape policies at...
By Bill Trott FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - A U.S. Army sergeant went on trial on Monday on charges of abusing Iraqi inmates with his dog in the military's latest prosecution of low-ranking soldiers in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. The court martial of Sgt. Santos Cardona, 32, could be more significant than those of the 10 American soldiers previously convicted of abuse of Iraqi prisoners because testimony is expected from Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, who helped shape policies at...
COLCHESTER (Reuters) - A British military court began hearings on Monday in the case of four soldiers accused of manslaughter for forcing an Iraqi prisoner into a canal in Basra where he drowned. Soldiers James Cooke, 22, Joseph McCleary, 24, Martin McGing, 22, of the Irish Guards and Color Sergeant Carle Selman of the Coldstream Guards, 39, will face a seven-member court martial panel. Legal arguments began on Monday, with prosecutors due to present their case later this week in a...
By Andy Sullivan FORT MEADE, Maryland (Reuters) - A U.S. military dog handler charged with abusing detainees at Baghdad's notorious Abu Ghraib prison was simply following orders, his lawyers said on Monday at the start of his court-martial. Army Sgt. Michael Smith, 24, would face up to 24-1/2 years in prison if he is found guilty of using his dog to harass and threaten inmates at Abu Ghraib in order to make them urinate and defecate on themselves in 2003 and 2004. Prosecutors said...
By Haitham Haddadin CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait (Reuters) - A U.S. military probe recommended on Tuesday that a sergeant charged with murdering two colleagues in Iraq face a possible death sentence at a court martial for the first such crime since the 2003 invasion. Investigating officer Colonel Patrick Reinert said in the non-binding recommendation that he found "aggravating factors" that could permit possible capital punishment for Staff Sergeant Alberto Martinez. The No. 2 U.S. commander...
