Finally, some justice. I can't even explain why the military is so brainwashed into following and committing crimes. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

U.S. Soldier Sentenced to 8 Years for Iraq Abuse
Thu Oct 21, 2004 10:02 AM ET

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. Staff Sergeant Ivan Frederick was sentenced to eight years in prison on Thursday for sexually and physically abusing detainees at the Abu Ghraib jail in Baghdad.
Judge Colonel James Pohl also sentenced Frederick, 38, to a reduction in rank to private, to forfeiture of pay and a dishonorable discharge from the army.

Frederick's lawyer Gary Myers called the sentence "excessive" and said he intended to appeal.

"We will seek to try to achieve a sentence reduction," he said.

Frederick, the most senior enlisted man charged in the Abu Ghraib scandal, had pleaded guilty to five charges of abusing detainees at the facility in October and November last year, including making three prisoners masturbate.

He also punched one prisoner so hard in the chest that he needed resuscitation.

Major Michael Holley, the military prosecutor, told the court it was a simple case of right and wrong.

"He's an adult and capable of telling, as we learned, the difference between right and wrong," he said of Frederick. "How much training do you need to learn that it's wrong to force a man to masturbate?"

Myers said that while Frederick was right to be punished, a degree of responsibility had to be borne by the military establishment.

"Punish him, yes. But please try to understand the defense's point of view that there is corporate responsibility," Myers said. "We discovered that (Frederick) has no abhorrent tendencies."

Frederick is the third U.S. soldier to be convicted for his part in the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal. Five soldiers are still due to face courts martial.

Judge Pohl originally sentenced Frederick to 10 years inprisonment, but reduced it to eight years because of a plea bargain.