Talk About Your Double Standard

NPR

CIA Exempt On Torture, But Not Lynndie England

But the lack of punishment for the severe interrogation actions that ravaged the nation's moral standing in the world has infuriated civil libertarians here and abroad.
And it has raised questions about punishments - including prison terms - already meted out to nine soldiers convicted in the 2004 abuse scandal at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

'This Is Not Justice'

"Every American should be outraged," says Roy T. Hardy, who represents Pfc. Lynndie England. The 22-year-old Army clerk became the international face of the Abu Ghraib scandal when photos of her in poses with naked Iraqi detainees shocked the world.

"Obama, who I love to death, is not going to punish CIA agents for doing what they were told to do," says Hardy, England's civilian lawyer, "when those torture memos gave them permission to do more than what was ever done at Abu Ghraib?"

Convicted in 2005 of maltreatment and conspiracy for posing in those pictures, including one in which she held a leash around a prisoner's neck, England has already served 1 1/2 years in military prisons, and an equal time on parole.

Now 25, she is living with her family and 4-year-old son in Ft. Ashby, W.Va., and is appealing her dishonorable discharge.

"This is not justice," Hardy says. England's military lawyer, Capt. Tim Thomas, could not be reached for comment Monday.