LoungeMachine
11-03-2006, 09:54 PM
Abu Ghraib dog handler won't go on to Iraq with unit
POSTED: 2:14 p.m. EST, November 3, 2006
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Army dog handler who was one of the soldiers who abused detainees at Abu Ghraib prison will not go on to Iraq with his unit, which has arrived in Kuwait, the Army decided Friday.
Although Sgt. Santos Cardona left Monday for Iraq with the 23rd Military Police Company from Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, he will remain in Kuwait for safety's sake.
"It would not be prudent" to allow him to be sent on to Iraq, the spokesman said.
"We are extremely concerned, in light of the publicity about his situation, about his personal safety," said Paul Boyce, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon, according to The Associated Press. "So for the good of the soldier, as well as the situation, he has been stopped in Kuwait pending review by the chain of command."
His case is under review, but the Army says because of the publicity surrounding his conviction he would be a target for insurgents, which would also put his fellow soldiers in danger.
The Army said Cardona has served his sentence of 90 days of hard labor, and is in the process of paying his fine at the rate of $600 a month.
His sentence did not include jail time, and after his 90 days he chose to remain in the Army. He no longer handles dogs, Boyce told AP.
Time Magazine -- whose parent company, like CNN, is Time Warner -- first reported that Cardona was returning to the Middle East with his unit.
Cardona was convicted in a court martial this summer of dereliction of duty and aggravated assault when he used his dog to terrorize a kneeling prisoner.
In the infamous case in which photos of U.S. soldiers abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib surfaced around the world, 11 soldiers were convicted of crimes related to those abuses in 2003 and early 2004.
POSTED: 2:14 p.m. EST, November 3, 2006
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Army dog handler who was one of the soldiers who abused detainees at Abu Ghraib prison will not go on to Iraq with his unit, which has arrived in Kuwait, the Army decided Friday.
Although Sgt. Santos Cardona left Monday for Iraq with the 23rd Military Police Company from Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, he will remain in Kuwait for safety's sake.
"It would not be prudent" to allow him to be sent on to Iraq, the spokesman said.
"We are extremely concerned, in light of the publicity about his situation, about his personal safety," said Paul Boyce, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon, according to The Associated Press. "So for the good of the soldier, as well as the situation, he has been stopped in Kuwait pending review by the chain of command."
His case is under review, but the Army says because of the publicity surrounding his conviction he would be a target for insurgents, which would also put his fellow soldiers in danger.
The Army said Cardona has served his sentence of 90 days of hard labor, and is in the process of paying his fine at the rate of $600 a month.
His sentence did not include jail time, and after his 90 days he chose to remain in the Army. He no longer handles dogs, Boyce told AP.
Time Magazine -- whose parent company, like CNN, is Time Warner -- first reported that Cardona was returning to the Middle East with his unit.
Cardona was convicted in a court martial this summer of dereliction of duty and aggravated assault when he used his dog to terrorize a kneeling prisoner.
In the infamous case in which photos of U.S. soldiers abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib surfaced around the world, 11 soldiers were convicted of crimes related to those abuses in 2003 and early 2004.