THE UNIVERSITY DAHY KANSAN
THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSippi
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29 2007
NEWS
5A
MILITARY
Officer found not guilty
Associated Press
U. S. Army Lt. Col. Steven J. Jordan, the former head of the interrogation center at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, leaves a military court after deliberations in his court-martial began Monday in Fort Mace, Md.
Lt. Col.acquitted in Abu Ghraib scandal
BY DAVID DISHNEAU ASSOCIATED PRESS
FORT MEADE, Md. — A military court acquitted an Army officer Tuesday of failing to control U.S. soldiers who abused detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, but it found him guilty of disobeying an order not to discuss the abuse investigation.
Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan was the only officer and the last of 12 defendants to go to trial in the 2003 Abu Ghraib scandal, which embarrassed the Pentagon and shocked the Muslim world.
The allegations at the U.S.-run prison came to light with the release of pictures of U.S. soldiers smiling while detainees, some of them naked, were held on leashes or in painful and humiliating positions at the prison. Jordan, 51, never appeared in the inflammatory photos, but he was accused of fostering a climate conducive to abuse.
The jury of nine colonels and one brigadier general deliberated for about seven hours before issuing its verdicts Tuesday. It also deliberated on a sentence Tuesday but recessed and is scheduled to continue Wednesday.
Prosecutors recommended that Jordan be reprimanded and fined one month's pay, about $7,400. The defense asked the panel for no punishment.
The jury acquitted Jordan of three counts: cruelty and maltreatment for subjecting detainees to forced nudity and intimidation by dogs; dereliction of a duty to properly train and supervise soldiers in humane interrogation rules; and failing to obey a lawful general order by ordering dogs used for interrogations without higher approval.
The jury found him guilty of one: disobeying a general's order not to talk to others about the investigation into the abuse.
Jordan, a reservist from Fredericksburg, Va., stood at attention facing the jury as the panel president, a brigadier general, read the verdict.
He faces a maximum sentence of five years.
At an afternoon sentencing hearing, Jordan told the panel in a choked, halting voice that he respected its decision and took sole responsibility for his actions.
"I know when you receive an order, if clarification is needed, it is my job'to get the job done," he said.
Jordan said he had been living and working under a cloud since the investigation began $3\frac{1}{4}$ years ago.
"When I first saw photographs of the horrible abuses at Abu Ghraib, I was shocked and I was saddened. It did not represent the U.S. soldiers that I know and love," he said.
"After today, I hope the wounds of Abu Ghraib can start to heal."
Jordan said his ordeal had been difficult on his three children and had harmed him physically and emotionally.
During the sentencing, the defense called 13 witnesses who praised Jordan's dedication and leadership qualities. They included seven senior officers, five of them now retired, who worked with Jordan during his 28-year military career, and four lower-ranking soldiers who
*awarded with him at Abu Ghraib*
Attorneys for the government and the defense declined to comment.
Jordan was director of Abu Ghraib's interrogation center from mid-September untilmid-November 2003. He was also the senior officer inside a prison cell block on Nov. 24, 2003, during at least part of an episode that included a strip-search for smuggled weapons and a dog brought in to intimidate a detainee during questioning in his cell.
The four days of testimony in the case offered conflicting notions of command responsibility.
The prosecutor said in his closing argument Monday that Jordan wasn't court-martialed for what he did at Abu Ghraib, but for what he didn't do.
"He didn't train. He didn't supervise," Lt. Col. John P. Tracy told the military panel.
The defense countered that Jordan was outside the command chain and therefore not responsible for the military intelligence soldiers who interrogated detainees and the military police who guarded them.
"There is no evidence of a failure to train and supervise, no evidence of failure to ensure compliance," Maj. Kris Poppe said in his closing for the defense.
Jack Connor, Overland Park senior and student senator, initially voted against Barnes' appointment because of the misconduct conversations. Connor said he would consider both Barnes' recent work and last spring's election when he casted his vote tonight.
DIRECTOR (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
"I'll weigh them against whatever she's done," Connor said. "If she's done a good job, I will vote to reinstate her."
Barnes said she hoped senators would leave party politics behind when they decide whether to vote for her tonight.
"When senators come on Wednesday night to approve me, they should look at all I've done this summer," Barnes said. "I'm the
Treaster said he trusted Rachel and didn't think she was involved in unethical campaigning last spring.
"I think that she's qualified for the job and it would be a setback to the organization if she wasn't reappointed," Treaster said.
most qualified for this position."
Love said that she was unsure what would happen if Barnes' appointment did not pass.
"We'll see what happens then," Love said. "You have to have a community affairs director"
Student Senate meets tonight at 6:30 p.m. in the Kansas Room at the Kansas Union.
Edited by Kyle Carter
MINERS
Men emerge after trapped six days
BY ANITA CHANG ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIJING — The Meng brothers felt pretty good about their chances of making it out of the collapsed coal mine, until the sound of digging from outside stopped.
Meng Xianchen and Meng Xianyou finally clawed their way to the surface after nearly six days underground — a rare tale of survival in China's coal mines, the world's deadliest, where an average
With no food or water,
they were forced to eat coal and drink their own urine from discarded bottles. When they were too
"At the beginning, our cell phone still had power so there was a little bit of light. Two days later, the battery ran out so we could only feel with our fingers and listen," the brothers told the state-run Beijing News in a report published Tuesday.
Details of the veteriners' ordeal came as rescuers in northeastern China's Shandong province tried to reach 181 miners trapped in two flooded coal shafts. Officials said Tuesday they had not given
"At the end we were so hungry we ate coal and thought it tasted delicious."
MENG XIANCHEN Trapped miner
exhausted to try to dig themselves out, they slept huddled together in the cold and dark.
up hope even though the workers' chances of survival were dim after 11 days.
"At first we didn't feel hungry, but later on, we were so hungry we couldn't even crawl." Meng Xianchen said. "At the end, we were so hungry we ate coal and thought it tasted delicious."
The two even managed to crack jokes about their wives remarrying once they were dead after they emerged Friday from the illegal mine — which had no oxygen, ventilation or emergency exits — in Beijing's Fangshan district.
If those workers were found dead, it would be among the worst accidents of its kind in 58 years of communist rule, second
only to an explosion that killed 214 miners in 2005. The government has pledged to improve safety, but owners flout safety rules and illegal operations abound to fuel the country's growing energy needs.
Doctors have said the Mengs had kidney damage from lack of water but no other major injuries after being trapped for more than 130 hours. Beijing News ran a photo of the men dressed in hospital gowns, looking gaunt but standing and clasping each others' hand while surrounded by relatives.
CRIME
Senator denies fault despite plea
BY TODD DVORAK ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOISE, Idaho — A defiant Sen. Larry Craig denied any wrongdoing Tuesday despite his guilty plea this summer in a men's room police sting, emphatically adding, "I am not gay. I never have been gay."
Craig, a third-term senator from Idaho, proclaimed his innocence as well as his sexuality less than an hour after Senate leaders from his own Republican Party called for an ethics committee review of his case.
Craig, his wife, Suzanne, at his side, took no questions in a brief appearance in the capital city of the state he has represented in Congress
for more than two decades in the House and then the Senate.
"While I was not involved in any inappropriate conduct in the Minneapolis Airport or anywhere else, I chose to plead guilty to a lesser charge in hopes of making it go away." He said he kept the information from his friends, family and staff, adding, "I wasn't eager to share this failure but I should have anyway because I am not gay."
Craig, 62, had faced rumors about his sexuality since the 1980s, but allegations that he had engaged in gay sex had never been substantiated. He has denied the assertions.
gating allegations of sexual conduct in airport restrooms, went into a stall shortly after noon on June 11 and closed the door.
After a man in the adjacent stall left, Craig entered it and put his roller bag against the front of the stall door, "which Sgt. Karsnia's experience has indicated is used to attempt to conceal sexual conduct by blocking the view from the front of the stall", said the complaint. Craig then tapped his right foot several times and then moved it to where it touched Karsnia's foot.
Minutes later, the officer said he saw Craig gazing into his stall through the crack between the door and the frame.
The official police complaint said Sgt. Dave Karsnia, who was investi-
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