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Sabrina Harman Sentenced to Six Months in Jaill

By Jeralyn, Section War In Iraq
Posted on Tue May 17, 2005 at 08:32:14 PM EST
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Bump and Update: Sabrina Harman's gamble to go to trial paid off. She was sentenced today to six months in prison, less than what the Government had last offeredl

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Original Post 5/16

Sabrina Harman was convicted by a military jury today of six of the seven counts against her. The six counts are conspiracy to maltreat detainees, four counts of maltreating detainees and one count of dereliction of duty. She was acquitted of one count of maltreatment. The sentencing phase begins tomorrow. The maximum she can receive is five and one half years.

The prosecutor's version:

"They were all acting together for their own amusement," said Capt. Chris Graveline. "There was no justification for what they did that night."

The defense version:

Defense lawyer Frank Spinner said Harman was a novice soldier who had no prison guard experience and who received virtually no training before going to work at the chaotic and overcrowded prison .... "Shame on the Army for putting an ill-equipped, ill-trained junior specialist in a position where she had to challenge her (enlisted) leadership to do the right thing."

It's impossible to work up any sympathy for Sabrina Harman. A child would know what she did was wrong. Her lawyer did make one good point, though:

"This is not one of the Army's finest moments."

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    Sabrina Harman Sentenced to Six Months in Jaill | 10 comments (10 topical)
    Re: Sabrina Harman Sentenced to Six Months in Jail (none / 0) (#1)
    by Che's Lounge on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:08 PM EST
    Look! Over there! Newsweek!!!

    Re: Sabrina Harman Sentenced to Six Months in Jail (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:11 PM EST
    Errr... It's not the 'liberated woman's' finest hour either, I daresay. These ladies have set back the Middle Eastern women's movements back fifty years. "If we let them vote.. if we don't beat them and keep them pregnant and cooking... look what happens!" However these "ladies" actions are the result of top down mismanagment, ineptitude and possibly criminal negligence to say the least. If her head's rolling, lets see the smug faces of the power-drunk money-bloated oil-covered brief-writing concievers of this nightmare roll also.

    Re: Sabrina Harman Sentenced to Six Months in Jail (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:11 PM EST
    Good thing the Muslims don't care about this sort of thing...just don't dis the Koran...

    Re: Sabrina Harman Sentenced to Six Months in Jail (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:11 PM EST
    mfox: only three out of nine Abu Ghraib defendants were women. What the hell has this got to do with women's lib? "These ladies have set back the Middle Eastern women's movements back fifty years." Funny you should say that on the day after Kuwaiti women got the right to vote for the first time.

    Re: Sabrina Harman Sentenced to Six Months in Jail (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:11 PM EST
    Isn't it the same as painting all blacks as criminals, or all Arabs as terrorists? Welcome to American morality, mfox...don't take it personal... By that token, every white dude should be rounded up as a serial killer/drunk driver/Stock market crook/risk, don't you all think?

    Re: Sabrina Harman Sentenced to Six Months in Jail (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:11 PM EST
    Ginger and Blagh, I understand and appreciate your comments. Unfortunately, with women so new to active duty and the number of women in the photos proportionately outnumbering the men/women ratio, these are the faces of America's "freedom" and female "progress". Of course there are many strong, educated, proud, feminist Muslim women. And why should female soldiers be any more immune to these pressures than men? No reason. However, pictures capture moments and, like the picture of the hooded, wired detainee standing on a box, the faces of fresh-faced young American women will be associated by many with the desecration of Muslim culture and practice. So, repeating myself, if we weren't so callous and inept, perhaps Jessica Lynch would still be the poster girl for women in the military, not Lyndie England. That said, it is Lyndie England the Moslem world will remember and I believe that Muslim women will suffer for this tarnished and distorted take on so-called feminism.

    Re: Sabrina Harman Sentenced to Six Months in Jail (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:11 PM EST
    mfox, Blagh is with you 100%- his sarcasm was levelled at those who use isolated incidents to paint entire groups with the same broad brush... Yes, Jessica Lynch is more sympathetic a "woman" than England, but you also gotta dance wit' the gal what brung ya, right? And England loves to "dance," from what Blagh's seen. Personally, Blagh would have preferred that men continue to be the only human beings who disgrace the very meaning of the definition...let the women stay above it... Of course people would say (incorrectly) that Blagh is justifying his chauvenism, and that's why Blagh, while disagreeing with women in combat, states categorically that they have every right to join the military, provided they pass the same physical and mental tests required of men (equal rights don't allow an 80lb woman to lug around a rocket launcher), and he would be the first to fight for that right...

    Re: Sabrina Harman Sentenced to Six Months in Jail (none / 0) (#8)
    by Jlvngstn on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:11 PM EST
    Sell a bong, get at least a year, violate an Iraqi's human rights and we will give you 6 whopping months.

    Re: Sabrina Harman Sentenced to Six Months in Jail (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:11 PM EST
    Remember Jlvngstn that you are "either with them or against them" Torturing prisoners falls on one side (Patriotism) and Bong smoking falls on the other (Commie/Pinko/Hippie/Liberal). They've got Grainer, Harmon and England, we've got Chong Bongs. I'm happy. Any questions?

    Re: Sabrina Harman Sentenced to Six Months in Jail (none / 0) (#10)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:11 PM EST
    J...nice comparison. It's either laugh or cry.

    Sabrina Harman Sentenced to Six Months in Jaill | 10 comments (10 topical)