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"...even the wicked get worse than they deserve." - Willa Cather, One of Ours

Saturday, May 08, 2004

Where did the photos come from?

Political Animal (Liberal)

Who gave the Taguba report to Seymour Hersh? As I noted yesterday, the most likely suspect seems to be Gary Myers, the civilian defense attorney for Chip Frederick. Frederick is one of the six soldiers currently facing prosecution for the events at Abu Ghraib...

But what about the photos? Who gave the photos to 60 Minutes II? Answer: apparently Chip Frederick's father...

...this part of the story could use a little more attention too:

The irony, Mr. Lawson said, is that the public spectacle might have been avoided if the military and the federal government had been responsive to his claims that his nephew was simply following orders. Mr. Lawson said he sent letters to 17 members of Congress about the case earlier this year, with virtually no response, and that he ultimately contacted Mr. Hackworth's Web site out of frustration, leading him to cooperate with a consultant for "60 Minutes II."

"The Army had the opportunity for this not to come out, not to be on 60 Minutes," he said. "But the Army decided to prosecute those six G.I.'s because they thought me and my family were a bunch of poor, dirt people who could not do anything about it. But unfortunately, that was not the case."
[...]
Blackmail to get his son off? Well, if he was my kid I might have done the same. In a way he is right -- it would be obscene if the officers got off, and it's only the enlisted people who are court-martialed.

Also, 17 congressmen knew about this? It would be nice to know who got this blackmail letter from Mr. Frederick, and compare it with a list of those who are "shocked, shocked" about this issue.

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