US Army changes 'cowardice' charge

The US Army has dropped a cowardice charge against an Army interrogator who sought counselling after he saw the body of an Iraqi man cut in half by American fire.

Staff Sergeant Georg-Andreas Pogany was charged instead with dereliction of duty, according to a statement released by Fort Carson officials. A military court hearing scheduled for today was cancelled.

The new charge was filed by the company commander after military judges dismissed the cowardice charge, officials said.

Lawyer Frank Spinner, a retired Air Force colonel who handles military cases, said dereliction of duty is a minor offence that, if disposed of without a court-martial, is usually is penalised by loss of pay or reduction in rank.

With a court-martial, the maximum penalty is several months confinement, said Spinner, of Colorado Springs. Whether a court-martial is held depends on the military judiciary.

After seeing the mangled corpse, Pogany says he began shaking and vomiting and feared for his life. Soon, Pogany says, he had trouble sleeping and started suffering what he thought were panic attacks.

Six weeks later, Pogany, 32, was charged with cowardice, a count that he said was filed after he sought counselling. Pogany denies that he acted in a cowardly way.

“What is tragic about this is the message being sent to other soldiers,” Pogany said recently. “It’s not about me.”

Cowardice violations can be punished by death. Military code does not include a minimum sentence.

Army officials have declined to discuss the case.

Cowardice charges are rare. The last such conviction in the US Army occurred during the Vietnam War. Charges were filed against a married couple during the Gulf War, but reduced to mistreatment of public property, said Eugene Fidell, president of the National Institute of Military Justice.

Assigned to the 10th Special Forces Group, Pogany was attached to a team of Green Berets on September 26 when he departed for Iraq. He declined to discuss his responsibilities, citing security issues.

Three days later, he was standing in a US compound near Samarra, north of Baghdad, when soldiers brought in the Iraqi man’s bloody body. The soldiers told Pogany the man was killed after he was seen shooting a rocket-propelled grenade.