US officers reprimanded over Iraqi prison torture

Seven American officers have been reprimanded in connection with the abuse of Iraqi prisoners carried out by guards at Baghdad’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison.

On the orders of Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, commander of US forces in Iraq, six of the soldiers – all officers and non-commissioned officers – have received the most severe level of administrative reprimand, an official said.

A seventh officer was given a more lenient admonishment.

The military official said he believed investigations of the officers were complete and they would not face further action or court martial. However, the reprimands could spell the end of their careers.

Another six US military police are facing criminal charges.

Allegations of abuse at Abu Ghraib prison, on Baghdad’s western outskirts, exploded onto the world stage last week when CBS TV broadcast images showing Iraqis stripped naked, hooded and being tormented by their U.S. captors.

An internal US army report found that Iraqi detainees were subjected to “sadistic, blatant and wanton criminal abuses,” according to The New Yorker magazine.

The official said the military is telling its servicemen to be on the lookout for backlash stemming from the abuse and is briefing troops on how to discuss the issue in conversation with Iraqis.

“We’ve made it very clear to commanders and all the way down to the lowest soldier, ’You’ve got to get out there and explain what happened here,”’ the official said.