A US military jury drew applause from soldiers when it recommended an officer who was found guilty of the negligent homicide of an Iraqi general should only be given a reprimand.
Initially charged with murder, Chief Warrant Officer Lewis Welshofer jnr now faces a barracks restriction for 60 days.
"I deeply apologise if my actions tarnished the soldiers serving in Iraq," Welshofer said during his sentencing hearing. "It was never my intent to cast aspersions on their tremendous accomplishments."
Welshofer was convicted on Saturday of negligent homicide and negligent dereliction of duty for stuffing the Iraqi general headfirst into a sleeping bag and sitting on his chest.
Prosecutors had described Welshofer as a rogue interrogator who escalated his techniques from simple interviews to beatings to simulating drowning, and, finally, to death.
The defence claimed that a heart condition caused Gen Mowhoush's 2003 death, and that Welshofer's commanders had approved the interrogation technique.
A death certificate published by the Pentagon gave the cause as asphyxia due to smothering and chest compression
David Danzig, spokesman for New York-based Human Rights First, said he was shocked by what he saw as a too-lenient sentence.
"My concern is that it suggests the United States doesn't take these kinds of issues seriously. There's no indication anything more will be done to account for the death of this detainee who was in US custody."