US soldiers who abused Iraqi prisoners at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison did
it for fun, a military investigator testified today at the start of a hearing in the case of a female soldier photographed holding a naked Iraqi on a leash.
A military court at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, convened to decide whether Pfc. Lynndie England will be tried for the prisoner abuse that outraged the Arab world and embarrassed the Bush administration as it sought to stabilize Iraq.
Chief Warrant Officer Paul Arthur, the lead criminal investigator into the abuse at Abu Ghraib, was the first witness to take the stand in a red-brick judge advocate's
building in Fort Bragg, where the pregnant England has been stationed since her return from Iraq.
Arthur told the military court that England said in a sworn statement in January that one of her superiors, Spc. Charles Graner, told her to pose for the infamous photograph of the naked Iraqi prisoner on a leash, one of a series of pictures.
Asked if he had determined why the US soldiers had abused the prisoners, Arthur said: "Basically it was just for fun ... and to vent their frustration."
England , dressed in camouflage uniform, black boots and beret, entered the courthouse moments before the hearing began, ignoring dozens of media cameras and reporters.
Inside the courtroom, she answered "Yes Ma'am" and "No Ma'am" to a series of simple questions from Col. Denise Arn, the investigating officer, about the charges she faces.
England , 21, was charged along with six other US military police reservists in a scandal that prompted an apology from US President George W. Bush, who placed the blame on a small group of soldiers.
England has said she was following orders when she appeared in the pictures.
Lawyers for some of the accused say intelligence officers told them to soften up prisoners for questioning. The Pentagon has denied sanctioning rough treatment to make inmates talk.