Lynndie England

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Lynndie Rana England
November 08, 1982—
Place of birth	Ashland, Kentucky
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Army
Rank	Specialist
Unit	372nd Military Police Company

Lynndie Rana England (born November 8, 1982) is a United States Army reservist who served in the 372nd Military Police Company. She was one of several soldiers convicted by the Army courts-martial in connection with the torture and prisoner abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad during the occupation of Iraq.

England held the rank of specialist while serving in Iraq. Along with other soldiers, she was found guilty of inflicting sexual, physical and psychological abuse on Iraqi prisoners of war.

England faced a general court-martial in January 2005 on charges of conspiracy to maltreat prisoners and assault consummated by battery. The formal charges did not mention the word "torture," although some commentators have so described her conduct. On April 30, 2005, England agreed to plead guilty to abuse charges. Her plea bargain would have reduced her maximum sentence from 16 years to 11 years had it been accepted by the military judge. She would have pleaded guilty to four counts of maltreating prisoners, two counts of conspiracy, and one count of dereliction of duty. In exchange, prosecutors would have dropped two other charges, committing indecent acts and failure to obey a lawful order.

On May 4, 2005, Colonel James Pohl tossed out her plea bargain as new testimony by now Pvt. Graner suggested that Pfc. England did not know her actions were wrong at the time [which in itself many have found rather telling]. This contradicts Pfc. England's statements of May 2, 2005, when she entered her guilty plea. On September 26, 2005, England was convicted of one count of conspiracy, four counts of maltreating detainees and one count of committing an indecent act. She was acquitted on a second conspiracy count.[1] England has been sentenced to three years for her crimes and given a dishonorable discharge.

On September 27, 2005, England apologized only for appearing in the pictures, and never for the maltreatment and assault she committed on the prisoners.

England worked in the kitchen of a prison (Naval Consolidated Brig, Miramar) from which she was paroled on March 3, 2007, after having served 521 days [2]. She will remain on parole through September 2008, when her three-year sentence will be complete and she will receive a dishonorable discharge.

[edit] Biography

Pfc. England holding a leash attached to a prisoner collapsed on the floor, known to the guards as "Gus"

Born in Ashland, Kentucky [3], England moved with her family to Fort Ashby, West Virginia, when she was two years old. She grew up as the daughter of a railroad worker, Kenneth England, who worked at the station in nearby Cumberland, Maryland, and Terrie Bowling England. At school, England, just 5 feet 3 inches (160 cm) tall, was known for wearing combat boots and camouflage fatigues.

England joined the United States Army Reserve in Cumberland in 2001 while she was a junior at Frankfort High School near Short Gap, to escape from a night job in a chicken-processing factory in Moorefield and to earn money so she could go to college to become a storm chaser. She was also a member of the Future Farmers of America. After graduating from Frankfort High School in 2001, she worked as a cashier in an IGA and married a co-worker, James L. Fike, in 2002, but they later divorced. She was sent to Iraq in 2003.

England was engaged to fellow reservist Charles Graner. She gave birth to a son, Carter Allan England, at 21:25 on October 11, 2004, at Womack Army Medical Center on Fort Bragg. News accounts of the birth referred to Graner as England's "ex-boyfriend."

[edit] Court-martial

Even before England was formally charged, she was transferred to the U.S. military installation at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina on May 5, 2004, because of her pregnancy.

Spc. England pointing to naked prisoners

England was charged with two counts of conspiracy to maltreat detainees, one count of dereliction of duty, four counts of cruelty and maltreatment and two counts of committing indecent acts at the Abu Ghraib prison in 2003.

She originally faced 19 criminal counts that could have brought up to 38 years behind bars, but military prosecutors reduced the charges in February 2005. No explanation was given for the reduction.

At her trial in May 2005, military judge Colonel James Pohl declared a mistrial on the grounds that he could not accept her plea of guilty under a plea-bargain to a charge of conspiring with Spc. Charles Graner Jr. to maltreat detainees after Graner testified that he believed that, in placing a tether around the naked detainee's neck and asking England to pose for a photograph with him, he was documenting a legitimate use of force.

At her retrial, England was convicted on September 26, 2005 of one count of conspiracy, four counts of maltreating detainees and one count of committing an indecent act. She was acquitted on a second conspiracy count. Along with a dishonorable discharge, England received a three-year prison sentence on September 27. The prosecution had asked the jury to imprison England for four to six years. Her defense lawyers asked for no time.

Graner, the alleged ringleader of the abuse, was convicted on all charges earlier this year and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Graner and England were once lovers, and authorities believe he is the father of England's newborn child.

Four guards and two low-level military intelligence officers have made plea deals in the case. Their sentences ranged from no time to 8 1/2 years. No officers have gone to trial, though several received administrative punishment.

[edit] Quotes from the Family

Spc. England and Spc. Graner posing behind a pyramid of naked Iraqi prisoners, giving the "thumbs up" sign

Defending England, her mother Terrie said: "They were just doing stupid kid things, pranks." and that according to her daughter, "Nothing happened which wasn't ordered by higher up. They are trying to pin all of this on the lower ranks. My daughter was just following orders. I think there's a conspiracy."

[edit] England defends actions

In a May 11, 2004 interview with Denver CBS affiliate television station KCNC-TV, England reportedly said that she was "instructed by persons in higher ranks" to commit the acts of abuse for psyop reasons, and that she should keep doing it, because it worked as intended. England noted that she felt "weird" when a commanding officer asked her to do such things as "stand there, give the thumbs up, and smile". However, England felt that she was doing "nothing out of the ordinary". (See the interview at [4].) On April 30, 2005, England recanted and admitted her criminal culpability.

[edit] Additional unreleased photographs

Members of the United States Senate have reportedly reviewed additional photographs supplied by the Department of Defense which have not been publicly released. There is considerable speculation as to the contents of these photos but until they are released to the public, the speculation cannot be confirmed.

The Sydney Morning Herald website has also published additional photos that show Graner.

At the time the original photographs were released, there were some accusations [5] that the Google search engine had censored images of Lynndie England in its image search. Google responded [6] that this was actually caused by delayed indexing and not deliberate censorship.

[edit] Cultural references

• The Rolling Stones track "Dangerous Beauty" from A Bigger Bang is believed to be in reference to England.
• The movie Valley of the Wolves Iraq depicts scenes from Abu Ghraib on a large screen.
• "Pulling a Lynndie" has been used to refer to her hand gesture where she uses one hand for a thumbs up and another hand for pointing. Some websites encourage people to send in photos of themselves standing over others in unfortunate situations in similar poses. (one example)
• On May 10, 2004, swastika-covered posters of (among others) Lynndie England were attached to British and Indian graves at the Commonwealth military cemetery in Gaza City. Thirty-two graves of soldiers killed in World War I were desecrated or destroyed.

Francine Smith, a character on American Dad!, imitates England's pose

• In an episode of The Simpsons, Homer runs from the US army, and fears that if captured he will be stripped naked and a hillbilly girl (reference to England) will point at him.
• In an episode of Arrested Development, the narrator reveals that Gob (Will Arnett)'s soon to be ex-wife received a dishonorable discharge for activities in an Iraq prison. The episode cuts to a photo of his supposed wife, played by actress Amy Poehler (Will Arnett's actual wife), striking a pose similar to Lynndie England's.
• In the episode Cartman Sucks from the television show South Park, Cartman takes a picture of himself with Butters' penis in his mouth, giving a thumbs-up sign and smiling. He says that the picture is against the war in Iraq.

[edit] External links

• Google News: Lynndie England
• Symbol Of Shame? – a CBS News article, May 7, 2004
• A new monster-in-chief – The Observer article by Mary Riddell, May 9, 2004
• "Doing a Lynndie"
• Lynndie England : A Soldiers Tale – Marie Claire article by Tara McKelvey
• England back in Mineral County