Even in the barbarity of war:
"US officer is acquitted of helping the enemy; Sentenced 2 years on other charges" by Katarina Kratovac/Associated Press October 20, 2007
CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq - A former US commander at the Iraqi jail that held Saddam Hussein was acquitted yesterday of aiding the enemy but received two years imprisonment for convictions on other charges after asking for leniency from the judge.
Army Lieutenant Colonel William H. Steele, 52, of Prince George, Va., could have faced a life sentence if convicted of accusations he allowed prisoners to use his cellphone to make unmonitored calls.
Steele was acquitted of the charge of aiding the enemy for allegedly lending his cellphone to former members of Hussein's regime, including those on death row, and an Al Qaeda member at Camp Cropper prison in Baghdad. It was not known if Hussein was among them.
The judge, Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Grammel, convicted him of unauthorized possession of classified documents, behavior unbecoming an officer for an inappropriate relationship with an interpreter, and failing to obey an order.
The two-year sentence was lenient, considering Steele could have received 10 years in prison on the classified documents charge. He will also be dismissed from the service.
Steele had sought leniency from the judge, asking him to consider his accomplishments and citing an outstanding assessment from the International Red Cross on the prison he commanded.
The prosecution contended that Steele had a history of flouting the rules.
Major David Barrett, the defense lawyer, said Steele never provided a cellphone to a detainee for an unmonitored conversation and said his client was doing his job by treating the suspects at the prison humanely.
"Long after we leave Iraq - and we will leave it - what will be left? It's the impression of the soldiers that will really matter," Barrett said. "Lieutenant Colonel Steele treated the detainees with dignity and respect. Let's not confuse that with sympathy for the enemy."
[And for that, he got a court-martial!
While the war criminals at the head of this government are immune.]
The events allegedly took place between October 2005 and February 2007 when Steele commanded the 451st Military Police Detachment at Camp Cropper prison. Hussein was held at the facility before he was hanged in December 2006.
Steele later served as a senior patrol officer at Camp Victory with the 89th Military Police Brigade. A charge of illegally holding classified documents on downloaded and unmarked CDs pertained to that period.
Barrett said Steele's storage of classified documents was an honest mistake and he contended that the defendant's relationship with an interpreter did not constitute behavior unbecoming an officer."
