Lynndie England

Infobox Military Person
name=PVT Lynndie Rana England United States Army
born=birth date and age|1982|11|08
placeofbirth=Ashland, Kentucky
placeofdeath=


caption=US Army Photo
nickname=
allegiance=flagicon|United States United States of America
branch= United States Army
serviceyears=2001 to 2005
rank=Private
commands=
unit=372nd Military Police Company
battles=War in Iraq
awards=
laterwork=

Lynndie Rana England (born November 8, 1982) is a former United States Army reservist who served in the 372nd Military Police Company. She was one of several military personnel 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, military judge COL James Pohl tossed out her plea bargain, as new testimony by now PVT Charles Graner suggested that PFC England did not know her actions were wrong at the time. This contradicted 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. [ [http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/09/26/prisoner.abuse.england.ap/index.html] Dead link|date=March 2008] She was sentenced to three years in a military prison for her crimes.

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. [" [http://www.times-news.com/local/local_story_084120156.html England back in Mineral County: Army reservist, notorious face of Abu Ghraib scandal, out of prison] ," by Liz Beavers, "Cumberland Times-News"] She will remain on parole through September 2008, when her three-year sentence will be complete and she will receive a dishonorable discharge.

Biography

Born in Ashland, Kentucky, [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4490795.stm BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Profile: Lynndie England ] ] 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. The family lived in a trailer park. At school, England 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 the same chicken-processing factory in Moorefield made famous in a PETA video [cite news
first=Tara
last=McKelvey
title=A Soldier's Tale: Lynndie England
url=http://www.marieclaire.com/world/news/lynndie-england-3
work=Marie Claire
accessdate=2007-07-14] 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 store 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 fathered by him, [Stern magazine, Edition 13/08, 19 March 2008, p. 40] 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." Graner subsequently married Megan Ambuhl, one of the other accused female Abu Ghraib soldiers with whom he had been having an affair during the time of his relationship with England.

On July 9, 2007, England was appointed to the Keyser volunteer recreation board. [cite news
title=Lynndie England gets spot on town board in W.Va.
url=http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/07/ap_england_abughraib_070714/
work=Army Times
publisher=Associated Press
date=2007-07-14
accessdate=2007-07-14]

Media Interviews

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". [ [http://news4colorado.com/topstories/local_story_132222538.html Interview on News 4 Colorado] , May 11, 2004]

In March 2008, England told the German magazine "Stern" that the media was to blame for the consequences of the Abu Ghraib scandal. "If the media hadn't exposed the pictures to that extent, then thousands of lives would have been saved," she said. "Yeah, I took the photos but I didn't make it worldwide."cite web
url=http://www.stern.de/politik/ausland/614356.html?nv=ct_cb
title=English-language transcript of March 2008 interview with Lynndie England, Stern magazine
date=2008-03-17|accessdate=2008-03-25] [cite web
url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jogSsQSlJxgSA4ZgGa0cvJskN6SQD8VG307G0
title= Lynndie England Blames Media for Photos (AP)
date= 2008-03-19|accessdate = 2008-03-20] Asked about the picture of her posing with Graner in front of a pyramid of naked men, she said, "At the time I thought, I love this man [Graner] , I trust this man with my life, okay, then he's saying, well, there's seven of them and it's such an enclosed area and it'll keep them together and contained because they have to concentrate on staying up on the pyramid instead of doing something to us." Asked about the picture showing her pointing at a man forced to masturbate, she again referred to her feelings for Graner at the time: "... Graner and Frederick tried to convince me to get into the picture with this guy. I didn't want to, but they were really persistent about it. At the time I didn't think that it was something that needed to be documented but I followed Graner. I did everything he wanted me to do. I didn't want to lose him."

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.

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, 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 prison time.

Graner, the alleged ringleader of the abuse, was convicted on all charges earlier this year and sentenced to 10 years in prison. 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.

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 has been considerable speculation as to the contents of these photos. In a March 2008 interview, England stated in response to a question about these unreleased pictures, "You see the dogs biting the prisoners. Or you see bite marks from the dogs. You can see MPs holding down a prisoner so a medic can give him a shot."

The "Sydney Morning Herald" website has published additional photos that show Graner, but not England. [cite web |url=http://smh.com.au/news/world/the-photos-america-doesnt-want-seen/2006/02/14/1139890737099.html
title= The Photos America doesn't want seen
date=2006-02-15|accessdate=2008-03-25] [cite web
url=http://www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2006/02/15/1139890768716.html
title=More snaps from Abu Ghraib (Slideshow)
date=2006-02-15
accessdate=2008-03-25]

At the time the original photographs were released, there were some accusations [ [http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/11/07/1442217 Slashdot | Google Censors Abu Ghraib Images [updated ] ] that the Google search engine had censored images of Lynndie England in its [http://images.google.com/images?q=Lynndie+England image search] . Google responded that this was actually caused by delayed indexing and not deliberate censorship. [ [http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=128815&cid=10747654 Google Censors Abu Ghraib Images [updated ] ]

Cultural references

*Pungent Stench track "Lynndie (She-Wolf Of Abu Ghraib)" from "Ampeauty" is 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. ( [http://badgas.co.uk/lynndie/ 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.
*"Mad Magazine" has in several issues criticized Lynndie England, specifically in articles where the Iraq War is compared to other wars that the "U.S.A" fought in as well as "Worst Americans" and "15 Minutes of Fame" articles.
*In the episode of "The Simpsons", "G.I. (Annoyed Grunt)", 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 another episode of "The Simpsons", in which Monty Burns buys a run-down theater with the intention of turning it in to a state-of-the-art prison, he states: "This place will make Abu Ghraib look like the Four Seasons. We'll need a car battery, some wires and someone who can REALLY point at genitalia".
* 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. Later, we see a similar photograph being used during the couple's divorce proceeding, of GOB's wife striking this pose with GOB covered in a pillowcase. In another episode Lucille tells Buster, who will soon be sent to fight in Iraq, "That's for when they put you in a naked pyramid and point to your Charlie Browns."
*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 Iraq War.
*In the episode "Homeland Insecurity" from the television show "American Dad!", Francine imitates Lynndie England's pose.
*Tina Fey on "Saturday Night Live" called her appearance a "drugged out Peppermint Patty" of Peanuts cartoons. England was also named "Weekend Update's Dirtbag of the Week" on the May 8, 2004 broadcast and received a carton of Virginia Slims for "winning."
*Canadian playwright Judith Thompson wrote "My Pyramids," (2005) based on the life of England, performed as a one-woman show. A movie version, shot in Victoria, British Columbia by Harbinger Productions stars Lauren Bowler as 'Sarah' and is directed by Michael Maitland.
*Chicago progressive indie rock band Make Believe references England in their song "Pat Tillman, Emmitt Till" with the lyric "Lynndie England's done a little trav'ling broad. Lynndie England's been all she can be."
*A "Robot Chicken" sketch showing what would happen if "The Simpsons" became more conservative features Apu being sent to Abu Graib for refusing to use the term freedom fries and calling Homer a fat stupid American, it ends with Apu repenting his actions while England holds him tied to a leash.
*"American Girls" a song by Canadian artist "Jeremy Fisher" is about the Lynndie England incident.
*"New Religion" a song by the Scottish group, "The Proclaimers", on their 2007 album "Life With You", contains the lines: "Here's a thing I'd love to say, Lynndie England walks free today."
*In The Venture Bros. episode "The Invisible Hand of Fate", during the Office of Secret Intelligence montage is a quick scene of a soldier (or super-spy, the character isn't identified), standing on a pile of naked POWs lighting a cigarette.

ee also

References

External links

* [http://www.stern.de/politik/ausland/614356.html?nv=ct_cb English-language interview with Lynndie England] by Stern magazine, March 2008
* [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/07/iraq/main616306.shtml Symbol Of Shame?] – a CBS News article, May 7, 2004
* [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,1212647,00.html A new monster-in-chief] – The Observer article by Mary Riddell, May 9, 2004
* [http://badgas.co.uk/lynndie/ "Doing a Lynndie"]
* [http://magazines.ivillage.com/marieclaire/print/0,,703130,00.html Lynndie England : A Soldiers Tale] – Marie Claire article by Tara McKelvey
* [http://www.times-news.com/local/local_story_084120156.html England back in Mineral County]
* [http://www.flickr.com/groups/lynndie/ Flickr: Doing the Lynndie]
* [http://www.marieclaire.com/world/news/lynndie-england-1 Interview with England in "Marie Claire"]