Abuse photos rock Maryland town

CRESAPTOWN, Md. — Families and neighbors of the soldiers in the Army Reserve unit accused of mistreating inmates in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq said yesterday they do not condone their actions but will continue to support the troops and the war effort.

Becky McClarran, whose son served in the 372nd Military Police Company but was not involved in the prisoner abuse, said she was disturbed by the photographs of prison guards giving the thumbs-up sign and mugging for the camera beside naked and hooded Iraqi detainees.

“But I still support the 372nd,” she said. “They have been through a lot, as every soldier has. … But that doesn’t excuse the actions they took.”

Mrs. McClarran, 52, also criticized news organizations for “over-zealous use” of the photographs and the rush to judge the soldiers, saying the coverage only fuels anti-American sentiment in Iraq.

“It puts our soldiers in harm’s way,” she said.

At Shooters, a bar and grill frequented by guards from the nearby state penitentiary, a military veteran who lost his left leg in the first war in Iraq said he was more disgusted by one-sided news coverage of the war than by the soldiers’ misconduct.

“We got people who are prisoners and they are being tortured in every way, shape and form,” said the 47-year-old veteran who declined to give his name. “Nobody wants to tell the truth about that.”

Some of the photographs appeared first Wednesday during CBS’ “60 Minutes II.”

The story was first reported by the New Yorker magazine in its May 10 issue and was based on a classified, 53-page report completed in February by Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba.

Other residents in this western Maryland community, near Cumberland and about 140 miles northwest of the District, said newspapers and TV news reports have sensationalized the prison abuse while downplaying atrocities committed by Iraqi fighters.

Marty D. Hitchins, a 41-year-old machinist for a defense firm near Cumberland whose cousin served as a military policeman with the 372nd in Iraq, said, “I don’t like the way the press runs our guys down but not their guys.”

He said the humiliating treatment was like a “trip to Disneyland” compared with the torture that captured Iraqi President Saddam Hussein inflicted, but that it still was unjustified.

“It wasn’t right what they did,” he said. “They deserve to get whatever punishment is coming to them.”

Six reservists — Staff Sgt. Ivan L. “Chip” Frederick II, Spc. Charles A. Graner, Sgt. Javal Davis, Spc. Megan Ambuhl, Spc. Sabrina D. Harman and Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits — now face prosecution in Iraq. Their charges include conspiracy, dereliction of duty, cruelty toward prisoners, maltreatment, assault and indecent acts.

The Baltimore Sun reported eight other soldiers from the unit face administrative charges, as the investigation widens and military officials call for further investigations.

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