Lewis E. Welshofer Jr.
 | This article may be confusing or unclear to readers. (June 2014) |
CWO3 Lewis E. Welshofer Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1964 (age 59–60) |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Service | United States Army |
| Rank | Chief Warrant Officer 3 |
| Battles / wars | War in Iraq |
Lewis E. Welshofer Jr. is a United States Army soldier, convicted of homicide of an Iraqi prisoner of war on November 23, 2003 in al-Qaim. Welshofer was then serving as a Chief Warrant Officer in the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment.[citation needed]
Following a technique which he alleged was approved by his superiors, Welshofer placed Iraqi Major General Abed Hamed Mowhoush headfirst into a sleeping bag, wrapped the bag tightly with electrical cords, then sat on his chest and held his mouth closed. General Mowhoush had eight broken ribs from an earlier beating, allegedly carried out by CIA contractors under Welshofer's direction. American forces believed Mowhoush, a former high-level officer in Saddam Hussein's regime, was one of the leaders of the Iraqi insurgency. He had voluntarily surrendered to the Americans in hopes of helping free his sons, who were being held by the Americans.
In his defense, Welshofer had stressed that the General was refusing to acknowledge leading the insurgency, and that his superiors were insisting that Army interrogators "take the gloves off" when dealing with Iraqi prisoners. At his court martial, a CIA official who observed Welshofer's interrogation techniques, wrote a memo because he was alarmed when Welshofer told him that he violated interrogation rules every day.[citation needed]
On January 17, 2006, military judge Mark Toole rejected the request from attorney Frank Spinner, to dismiss the charges. CWO Jefferson L. Williams and Spc Jerry L. Loper both agreed to testify against Welshofer in exchange for a reduction in their own charges relating to the death. Welshofer claimed he was only following orders which came all the way from the Pentagon and Donald Rumsfeld.[citation needed]
Welshofer was ultimately convicted of negligent homicide, and negligent dereliction of duty on January 21, 2006. The jury took 6 hours of deliberation. Welshofer could have faced a dishonorable discharge as well as up to 39 months in prison, but received only 60 days of barracks confinement and he was ordered to forfeit $6,000 in salary.[1] Critics around the world questioned the verdict's leniency.[2][3][4][5][6][7]
In September, 2013, in an article looking back on the use of torture in Iraq, Douglas A. Pryer, writing in Foreign Policy magazine, wrote that Welshofer had lobbied for the way he stuffed captives headfirst into sleeping bags be interpreted as an instance of the "extended interrogation technique" Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had approved -- close confinement.[8]
References
[edit]- ^
"404 error". CNN.com. Archived from the original on February 19, 2006. Retrieved 2006-03-23.
{{cite news}}: Cite uses generic title (help) - ^ "Light sentence; wrong message". The Grand Rapids Press. January 31, 2006. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007.
- ^ "The man who holds the CIA accountable doesn't". St Petersburg Times. January 29, 2006.
- ^ Nicholas Riccardi (2006-01-20). "Trial Illuminates Dark Tactics of Interrogation". Los Angeles Times. p. A1. Archived from the original on 2008-07-30. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
- ^ Damon, Andre (January 30, 2006). "Army court martial conceals CIA involvement in death of former Iraqi general". Uruknet.info. Retrieved 2006-03-23.
- ^ Colson, Nicole (February 3, 2006). "Slap on the wrist for killing Iraqi detainee". Socialist Worker Online. Retrieved 2006-03-23.
- ^ "Soldier escapes jail time over prisoner death". Gulf Times. January 25, 2006. Archived from the original on January 28, 2006.
- ^
Douglas A. Pryer (2013-09-13). "The U.S. military, mythology, and Abu Ghraib: An intelligence officer's view". Foreign Policy magazine. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
For instance, he reports that the suffocation of Major General Abed Mowhoush in a sleeping bag at al Qaim, Iraq, was the result of a "free-lanced" tactic. This tactic was actually a variation of the "close confinement quarters" EIT that placed subjects in small boxes or coffins to induce claustrophobia. Lewis Welshofer, the warrant officer who killed Mowhoush, had even specifically recommended this technique to CJTF-7 for inclusion in policy.
- More than a "few rotten apples", Salon (magazine), January 27, 2006