Army reserve chief condemns prison abuse

[JoFerret]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4044721,00.html


CRESAPTOWN, Md. (AP) - The chief of the U.S. Army Reserve condemned the abusive treatment of Iraqi war prisoners Saturday and said he has ordered a study of whether reservists are sufficiently trained in ethical conduct and how to treat prisoners.

Following a meeting with families of the reserve unit at the center of the investigation, Lt. Gen. James R. Helmly said photographs of naked inmates forced to assume humiliating positions beside grinning military police reservists ``go against the grain of everything America's Army stands for.''

Helmly, commander of 1.1 million reservists, said that if the allegations against six reservists are true, ``it undermines our values of respect, dignity and honor, and we hold those values deeply.''

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Jennifer Bird, 23, said her husband, Spc. Rodney Bird, told her about the investigation months ago. He is not among those charged.

``I think it's awful,'' she said. ``I think it makes them all look bad.''

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