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By Theartis Watts

The senior leaders of the U.S. Army - both civilian and uniformed - are hunkered down in their E-Ring hootches, hoping that Congress, the news media and the American public lose interest in the case of Brig. Gen. Janice Karpinski.

Karpinski was sent to Iraq last summer to command the 800th Military Police Brigade, the unit that has become infamous as a result of the widespread abuse of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison.

She was a "boot" Reserve BG, recently selected.

So the fundamental question is, why was she sent to take command of an eight-battalion brigade in a combat zone where the challenges would have proven daunting to even the most experienced Regular Component General Officer? Perhaps "The Sphinx," AKA former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki, might shed some light on why Karpinski was selected if the Senate Armed Services Committee really wants to get into the underlying causes for the Abu Ghraib disaster.

The committee might also ask Shinseki why the brigadier commanding the 800th before Karpinski's arrival was "short-toured" to make room for Karpinski while soldiers in the brigade were being involuntarily extended. (The Army later involuntarily extended many of these same soldiers a second time!)

Sources close to the situation state that the Army leaders wanted to get another first in their campaign to show the Washington politicians the seriousness of their commitment to a gender-neutral Army: a female general officer to command troops in a combat zone.

It's worth noting that Karpinski's civilian defense attorney played this card during many interviews during the period when he and Karpinski were a near-constant presence on the U.S. news media.

Another question the Senators on the Armed Services Committee ought to ask The Sphinx is how Karpinski managed to be promoted to brigadier general after she had been arrested as a colonel at MacDill Air Force Base in the fall of 2002 for shoplifting a $22.00 bottle of perfume from the Base Exchange. On June 2, CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin confronted Karpinski with this charge and reported that the Army Inspector General was investigating the matter as it related to Karpinski's subsequent promotion.

Karpinski responded that if a record existed of such an arrest and incident, it must be a fabrication. It should be noted that Karpinski has not to date legally challenged CBS for making this charge public. (Network lawyers review such potentially litigious issues very closely before they approve a reporter's on-air comments. There is no doubt that CBS had a copy of the arrest report, or had been allowed to review such documents and authenticate them before Martin made the charge on air. Hence, Karpinski's lack of legal challenge to CBS is telling.)

One other question for Gen. Shinseki's replacement, Gen. Peter Schoomaker: Were you informed that after Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller's two-week survey of the detainee facilities in Iraq in late summer of 2003, Miller recommended that Karpinski be replaced? (Miller was then the commander of the detainment facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and made his inspection at the direction of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.)

One person close to Miller's inspection team with access to his investigative findings reported some very insightful, pertinent and painful observations from a participant in Gen. Miller's trip to Iraq. It's worth listing several of his comments to see how easily the Abu Ghraib scandal could have been avoided (if only the Army leadership had chosen the "hard right" over the "PC clever"):

* "I've never seen a General Officer make excuses like Brigadier General Karpinski."

* "Miller cleared the room and gave her an ass-chewing in private."

* "I felt she should have been relieved in September [of 2003]."

* "I was told that DA [Department of the Army] had made a decision that she was a rising star and DA didn't want the negative publicity [of Karpinski being fired]."

* "All kinds of signs of poor discipline [at Abu Ghraib and other detainee facilities run by Karpinski's command]."

* "Miller briefed [Lt. Gen. Riccardo] Sanchez [Karpinski's immediate superior] personally."

* "This was a disaster waiting to happen."

* "[CENTCOM Commander, Gen. John] Abouzaid knew all about the problems and chose not to deal with the problems."

* "Karpinski is not a scapegoat."

* "[Karpinski] was a "rising star," a "golden girl" in the Reserve."

* "She should be court-martialed along with the lower ranking soldiers … for dereliction of duty."

* "Her personality - 'excuses, excuses, excuses.' "

* "She will be protected still."

Once again, the Perfumed Princes (pun intended in this case) have placed their personal political considerations ahead of the best interests of the institution and the nation they have sworn to serve.

And the one certainty in this sad episode: It now appears that no senior official will be called to account.

Editor's Note: A number of relevant documents from the Army AR-15-6 investigation of Abu Ghraib by Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba have been posted at SFTT.org, including a transcript of his interview with Karpinski. They can be accessed through these links.

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Theartis Watts is the pen name of a retired military officer with sources close to the Abu Ghraib investigations. Please send Feedback responses to dwfeedback@yahoo.com. ©2004 DefenseWatch. All opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of Military.com.