The Rag Blog: This Should Be Good for Iraqi Morale

03 November 2006

This Should Be Good for Iraqi Morale

An Abu Ghraib Offender Heads Back to Iraq
Dog Handler Convicted in Abuse Scandal to Help Train Country's Police

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (Nov. 3) - An Army dog handler convicted of abusing detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq has returned to the country with his military police unit, a spokesman said Thursday.

Sgt. Santos A. Cardona boarded a plane Monday at Pope Air Force Base, which is adjacent to Fort Bragg, for the trip to Iraq.

Cardona is assigned to the 23rd Military Police Company, said Maj. James Crabtree, a spokesman for the 18th Airborne Corps, which is headquartered at Fort Bragg.

Crabtree said it wasn't known exactly what Cardona's job would be. The unit will focus on law enforcement, detainee operations and route security and to a lesser extent training Iraqi police.

"We don't know what he will be doing," Crabtree said. "We don't normally discuss individuals who will be deploying overseas. We speak in terms of units."

A military jury at Fort Meade, Md., sentenced Cardona in June to 90 days of hard labor with no prison time. He was convicted of using his dog to threaten a former Baath Party member at the prison.

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