US soldier gets 8 years in prison in Abu Ghraib abuse case

The abuses occurred at a time when American intelligence officers were under strong pressure to gather as much information as possible on the burgeoning insurgency, which threatens the entire US mission in Iraq. Since then, the insurgency has spread throughout Sunni Muslim areas of the country, engulfing regions which were relatively safe for Americans and other Westerners only a few months ago.

Yesterday, gunmen ambushed a bus carrying Iraqi women to their jobs at Baghdad International Airport, killing one and wounding 14. Three people who worked in Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's office were killed and a fourth was wounded in an ambush in western Baghdad. Also, mortars fell near the Iraqi leader on a visit to Mosul.

In addition to his prison sentence, Frederick, 38, of Buckingham, Va., was reduced in rank to private, ordered to forfeit pay, and given a dishonorable discharge under a plea agreement that requires him to testify against others charged with abusing Iraqi detainees. All military verdicts are subject to appeal.

Frederick pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy, dereliction of duty, maltreatment of detainees, assault, and committing an indecent act.

He admitted that he forced one group of detainees to masturbate publicly and later piled them into a naked, human pyramid. During another infamous incident captured on photos seen around the world, Frederick said he and other guards hooked wires on the hands and feet of a hooded detainee who was told to stand on a box or else be electrocuted.

Photos and a video taken by the soldiers were submitted as evidence during the trial. Frederick said he snapped the photos "just to take back home."

Frederick admitted that what he did was wrong but told the court Wednesday that when he complained to his superiors, "they told me to do what MI told me to do," referring to military intelligence. His company commander, Captain Donald Reese, testified Wednesday in a video hookup from the United States that Abu Ghraib was "a dangerous place" subject to frequent mortar attacks and with Iraqi guards who "were not to be trusted."