Ex-Commander Acquitted of Aiding Enemy

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CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq — A former American commander at the Iraqi jail that held Saddam Hussein was acquitted today of aiding the enemy but sentenced to two years imprisonment for convictions on other charges — far less time than he could have received.

Lieutenant Colonel William Steele, 52, of Prince George, Va., had faced a life sentence if convicted of accusations he allowed prisoners use of his cell phone for unmonitored calls.

He initially faced a possible death sentence on the charge of aiding the enemy, a capital offense under American military law, but a former acting commanding general of American forces in Iraq decided against a death sentence.

The judge, Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Grammel, found Colonel Steele not guilty of that charge but convicted him of unauthorized possession of classified documents, behavior unbecoming an officer for an inappropriate relationship with an interpreter, and failing to obey an order.

He received credit for about 8½ months already served, so he will only have to spend about 15 months in jail, the judge ruled. He also will be reprimanded and dismissed from the service, and will forfeit all pay and allowances.

It was a relatively lenient sentence, considering Colonel Steele could have received a maximum of 10 years on the classified documents charge.

The prosecution argued that Colonel Steele had a history of flouting the rules and claimed he loaned his cell phone to Saddam regime detainees at the Camp Cropper prison, including several on death row, for unmonitored calls. It was not known if Saddam was among them.

Today, prosecutors said Colonel Steele had also provided an Al Qaeda-linked inmate with a cell phone for an unmonitored call, despite rules that all inmate calls should be arranged in advance and conducted with an interpreter present.

“You heard in this courtroom, in a closed session, that he handed detainee no. 2184, an Al Qaeda member in Iraq, his personal cell phone and allowed a five-minute conversation. It was the equivalent of putting an AK-47 in his hands,” the prosecutor, Captain Michael Rizzotti, said.

“All it takes is a phone call and if that detainee can communicate with someone outside, that can put soldiers of the United States at risk,” Captain Rizzotti said. “The second he handed over that phone for an unmonitored phone call, in Arabic, that is the second he aided the enemy.”

The defense attorney, Major David Barrett, said Colonel Steele never provided a cell phone to a detainee for an unmonitored conversation and said his client was doing his job by treating the suspects at the prison humanely.

“Long after we leave Iraq — and we will leave it — what will be left? It’s the impression of the soldiers that will really matter,” Major Barrett said. “Lieutenant Colonel Steele treated the detainees with dignity and respect. Let’s not confuse that with sympathy for the enemy.”

The alleged incidents took place between October 2005 and February 2007 when Colonel Steele commanded the 451st Military Police Detachment at the prison that held Saddam before he was hanged in December 2006.

Colonel Steele, an Army reservist, later served as a senior patrol officer at nearby Camp Victory with the 89th Military Police Brigade. The charge of illegally holding classified documents pertained to that period.

Major Barrett said Colonel Steele’s storage of classified documents was an “honest mistake” and he argued that the defendant’s relationship with an interpreter did not constitute behavior unbecoming an officer.

Colonel Steele’s wife, Judith, who is also an Army reservist, testified on behalf of her husband during the sentencing phase of the trial, describing the e-mails written by her husband to the interpreter as “inconsequential.”

She broke into tears describing their daughter’s learning disability and the sacrifices it has taken to care for her at their home.

“My husband has always been very supportive of me and my Army career. I’ve had to travel a great deal as a reservist,” she said. “I saw them more as comforting e-mails than anything else.”

Colonel Steele chose not to testify in his own defense in the first court-martial on charges of aiding the enemy since the American-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

Much of the trial, which began Monday, was held behind closed doors because officials said classified information was being discussed.

The only other American officer known to have been accused of collaborating with the enemy since the 2003 start of the war is Captain James Yee, a Muslim chaplain who was linked to a possible espionage ring at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, military prison. He was eventually cleared and given an honorable discharge.


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