General Karpinski: A Warrior Disgraced

In the year 2003, the world was rocked by a scandal involving the United States Military and those incarcerated in Abu Ghraib detention facility. Allegations of humiliation, torture, Geneva Convention violations, and gross misconduct abounded. After the dust had settled, Col. Janis Karpinski, Formerly Brigadier General Karpinski, was demoted in 2005 for her part in the well publicized prisoner humiliation scandal at Abu Ghraib, and as the highest ranking female officer, was also the only ranking officer to be punished for the events that took place in Iraq detention facility. The conflict this arose out of is currently ongoing in the middle eastern country of Iraq, in what has been deemed the "War on Terrorism".

Karpinski was interviewed by Amy Goodman, of the TV program Democracy Now: The War and Peace Report on October 26, 2005. A copy of the rush transcript in article format was most helpful in revealing details of what occurred according to Karpinski's point of view. The purpose of article and interview of Karpinski regarding the events that occurred during and after her duties in Iraqi prisons was to reveal the facts that Karpinski had revealing how high up the chain of command knowledge of these scandalous events went.

When reviewing this article and interview, it is important to note several important points. During the course of the investigation, many male and female subordinate MP's were punished. According to Karpinski, these soldiers were not under her command. Indeed, they were not from the same unit, or assigned to her authority. According to her interview, she was not even present at the prison when the majority of the events occurred. General Miller from Guantanemo Bay was sent to instruct the military intelligence interrogators in the proper way to "Gitmo-ize" the situation in Abu Ghraib, and to give Col. Pappas (the Commander of the Military Intelligence Brigade) the resources he needed to run the interrogation facilities that he oversaw within the Abu Ghraib facility. Later, Karpinski would be moved to Camp Victory and out of Baghdad altogether while actual control of the facility was under military intelligence and Col. Pappas.

After the investigations had concluded, the number of transgressions included "Ghost" detainees, or prisoners who do not show up on any official documents, prisoner humiliation, torture, dragging prisoners around, and hanging prisoners by rope from bars in the ceiling. According to Karpinski, knowledge of these events went at least as far as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, since apparently the "unofficial" prisoners were partly there due to his instruction, and it is evident that he had signed memos authorizing harsher methods of interrogation to be used. All of this occurred in sections not Karpinski's direct responsibility, and her soldiers were requisition to assist the MP's only. Despite a large number of male ranking officers involved on some level, Karpinski, as a female, was the only one held responsible.

In conclusion, it seems from her own testimony that she was treated without regard to gender and was, in fact, rewarded earlier in her career for her role as a warrior, a typically male gender assignation. In the military, her achieved status of Brigadier General was also her Master Status. Problem was, I do not think she could completely escape her ascribed status of female, and as a female, it seems that Karpinski was set up to act as a scapegoat for what seems to be almost an All Boys Club of ranking officers. I would speculate from her words that she was treated like a man who was not well liked by careful manipulation of the system to place her in a position to be rid of her, but most likely as a RESULT of her sex. From her interview, it seems obvious that Karpinski was maneuvered around with the intent of keeping her oblivious to what was going on in the prison interrogation areas until it was a foregone conclusion she could be held responsible.

It is impressive that Amy Goodman, during the interview, manages to avoid misrepresenting gender through use of manipulative speech or pushing Karpinski into over-dramatization of her "women's plight". To do so would have created for Karpinski the role of "weak, female, victim", and I think I am more comfortable with the non-gender specific victim she has portrayed herself as in the article. The interviewer refrains from directly referencing the gender issue until the end of the interview, when Karpinski admirably notes that while she has some fault in the matter, it is in being singled out that the problem lie, and likely being singled out was due to her sex.

In conclusion, I chose this fascinating article, since it is an interview, very much because while it holds gender neutral through the majority of it, it becomes evident after the article that she was singled out to take the fall, possibly since she is the highest ranking female there. More fascination lie in the fact that as the first female ranking officer in charge of a US combat force, there is little to compare this situation to in the way of military or civilian precedent, but it is clear that the males went out of their way to portray Janis as a commander unable to supervise and control the subordinates in her command, a well known tactic used before on many a male military commander when a scapegoat is needed. It is only the fact that she was singled out for punishment that suggests to me that her femaleness might be the reason for it at all.

WORKS CITED

Goodman, Amy. Interview for Democracy Now.org. "Col Janis Karpinski, the Former Head of Abu Ghraib, Admits She Broke the Geneva Conventions But Says the Blame 'Goes All the Way to the Top.'" [Transcript Online] 26 October 2005..