Janis Karpinski
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Janis Leigh Karpinski ( Beam, born May 25, 1953) is a retired career officer in the
United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed ...
. She is notable for having commanded the forces that operated
Abu Ghraib Abu Ghraib ( or ; ) is a city in the Baghdad Governorate of Iraq, located just west of Baghdad's city center, or northwest of Baghdad International Airport. It has a population of 189,000 (2003). The old road to Jordan passes through Abu Ghra ...
and other prisons in Iraq in 2003 and 2004, at the time of the scandal related to torture and prisoner abuse. She commanded three prisons in Iraq and the forces that ran them. In June 2003, during the United States-led occupation of Iraq, Karpinski was given command of the 800th Military Police Brigade, which meant she was responsible for the 15 detention facilities in southern and central Iraq run by Coalition forces. Karpinski was also given command of the
National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...
and Army reserve units in the Iraqi city of
Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...
. In January 2004, Lieutenant General
Ricardo Sanchez Ricardo Sanchez (born September 9, 1953) is a former lieutenant general in the United States Army. Early life and education Sánchez was born into a Mexican American family in Rio Grande City, Texas. He spent one year at the University of Tex ...
formally suspended Karpinski and 16 other soldiers with undisclosed reprimands. An investigation was started into the abuse at Abu Ghraib, and Karpinski left Iraq for reasons that were explained at the time as part of "routine troop rotations." On April 8, 2005, Karpinski was formally relieved of command of the 800th Military Police Brigade. On May 5, 2005, President
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
approved Karpinski's demotion to colonel from the rank of brigadier general. Her demotion was not related officially to the abuse at Abu Ghraib. In October 2005, she published an account of her experiences, ''One Woman's Army'', in which she claims that the abuses were done by contract employees trained in
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
and Guantanamo Bay, and sent to Abu Ghraib under orders from the Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, businessman, and naval officer who served as United States Secretary of Defense, secretary of defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and again ...
. She said her demotion was political retribution. Since this time, some of Karpinski's claims of top-level authorization have been confirmed by revelations of what are known as the
Torture Memos A set of legal memoranda known as the "Torture Memos" (officially the Memorandum Regarding Military Interrogation of Alien Unlawful Combatants Held Outside The United States) were drafted by John Yoo as Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the ...
, legal opinions prepared by political appointees including
John Yoo John Choon Yoo (; born July 10, 1967) is a South Korean-born American legal scholar and former government official who serves as the Emanuel S. Heller Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. Yoo became known for his legal opi ...
in the
Office of Legal Counsel The Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) is an office in the United States Department of Justice that supports the attorney general in their role as legal adviser to the president and all executive branch agencies. It drafts legal opinions of the atto ...
, Department of Justice. His memo of March 14, 2003, five days before the US began its invasion of Iraq, concluded that federal laws related to torture and other abuses did not apply to interrogators working overseas; it was issued to William J. Haynes, the
General Counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...
of DOD, and finally revealed in 2008 as a result of a Senate hearing into
enhanced interrogation techniques "Enhanced interrogation techniques" or "enhanced interrogation" was a program of systematic torture of detainees by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and various components of the U.S. Armed Forces at ...
."A Top Pentagon Lawyer Faces a Senate Grilling On Torture"
, ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
'', 5 April 2008, accessed 18 January 2013


Early career

Raised in
Rahway, New Jersey Rahway () is a city (New Jersey), city in southern Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A bedroom community of New York City, it is centrally located in the Rahway River, Rahway Valley region, in the New ...
, she graduated from Rahway High School in 1971. Her education includes a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
degree in English and
secondary education Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education. Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...
from Kean College, a
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
degree in aviation management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and a Master of Arts in
strategic studies Strategic studies is an interdisciplinary academic field centered on the study of peace and conflict strategies, often devoting special attention to the relationship between military history, international politics, geostrategy, international ...
from the
United States Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a U.S. Army staff college in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, with a Carlisle postal address, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks. It provides graduate-level instru ...
. Karpinski was commissioned into the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
as a second lieutenant in 1977. She served primarily in intelligence and military police assignments, training the first group of female soldiers for the United Arab Emirates, and toured supporting the
Special Forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...
and in Saudi Arabia during the
Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...
. She was awarded a
Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...
. In 1987, she moved from the regular Army to the Army Reserve. In the private sector, she became a consultant who ran military-styled training programs for executives.


Marriage and family

She is married to George Karpinski, a lieutenant colonel at the United States embassy in
Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...
.


Iraq service

In June 2003, during the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, Karpinski was in command of the 800th Military Police Brigade placing her in charge of the fifteen detention facilities in southern and central Iraq run by Coalition forces. She had no experience running correctional facilities. Karpinski was also given command of the
National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...
and Army reserve units in the Iraqi city of
Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...
who handled prisoners. Most of the forces had no training in handling prisoners, but at least two of the guardsmen later convicted of
prisoner abuse Prisoner abuse is the mistreatment of persons while they are under arrest or incarcerated. Prisoner abuse can include physical abuse, psychological abuse, sexual abuse, torture, or other acts such as refusal of essential medication, and it can ...
had lengthy civilian experience as prison guards. In September 2003, Karpinski led Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, businessman, and naval officer who served as United States Secretary of Defense, secretary of defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and again ...
on a tour of the Abu Ghraib prison to demonstrate the way it had been used by
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
to torture his enemies.


Allegations, suspension and investigation

In October 2003, allegations of torture in the United States-managed Iraqi prisons began to surface. Karpinski insisted that prisoners under her watch were treated "humanely and fairly". In an interview with the '' St. Petersburg Times'' in December 2003, Karpinski said conditions in the prison were better than many Iraqi homes, and joked that the prisoners were treated so well that she was "concerned they wouldn't want to leave." In January 2004, Lieutenant General
Ricardo Sanchez Ricardo Sanchez (born September 9, 1953) is a former lieutenant general in the United States Army. Early life and education Sánchez was born into a Mexican American family in Rio Grande City, Texas. He spent one year at the University of Tex ...
formally suspended Karpinski and 16 other soldiers with undisclosed reprimands. An investigation was started into the abuse. Karpinski was reassigned in what was said at the time to be part of "routine troop rotations." In July 2003, Karpinski stated she had evidence Israelis were involved in interrogations. On April 8, 2005, Karpinski was formally relieved of command of the 800th Military Police Brigade. On May 5, 2005, President Bush approved Karpinski's demotion to Colonel from the rank of Brigadier General. Her demotion was not officially related to the abuse at
Abu Ghraib prison Abu Ghraib prison (, ''Sijn Abū Ghurayb'') was a prison complex in Abu Ghraib, Iraq, located west of Baghdad. Abu Ghraib prison was opened in the 1960s and served as a maximum-security prison. From the 1970s, the prison was used by Saddam Hus ...
. The allegations against her were for dereliction of duty, making a material misrepresentation to investigators, failure to obey a lawful order and shoplifting.


Taguba Report

In his final report, Major General Antonio Taguba blamed Karpinski for the abuse, indicating she had not paid attention to the daily operations of the prison. According to Taguba, Karpinski rarely visited the prisons during her tenure, and she reviewed and signed reports about claims of abuse without following up to make sure her orders were carried out. As a consequence, the abuse was allowed to continue and her subordinates developed a lax attitude towards protocol. Karpinski was cited throughout th
Taguba Report
for repeated violations of procedure and good management, and not exercising her command as directed by regulations. During interviews cited in the Taguba report, Karpinski was described as disconnected from the operations of her area of command. Karpinski was issued a Memorandum of Admonishment by LTG Sanchez, Commander, CJTF-7, on 17 January 2004. In April 2004,
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
' ''
60 Minutes II ''60 Minutes II'' (also known as ''60 Minutes Wednesday'' and ''60 Minutes'') is an American weekly primetime news magazine television program that was intended to replicate the "signature style, journalistic quality and integrity" of the origin ...
'' broadcast photographs of Iraqi prisoners being tortured and humiliated at Abu Ghraib, which had been taken by military personnel. Following the broadcast, Karpinski was suspended from her duties and replaced by Major General Geoffrey Miller, the former commander of Camp X-Ray, part of the
Guantanamo Bay detention camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp, also known as GTMO ( ), GITMO ( ), or simply Guantanamo Bay, is a United States military prison within Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB), on the coast of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. It was established in 2002 by p ...
.


Karpinski's defense

Karpinski insisted she had no knowledge of the abuse and claims the particular wing of the prison was under the control of military intelligence "twenty-four hours a day." She claims Army intelligence officers encouraged guards to torture prisoners as an aid to interrogation, and that she was a
scapegoat In the Bible, a scapegoat is one of a pair of kid goats that is released into the wilderness, taking with it all sins and impurities, while the other is sacrificed. The concept first appears in the Book of Leviticus, in which a goat is designate ...
. A June 2004
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
article said, "Gen Karpinski believes the soldiers had not taken the pictures of their own accord." It quotes her as saying: Since her suspension, Karpinski has made controversial accusations against her superiors in a series of interviews. In an interview with BBC Radio, Karpinski claimed that Major General Geoffrey Miller, who was sent from Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay to improve interrogations at the Iraqi prison, told her to treat prisoners "like dogs" in the sense that "if you allow them to believe at any point that they are more than a dog then you've lost control of them". Miller denies that he ever made the remarks. In November 2006, Karpinski told Spain's ''
El País (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...
'' newspaper she had seen a letter apparently signed by Rumsfeld that allowed civilian contractors to use techniques such as
sleep deprivation Sleep deprivation, also known as sleep insufficiency or sleeplessness, is the condition of not having adequate duration and/or quality of sleep to support decent alertness, performance, and health. It can be either Chronic (medicine), chronic ...
during interrogation. She stated, "The methods consisted of making prisoners stand for long periods, sleep deprivation ... playing music at full volume, having to sit in uncomfortably ... Rumsfeld authorized these specific techniques." According to Karpinski, Rumsfeld's handwritten signature was above his printed name and in the same handwriting in the margin was written: "Make sure this is accomplished." There have been no comments from either
the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...
or US army spokespeople in Iraq on Karpinski's accusations. But, since that time, there have been revelations about the
Torture Memos A set of legal memoranda known as the "Torture Memos" (officially the Memorandum Regarding Military Interrogation of Alien Unlawful Combatants Held Outside The United States) were drafted by John Yoo as Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the ...
, including one issued by John Yoo on March 14, 2003, to the General Counsel of DOD, in which he advised that federal laws related to torture and other abuses did not apply to interrogators overseas – five days before the US invasion of Iraq. On March 8, 2006, Karpinski gave an interview to '' Dateline'', on the Australian SBS network. When asked who was ultimately responsible for the actions of torture and humiliation depicted in the photographs, Karpinski said: When questioned on the findings of the Taguba Report, which stated she had shown a lack of leadership throughout the period of events, and therefore was partly responsible for what happened, Karpinski stated In a 2004 interview for the
Santa Clarita, California Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-most populous city in Los Angeles County, the 17th-most popul ...
newspaper, ''The Signal'', Karpinski claimed to have seen unreleased documents from Rumsfeld that authorized the use of dogs, food and sleep deprivation, and isolation for Iraqi prisoners that were also signed by General Sanchez. Both have denied authorizing such tactics. In a May 2004 military investigation of the Abu Ghraib abuses, made public in 2005 by an
ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. ...
Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request: * Freedom of Information Act (United States) of 1966 * F ...
request, Karpinski had said she witnessed children as young as twelve years of age incarcerated at Abu Ghraib.


Awards

*
Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...
* Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters *
Army Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issu ...
with two oak leaf clusters * Army Achievement Medal * Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal *
National Defense Service Medal The National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) is a service award of the United States Armed Forces established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. It was awarded to every member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during any one of four s ...
with star *
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal The Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal (GWOT-EM) is a United States Armed Forces award created by George W. Bush on 12 March 2003, through Executive Order 13289. The medal recognizes those military service members who have deployed over ...
*
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal The Global War on Terrorism Service Medal (GWOT-SM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was created through Executive Order 13289 on 12 March 2003, by President George W. Bush. The medal recognizes those military service ...
* Army Service Ribbon * Overseas Service Ribbon


Bibliography

*''One Woman's Army : The Commanding General of Abu Ghraib Tells Her Story'', 2005, () *Sjoberg, Laura; Gentry Caron E. (2007). ''Triple Transgressions at Abu Ghraib'' in ''Mothers, Monsters, Whores.'' Zed Books. pp58–87. .


Films

*2005 – '' Gitmo: The New Rules of War''. Directed by
Erik Gandini Erik Walter Gandini (born 14 August 1967) is an Italian-Swedish film director, writer, producer and professor of documentary film at Stockholm University of the Arts. His film '' The Swedish Theory of Love'' premiered at the 2015 Stockholm Inte ...
,
Tarik Saleh Tarik Saleh (; born 28 January 1972) is a Swedish television producer, animator, publisher, journalist, and film director. He was born in Stockholm to a Swedish mother and an Egyptian father. He is most known for his Cairo-trilogy starring Fa ...
. *2006 – '' Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers''. Directed by Robert Greenwald. *2008 – ''
Standard Operating Procedure A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a set of step-by-step instructions compiled by an organization to help workers carry out routine operations. SOPs aim to achieve efficiency, quality output, and uniformity of performance, while reducing mis ...
''. Directed by
Errol Morris Errol Mark Morris (born February 5, 1948) is an American film director known for documentaries that interrogate the epistemology of their subjects, and the invention of the Interrotron. In 2003, his '' The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Li ...
.


See also

*
Abu Ghraib Abu Ghraib ( or ; ) is a city in the Baghdad Governorate of Iraq, located just west of Baghdad's city center, or northwest of Baghdad International Airport. It has a population of 189,000 (2003). The old road to Jordan passes through Abu Ghra ...
*
Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse During the early stages of the Iraq War, members of the United States Army and the Central Intelligence Agency were accused of a series of human rights violations and war crimes against detainees in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. These abuses ...
* Lynndie England


References


External links


''Newsmaker of the Week: Janis Karpinski''
(30-min. interview)
Janis Karpinski: Exclusive Interview
August 24, 2005 Interview By Marjorie Cohn, MWC News
War Crimes Suit Filed in Germany Against Rumsfeld
November 14, 2006 Interview on Democracy Now!
Army demotes a one-star general accused of dereliction in prisoner abuse scandal
– Robert Burns, Associated Press
Iraq abuse 'ordered from the top'
*Taylor Martin, Susan
Her Job, Lock Up Iraq's Bad Guys
''St. Petersburg Times.'' (December 14, 2003) *Author Unknown

''USA Today.'' (September 7, 2003) *Author Unknown
Details of Army's Abuse Investigation Surface
''CNN.'' (January 21, 2004) *Author Unknown

''Reuters.'' (April 30, 2004) *Sewell Chan and Jackie Spinner

''Sydney Morning Herald.'' (May 1, 2004) *Shenon, Philip

''New York Times.'' (May 2, 2004) *Fesperman, Dan
Soldiers' Story Shifts From Pride to Shame
''Baltimore Sun.'' (May 2, 2004)

– "US intelligence behind Iraqi prisoner abuse" * Rod Nordland and John Barry
Rough Justice in Iraq
''Newsweek.'' (May 10, 2004) *Krane, Jim
AP: Army Drops Brigade From Medal List
''Yahoo News/AP.'' (May 9, 2004)

''CNN''
Were Abu Ghraib abuses learned from Israel?
''San Francisco Gate''
Democracy Now! Interview
(October 26, 2005)
"Treat Them Like Dogs" part one
and
part two
, transcripts of the October 26, 2005, Democracy Now interview.
Audio files of Diane Rehm Show hour-long interview, November 8, 2005Dateline interview
Transcript of the March 8, 2006, Dateline programme, SBS Australia. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Karpinski, Janis 1953 births Living people People from Rahway, New Jersey Rahway High School alumni Female generals of the United States Army Military personnel from Union County, New Jersey United States military personnel at the Abu Ghraib prison United States Army personnel of the Iraq War American military police officers Women in the Iraq War United States Army personnel of the Gulf War United States Army reservists Recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United States) 21st-century American women United States Army personnel who were court-martialed American female military personnel of the Gulf War