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| Lightfingers Karpinski Skates on Theft & Lying Charges |
| 2005-05-06 |
| snip Karpinski had commanded the 800th Military Police Brigade at the heart of the Abu Ghraib abuse. Previous investigations found Karpinski feuded with the head of the military intelligence unit at the prison, contributing to an atmosphere of chaos. Bush approved a recommendation to demote Karpinski on the advice of Army and Army Reserve leaders and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the Army said. It added Karpinski would not face criminal charges. STOLEN COSMETICS A U.S. official who asked not to be identified said Karpinski failed to inform the Army as required when filling out an official document about an earlier arrest on an Air Force base in the United States on a misdemeanor charge of stealing less than $50 worth of cosmetics from a military store. Asked how Army investigators looking into detainee abuse learned of her shoplifting arrest, the official said, "Somebody ratted her out." The Army confirmed what officials said previously -- that Karpinski received a formal written reprimand from the Army's No. 2 general and was relieved from command of the brigade. It also said Army leaders found that allegations of dereliction of duty by Karpinski were "substantiated." So Martha Stewart does 6 months for what? And Karpinski skates for this debaclle? Big mistake. |
| Posted by:Mrs. Davis |
| #12 There's two issues CS, one of which is the shoplifting, with regard to which rank is irrelevant. The second is that she failed to tell the truth about it. The story says she was arrested, not convicted. She could have put that down and said the overzealous arresting officer made an error trying to impress new boss QuickDraw. Instead she lied. She's a gem. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-05-06 14:50 |
| #11 Karpinski was the top of the heap that recieved punishement. A lot of lower ranking officers got worse (rightly so) punishments and I don't hear them claiming that it was outside their jurisdiction. This shop lifting charge has little merit. What 0-6 (Col) is going to shop lift in hte BX? |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2005-05-06 14:40 |
| #10 My beef with Karpinski was: 1) She neglected her command in a war zone and allowed that command, if only for a night or two, to go out of control. That is unforgiveable for any commander in a war zone. Potentially, albeit unlikely, this is something that can spread throughout a unit in the field if left unchecked, at least in theory. 2) She shot her mouth off to the press making wild allegations while the investigation was still going on and she failed her fellow officers as a team player. Sylwester's problem with me was: Karpinski was a female military officer and I was a practicing sexist mongrel for pointing out her shortcomings in the field; that karpinski was innocent of any wrongdoing. Sylwester failed to note, from what I recall, that Karpinski had ZERO idea about what was going on in her command until the day CID walked into her office; and failed to noted that having no idea about what took place in her command was in fact the problem, the thing that got her relieved, and ultimately demoted. |
| Posted by: badanov 2005-05-06 13:15 |
| #9 No big deal. Anyone know when Mike Sylwester will pop up to give us all a long, heart-felt apology? Seems he's been proven wrong on every one of his hobby horses... |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-05-06 13:05 |
| #8 Okie... I was trying to tease FrankG... |
| Posted by: badanov 2005-05-06 12:47 |
| #7 You just blew any chance we will ever have of seeing any serious commentary on this thread. What's to comment about? The bag's dereliction of duty resulted in US soldiers committing crimes, Iraqis being victimized, and a massive propaganda win for our enemies (foreign and domestic). The only reason she's not facing criminal charges is she's been turned into a martyr by the left. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-05-06 12:36 |
| #6 I have a friend whose nickname is Quick - as in Quick Draw. He ''caught'' an old Sgt Mjr loading up his trunk from the backdoor of a BX in Germany - and opened fire with his service .45 - frezzing the old fart in his tracks. Later, he discovered this guy managed about 10 BX's and was merely leveling the inventory according what merchandise was moving where, heh. In civvies and driving his personal car was not very smart. But he got smart fast - made Quick his top Security guy, he appreciated guys who were ''aggressive'', and used olive drab official cars and wore his mil-issues after that. Theft from Quick's BXs dropped off abruptly after the word got around about the shoot first, ask questions later approach - securing his nick forever, heh. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-05-06 12:14 |
| #5 Just a quick comment on PX/BX security people (sic) sometimes they are a little over zealous with their accusations. Case in point when I was stationed in Korea the Security guy wanted me to surrender my backpack at the door. I declined and continued in and did my shopping. As I was exiting he (and two Security Police) stopped me and went through my bag looking for stolen goods. All the time I am be ''detained'' there were dozens of Korean nationals (not allowed to use the BX) exiting the store with merchandise (paid for or not). I pointed this out to deputy dog but he was too concerned about my dirty gym clothes and whether they were stolen. The SPs confided they got a call of a GI stealing stuff in the BX and that was why they were there. After it was determined that my (by this time) smelly gym clothes were not stolen I was free to go. So It’s not hard to imagine that anybody could be falsely accused (wrongly) of shoplifting. FYI I didn’t surrender my gym bag at the door because last time someone stole my sneakers and I couldn’t afford to buy another pair. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2005-05-06 12:01 |
| #4 Way to go, FrankG. You just blew any chance we will ever have of seeing any serious commentary on this thread. |
| Posted by: badanov 2005-05-06 11:41 |
| #3 Man, you guys are rough! Sheesh! |
| Posted by: .com 2005-05-06 11:22 |
| #2 the Spackle aisle at Home Depot was too heavily guarded |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-05-06 11:15 |
| #1 She stole COSMETICS!!! I mean, has anyone seen this woman! There aren't enough cosmetics on the planet to help this broad! |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-05-06 10:55 |