ISELIN, N.J. – Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski has her back up. She says she has been scapegoated for the abuses that some U.S. soldiers inflicted on Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib, abuses that occurred when she was in charge of 16 prisons in Iraq, and that were carried out by soldiers under her command.
Karpinski believes that higher-ups are attempting to make her the public face of failed leadership.
As a child growing up in Rahway, N.J., Janis Beam once tried to jump from a second-story window because it didn’t seem that far down. Her mother had to intervene when a neighbor saw her sitting on the ledge. That child grew into a one-star Army Reserve general who has made more than 110 parachute jumps and whose day job consists of turning up the heat under corporate types to see if they fry.
She doesn’t wilt under pressure, and says the Army will find that out.
“I guess they made the mistake of thinking that I was this pitiful dumb blond that wouldn’t take them on,” she says.
Karpinski says she had no knowledge of the abuse until an investigation was mounted, and she should not have to take the fall for it. To Karpinski, military colleagues decided she was “disposable” and they treated her like a “leper.”
She finds herself a bit anxious these days, convinced that everyone recognizes her, worried that some furious stranger might throw a soda on her. She agreed to meet a reporter at a Sheraton hotel in Iselin, N.J., but waited in her car in the parking lot instead of in the lobby, for fear of creating a scene.
Karpinski specializes in placing up-and-coming executives in stressful situations to see how they fare. For example, she might assign a business person to make a speech, then have someone scatter his briefing papers, or subject him to loud noise or language barriers, sometimes taping the whole thing by hidden camera. She tests people for what she calls “skills under fire,” which is fitting, given her life right now.
Karpinski says the fact that she functions best under “any kind of stress or pressure” is what made her such a good leader during her time as commander of the 800th Military Police Brigade.
But a 53-page report of the investigation into abuses at Abu Ghraib, an inquiry led by Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, suggests otherwise. It depicts a commander with poor communication skills who “rubber stamped” investigations into escapes by detainees, and made too few visits to Abu Ghraib, which she recalls as about 35 miles from where she was headquartered. It says she understaffed the prison, exercised poor oversight and failed to remind her soldiers of the Geneva Conventions’ protections for detainees. It recommends that she be “relieved from command.” It includes this account of an interview with her:
“BG Karpinski was extremely emotional during much of her testimony. What I found particularly disturbing in her testimony was her complete unwillingness to either understand or accept that many of the problems inherent in the 800th MP Brigade were caused or exacerbated by poor leadership and the refusal of her command to both establish and enforce basic standards and principles among its soldiers.”
“If you don’t get emotional when you’re talking about your soldiers who served with you for a year, there’s something wrong with you,” Karpinski says.
She says she did not have enough soldiers to staff Iraqi prisons, and when she complained to higher-ups, they were unresponsive.
“I don’t know how many times I was told by people wearing more stars than me, ‘Figure it out, Karpinski,’” she said.
Karpinski believes that when news broke about the abuses in Abu Ghraib, higher officers decided to sacrifice her to the wolves.
“I think they were setting me up over time,” she says. “In the end, it might be proven that the Taguba report was flawed. … They didn’t care if they tarnished my reputation and destroyed me in the process, because I was disposable. I was a reservist and they were careerists.”
Karpinski is adamant that the events at Abu Ghraib should not end her military career. Her status right now is unclear. She was given a letter of admonishment, which is not considered a career-ender, she said, the way that a letter of reprimand would be.
The media have widely reported that Karpinski was suspended. However, Karpinski said she has not been suspended, and Maj. Bernd Zoller, chief of public affairs at the 77th Regional Readiness Command, confirmedthat. He said Karpinski was not suspended and is still commander of the 800th MP Brigade (whose members were sent home when their rotation ended in February).
Karpinski admits her soldiers committed the abuses.
“Had I known (about the abuse) and maybe turned a blind eye on it, absolutely, that would’ve been on me,” she said. “I didn’t know anything about this. The soldiers didn’t share it with me. … Is it better to learn a lesson from this and move on, or to remove people that bring great experience to the table?”
Associated Press
Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski says she won’t accept being blamed for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners.
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