FORT MEADE, Md. A military jury sentenced an Army dog handler to 90 days hard labor and a reduction in rank on Friday for allowing his Belgian shepherd to bark within inches of an Iraqi detainee’s face at Abu Ghraib prison.
Sgt Santos Cardona was found guilty of dereliction of duty and aggravated assault for allowing his dog to bark in the face of a kneeling detainee at the request of another soldier who wasn’t an interrogator.
What we have here is a soldier who let his dog get too close to a detainee, and the dog barked, Santos’ military lawyer told the jury.
And – I kid you not – the Prosecutor called Sgt Cardona’s actions “a boneheaded decision.”