US soldier details Iraq abuse, to plead guilty

The paper said that Spc. Jeremy Sivits, the first soldier to face a court-martial in the abuse scandal, has told investigators "a harrowing tale" of how guards led by Spc. Charles Graner abused the detainees during nightly rounds.

The Times said that according to documents it had obtained, Sivits claimed Graner was always "joking, laughing ... acting like he was enjoying it."

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Sivits, one of seven military police officers facing charges in the case, will plead guilty at a court-martial proceeding next week, the Washington Post reported on Friday.

Sivits, 24, of Hyndman, Pa., admitted in a sworn statement that he photographed the abuse but never reported it, according to the newspaper.

His offer to plead guilty was accepted by the staff judge advocate overseeing his court-martial, according to a memo reviewed by The Washington Post and lawyers representing others charged in the case, the newspaper said. But the paper said it could not be determined to which charge he would plead guilty.

The Times also reported that Sivits' statement implicates five of the other six soldiers accused of abusing detainees at the prison outside Baghdad.

According to the Times, Sivits said all of the abuse was done without the knowledge of their superiors in the Army chain of command. "Our command would have slammed us," he said, according to documents quoted by the paper.