Officers admit urging cover-up
FORT CARSON, Colo. – Three Army officers admitted Friday that they urged a group of soldiers accused of causing the drowning of an Iraqi detainee to cover up part of their story to avoid a court-martial and to protect the chain of command.
Lt. Colonel Nathan Sassaman, known for his aggressive style against insurgents in troubled Iraqi cities like Balad and Samarra, testified before a military court that he told his men to mislead investigators.
“I said something to the effect of ‘Don’t talk about the water,’ ” Sassaman said during the last day of a hearing to decide if the soldiers should face court-martial.
Another officer, Capt. Matthew Cunningham, warned the soldiers to corroborate their stories. “I told them they need to get together and make sure their stories are consistent,” Cunningham testified. “I told them if there was any mention of the water the company leadership would be changed.”
The story they wanted told was that two Iraqi curfew violators were picked up Jan. 3, and later released by the Tigris River. The actual story was the Iraqis were made to jump from an embankment into the river where one of them apparently drowned.
The soldiers involved, members of the 3rd Combat Brigade based at Fort Carson, face a variety of charges, some carrying maximum sentences of 10 years in prison.
Sgt. 1st Class Tracy E. Perkins is charged with manslaughter, assault, conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Sgt. Reggie Martinez is charged with manslaughter. Spc. Terry Bowman is charged with assault and 1st Lt. Jack Saville faces manslaughter, assault, conspiracy, making false statements and obstruction of justice charges. Saville has not appeared because his lawyer was not prepared.
The investigating officer presiding over this week’s hearing will decide if a court-martial is warranted in the days ahead.
Neither Sassaman, Cunningham nor Maj. Robert Gwinner were present during the January incident, but all received reprimands afterward. They testified Friday under grants of immunity from prosecution.
Sassaman said he covered up because he was assured by the soldiers that the Iraqis had managed to get out of the water.
“I thought no harm, no foul if these people walked away,” he told the court. “I said the soldiers needed to be punished. I had hoped it would be done at my level in a nonjudicial way.”
He also feared that insurgents would use the episode to discredit his battalion that had aggressively pursued them – in one case taking part in 36 combat operations in 48 hours.