Janis Karpinski

Janis Leigh Karpinski ( Beam, born May 25, 1953) is a retired career officer in the United States Army Reserve.

Karpinski was commissioned into the United States Army as a second lieutenant in 1977.

She served primarily in intelligence and military police assignments, training the first group of female soldiers for the United Arab Emirates, and toured supporting the Special Forces and in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War.

She was awarded a Bronze Star Medal.

In 1987, she moved from the regular Army to the Army Reserve.

In the private sector, she became a consultant who ran military-styled training programs for executives.

She is married to George Karpinski, a lieutenant colonel at the Oman US embassy.

She is notable for having commanded the forces that operated Abu Ghraib and other prisons in Iraq in 2003 and 2004, at the time of the scandal related to torture and prisoner abuse.

She commanded three prisons in Iraq and the forces that ran them.

Her education includes a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and secondary education from Kean College, a Master of Arts degree in aviation management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and a Master of Arts in strategic studies from the United States Army War College.

In June 2003, during the United States-led occupation of Iraq, Karpinski was given command of the 800th Military Police Brigade, which meant she was responsible for the 15 detention facilities in southern and central Iraq run by Coalition forces.

Karpinski was also given command of the National Guard and Army reserve units in the Iraqi city of Mosul.

His memo of March 14, 2003, five days before the US began its invasion of Iraq, concluded that federal laws related to torture and other abuses did not apply to interrogators working overseas; it was issued to William J. Haynes, the General Counsel of DOD, and finally revealed in 2008 as a result of a Senate hearing into enhanced interrogation techniques.

In June 2003, during the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, Karpinski was in command of the 800th Military Police Brigade placing her in charge of the fifteen detention facilities in southern and central Iraq run by Coalition forces.

She had no experience running correctional facilities.

Karpinski was also given command of the National Guard and Army reserve units in the Iraqi city of Mosul who handled prisoners.

Most of the forces had no training in handling prisoners, but at least two of the guardsmen later convicted of prisoner abuse had lengthy civilian experience as prison guards.

In September 2003, Karpinski led Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on a tour of the Abu Ghraib prison to demonstrate the way it had been used by Saddam Hussein to torture his enemies.

In October 2003, allegations of torture in the United States-managed Iraqi prisons began to surface.

Karpinski insisted that prisoners under her watch were treated "humanely and fairly".

In an interview with the St. Petersburg Times in December 2003, Karpinski said conditions in the prison were better than many Iraqi homes, and joked that the prisoners were treated so well that she was "concerned they wouldn't want to leave."

In July 2003, Karpinski stated she had evidence Israelis were involved in interrogations.

In January 2004, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez formally suspended Karpinski and 16 other soldiers with undisclosed reprimands.

An investigation was started into the abuse at Abu Ghraib, and Karpinski left Iraq for reasons that were explained at the time as part of "routine troop rotations."

In January 2004, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez formally suspended Karpinski and 16 other soldiers with undisclosed reprimands.

An investigation was started into the abuse.

Karpinski was reassigned in what was said at the time to be part of "routine troop rotations."

On April 8, 2005, Karpinski was formally relieved of command of the 800th Military Police Brigade.

On May 5, 2005, President George W. Bush approved Karpinski's demotion to colonel from the rank of brigadier general.

Her demotion was not related officially to the abuse at Abu Ghraib.

In October 2005, she published an account of her experiences, One Woman's Army, in which she claims that the abuses were done by contract employees trained in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, and sent to Abu Ghraib under orders from the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

She said her demotion was political retribution.

Since this time, some of Karpinski's claim of top-level authorization have been affirmed by revelations of what are known as the Torture Memos, legal opinions prepared by political appointees including John Yoo in the Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice.

On April 8, 2005, Karpinski was formally relieved of command of the 800th Military Police Brigade.

On May 5, 2005, President Bush approved Karpinski's demotion to Colonel from the rank of Brigadier General.

Her demotion was not officially related to the abuse at Abu Ghraib prison.

The allegations against her were for dereliction of duty, making a material misrepresentation to investigators, failure to obey a lawful order and shoplifting.

In his final report, Major General Antonio Taguba blamed Karpinski for the abuse, indicating she had not paid attention to the daily operations of the prison.

According to Taguba, Karpinski rarely visited the prisons during her tenure, and she reviewed and signed reports about claims of abuse without following up to make sure her orders were carried out.

As a consequence, the abuse was allowed to continue and her subordinates developed a lax attitude towards protocol.