Abu Ghraib Guards Say They Were Scapegoats

Lawyers for US soldiers convicted of abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison say the recently released CIA memos prove their clients were just following orders, the Times of London reports. Some of the dozen soldiers who were convicted plan to appeal, arguing that the Bush administration kept quiet during their trials and let them take the heat.

“What we know is that we had at the time a rogue government that created an environment where this sort of conduct was condoned, if not encouraged,” said one lawyer whose client received a dishonorable discharge. “Once the pictures came out, the senior officials involved in the decision-making, they knew,” said the lawyer for convicted ringleader Charles Graner. “They knew they had to have a cover story. It was the ‘bad apples.’” (More Abu Ghraib stories.)