BAGHDAD — A senior U.S. Army officer accused of aiding the enemy when he oversaw detainees at an American-run prison in Baghdad stashed huge amounts of "extremely sensitive" topsecret material in his living quarters that could have devastated the United States' mission in Iraq if it had been leaked, an investigator testified Tuesday.
Another investigator in the case against Lt. Col. William H. Steele said that during an interview, the officer admitted that he empathized with the prisoners he oversaw, who included ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and members of his former regime, and that he had lent them his cellular phone to make private calls.
The testimony came on the second and final day of an Article 32 inquiry, the military equivalent of a criminal court preliminary hearing. The officer hearing the case, Col. Elizabeth Fleming, must decide whether to recommend a court-martial for Steele, 51, of Virginia, on nine charges, including aiding the enemy, holding classified material, conduct unbecoming an officer, failing to obey an order and failing to properly oversee the expenditure of government funds. The decision could take days.
An Army reservist, Steele oversaw the Camp Cropper detention facility from October 2005 through October 2006 as commander of the 451st Military Police Detachment. He could face either life imprisonment or execution if convicted of the charge of aiding the enemy, the first time that accusation has been leveled against a member of the U.S. military in Iraq.
Cigars for Hussein
Prosecutors produced witnesses who said Steele approved buying Cuban cigars for Hussein, along with hair dye and new clothes. However, Army Brig. Gen. Kevin McBride of the 43rd Military Police Brigade of Rhode Island, who oversaw Iraq's detention facilities while Steele was running Camp Cropper, said purchases of cigars for the deposed dictator had been approved before either he or Steele assumed their commands.
"That was a situation that was in place when we arrived, and it continued when we left," McBride testified.
Other witnesses said officials tried to make high-level detainees comfortable and show their families that they were being treated humanely, and that some inmates received special perks because of their lengthy imprisonments.
