no immunity, no veracity

from Newsday.com:

In some cases, Frederick testified, he complained to superiors about the harsh treatment of prisoners. But he said they told him to follow the orders of military intelligence.

Frederick was not the only witness who expressed complaints yesterday about the response from higher-ups. Sgt. Joseph M. Darby, who has been variously hailed and assailed as the whistleblower in the case, testified that he handed over the photos depicting detainee abuses to Army investigators because he did not think his superiors would take disciplinary action.

"I didn't think the chain of command would do anything about it," Darby said.

The trial is expected to last through the week. If convicted on the charges of conspiracy, maltreatment, assault, indecent acts and dereliction of duty, Graner could be sentenced to 17 1/2 years in military prison.

A spokesman for the prosecutors, Capt. Steven 'Chuck' Neill, said after court last night that the defense team might not have any choice but to put Graner on the stand.

"If the defense is in fact going to be obedience of orders, he is likely going to have to take the stand to say he was given an order," Neill said.

Womack, the defense lawyer, acknowledged that no one else is likely to testify directly that such an order existed.

"You can imagine that no one would come in and say that unless they were given a grant of immunity," he said.

And that's where this whole process falls down. If no immunity is granted, anyone testifying to orders from higher ups risks prosecution or military reprisals. Funny, how these trials have all been about directing culpability away from command-level officers and placing blame wholly on the grunts. The military is in such a state of denial that it is impossible for any truth or reform to emerge from this ugly episode.

Link