April 28, 2004: The Abu Ghraib Scandal Breaks

April 28, 2004: The Abu Ghraib scandal breaks. It was one of the most shameful things ever done by any unit of the American government.

During the early stages of the Iraq War, members of the United States Army and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) committed a series of human rights violations and war crimes against detainees in Abu Ghraib prison, in the Baghdad Governorate (equivalent to an American State) in Iraq.

The abuses came to public attention with the publication of photographs by CBS News. Among them were the photo shown above, The Hooded Man, later identified as Abdou Hussain Saad Faleh. There was also a photo of a bunch of naked men piled on top of one another, known as The Naked Pyramid; Man On a Leash, which showed a female soldier holding a leash on the collar of an otherwise naked prisoner; and another, showing that same woman, smirking, smoking a cigarette, and making "gun fingers" at a hooded by otherwise naked prisoner.

The George W. Bush Administration stated that the abuses at Abu Ghraib were isolated incidents, and not indicative of U.S. policy. This was exposed as a lie by humanitarian organizations including the Red Cross, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, who claimed the abuses were part of a pattern of torture and brutal treatment at American overseas detention centers, including those in Iraq, in Afghanistan, and at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The International Committee of the Red Cross reported that most detainees at Abu Ghraib were civilians, with no links to armed groups.

In response to the events at Abu Ghraib, the U.S. Department of Defense removed 17 soldiers and officers from duty. Eleven soldiers were charged with dereliction of duty, maltreatment, aggravated assault and battery. By April 2006, these soldiers were court-martialed, convicted, sentenced to military prison and dishonorably discharged.

The aforementioned female soldier, Private 1st Class Lynndie England, and Specialist Charles Graner were found to have perpetrated many of the worst offenses at the prison, and were subject to more severe charges and received harsher sentences, sentenced to 3 and 10 years, respectively. As it happened, England and Graner were a couple, and when England was arrested, she was pregnant with Graner's child. She ended up serving only a year and a half; Graner, 6 years.

England and Graner. The smiles did not last.

Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, the commanding officer of all detention facilities in Iraq, was reprimanded and demoted to the rank of Colonel. Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld apologized for the Abu Ghraib abuses.

Unfortunately, John Kerry wasn't willing to use the scandal to win an election. You think if it had happened under a Democratic President, the Republicans would have eased up?

After the war, Lynndie England returned to her native West Virginia with her son, and found work as a secretary. As recently as 2012, she said that she did not regret her actions. Graner married someone else, and has refused interviews since his release.

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April 28, 2004 was a Wednesday. These games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics, 5-1 at Yankee Stadium. José Contreras outpitched Mark Mulder. Jorge Posada and Jason Giambi hit home runs. Derek Jeter went 0-for-4 with a walk. Alex Rodriguez went 1-for-4.

* The New York Mets lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Odalis Pérez outpitched Steve Trachsel. Dave Roberts -- not yet a Red Sox hero or the Dodgers' manager -- and Adrian Beltré hit home runs. Kazuo Matsui hit one for the Mets.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 6-0 at Fenway Park in Boston. Curt Schilling pitched 7 1/3rd innings of 5-hit shutout ball, and Alan Embree and Lenny DiNardo completed the 5-hit shutout. Jason Varitek went 2-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs. David Ortiz went 1-for-4 with a walk.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Seattle Mariners, 3-1 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Ichiro Suzuki went 0-for-5.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Houston Astros, 4-2 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 9-8 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Cleveland.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Anaheim Angels, 10-2 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 10-9 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee. Bill Hall singled Trent Durrington home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Ben Grieve hit a home run. Scott Podsednik went 4-for-5. Bill Hall went 3-for-6 with 4 RBIs. Lyle Overbay went 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs. For the Reds, Barry Larkin went 2-for-6, and Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-6 with an RBI.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 9-5 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Texas Rangers, 5-3 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Colorado Rockies, 9-4 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 4-3 at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) in Phoenix.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Montreal Expos, 5-4 at Petco Park in San Diego.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves, 10-7 at SBC Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco. Barry Bonds went 1-for-3 with 2 walks.

Football was out of season. There was 1 game in the NBA Playoffs: The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Houston Rockets, 97-78 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles. Kobe Bryant scored 31 points.

There were 2 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-1 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto. And the Colorado Avalanche beat the San Jose Sharks, 1-0 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver. Joe Sakic scored the winning goal, 5:15 into overtime.