Abu Ghraib Soldier Unapologetic Eight Years Later
But Lynndie England, the soldier who gave the infamous "thumbs-up," says she does regret the impact the photo had on her fellow soldiers.
| Posted Monday, March 19, 2012, at 4:05 PM
Photo by Sara D. Davis/Getty Images.
Lynndie England, the former U.S. solider made infamous in 2004 for a photo of her giving two thumbs-up at Abu Ghraib, isn't sorry for how she and her fellow soldiers abused prisoners there.
"Their lives are better," she told The Daily in an interview for a story published Monday. "They got the better end of the deal. They weren't innocent. They're trying to kill us, and you want me to apologize to them?"
Still, there is one thing that England says she regrets: that her photos, which sparked anti-American backlash in many regions of the world, may have led to increased U.S. casualties. "That's something that falls on my head," she said. "I think about it all the time.... Losing people on our side because of me coming out on a picture."
You can read the full Daily article here, which includes more details of England's life, including her strained relationship with Charles Graner, who the outlets describes as "her former lover and the ringleader of the Abu Ghraib abuses," her struggles to land a job after she was dishonorably discharged from the military, and her post-traumatic stress disorder.
