377TH MP COMPANY Soldiers call prisoner abuse counts 'witch hunt'

The commander and 10 under him have been charged in two deaths.
CINCINNATI (AP) -- The 377th Military Police Company, which operates with a skeleton staff in an armory near an old hockey arena, has drawn little notice over the years.
But when the company, mostly civilian police officers from Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, was called up for the first time since the Vietnam War for guard duty in Afghanistan, it soon found notoriety in a prisoner abuse scandal.
Now the company commander is on the brink of court-martial, and 10 of his soldiers have been charged in the deaths of two detainees or the alleged abuse of others at the Bagram detention center in December 2002.
The commander, a dedicated military man who says he'll volunteer for Iraq duty if he's cleared, says his men "did a great job under adverse circumstances," with little guidance or training.
Some claim they are scapegoats in the controversy over U.S. treatment of prisoners and detainees in Afghanistan, Iraq and the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Capt. Christopher Beiring, the company commander since shortly before the 2002 deployment, could learn next week if he will be court-martialed on charges of dereliction of duty and making a false official statement.
He is accused of failing to properly supervise soldiers and take corrective action after the first detainee's death.
Beiring, 39, of Dayton, contends that his soldiers were not adequately trained for a new kind of war and a new type of guard duty when they were sent to Afghanistan, and that his requests for the Army to provide more training were denied.
"My unit and I did the best we could with the personnel, training, resources and talent provided," Beiring said in a statement at his Article 32 hearing at Fort Bliss, Texas, this month, a rough equivalent of a grand jury hearing to determine if there will be a court-martial.
"The unit as a whole did a great job under adverse conditions with little guidance and fewer resources," he said.
Prosecutor's side
An Army prosecutor argued that Beiring was responsible for every mistake made by his soldiers, and that Beiring allowed a blurring of the military police chain of command and the military intelligence chain of command.
Of the 10 soldiers charged, charges against two have been dropped and three others were acquitted by military juries. Three were convicted or pleaded guilty to abuse charges, and two await trial.
Maj. Jeff Hinkle, 39, of Fairfield, who commanded the 377th in the late '90s, said it's easy to see the extraordinary pressure on MPs in the post-9/11 era.
"You're dealing with some of the world's worst terrorists," Hinkle said. "They'll threaten your life, threaten your family's life. It's tough for a young kid to deal with."
After the Army spent 21/2 years investigating the allegations, Beiring got official notice of the charges against him Sept. 11 -- the fourth anniversary of the terror attacks that led to his company's deployment to Afghanistan.
"The things they got me on are totally bogus," Beiring said in a telephone interview from Fort Bliss, Texas. He called the proceedings a "witch hunt."
Sgt. Alan Driver, who is awaiting trial, agreed.
"There's no standard of prosecution here," Driver said. "There isn't a civilian prosecutor in the world who would go forward with charges like this. They're prosecuting good soldiers."
Bad apples
Beiring commanded about 95 soldiers in Afghanistan. A few, he admits, were bad apples who exhibited bad judgment and "probably did go way overboard."
But he also believes the two detainees contributed to their own deaths.
"They fought with my guards," Beiring said. "They chose to be combative. I'm not convinced we broke any rules."
He said he relied on his company's counterpart, the 519th Military Intelligence Battalion from Fort Bragg, N.C., for direction on some matters. Some of those interrogators also have been charged with abusing detainees.
"We were told that shackling a detainee for purposes of ensuring he stayed awake and standing was authorized," Beiring said. "The guidance changed to require detainees not be shackled over their heads, and I passed this word to my platoon leadership."
One soldier, Pfc. Willie Brand, was convicted of assault, maiming, maltreatment and making a false official statement. He was reduced in rank to private.
Driver, 30, of Indianapolis, is a former Marine and special deputy sheriff who is working on a business degree at Marian College in Indiana. One of the charges against him is that he shoved a detainee -- Omar al-Farouq, one of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants in Indonesia -- against a wall. Al-Farouq has since escaped from American custody in Afghanistan.
Military life
Beiring has spent his life around the military. As an Air Force brat, he lived in half a dozen states, Spain and Guam by the time he was 10.
He served four years as a gunner's mate in the Navy, four years active duty with the Army, and has a civilian intelligence job at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton.
Despite the charges against him, he often sounds gung-ho.
"I do not completely blame the Army. It has become a political thing and the Army must show it takes abuse seriously -- as well it should, but not for political reasons," Beiring said. "Most of the offenses could have been dealt with at a much lower level."
While he is on active duty, Beiring's wife, Susan, is home with their three children, a 10-year-old daughter and two sons, 10 and 8.
"My wife and I were kind of keeping this trial stuff out of the ears of my kids, but my daughter did an Internet search a couple of months ago and found out what's happening," Beiring said.
Still, Beiring supports the U.S. military efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"I don't want to bash the Army; I don't want to bash President Bush," he said. "I haven't seen a better plan. I'd rather take the fight to them [terrorists], rather than have them take the fight to us."
He could know by next week if he will be booted out of the Army, sentenced to prison or be eligible for promotion.
"I am not an extremely religious man, but I believe in God and pray that he will see me through this trial," Beiring said.