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The face of Abu Ghraib now an unemployed welfare mother… with a book tour
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Lynndie England, minus the cigarette dangling from her lips (AP)
Lynndie England, the former Army reservist who became the face of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, told the Associated Press that she feels like a prisoner in her own home.
“I don’t have a social life,” she told the AP, “I sit at home all day.”
England, featured prominently in photos that exposed prisoner abuse in one of Iraq’s most notorious prisons, is in the midst of a press tour to promote her biography, “Tortured: Lynndie England, Abu Ghraib and the Photographs that Shocked the World.”
In the photos the former private first class is shown dragging Iraqi prisoners around by a leash and mugging in front of hooded, naked men while pointing at their genitals.
“They think that I was like this evil torturer. ... I wasn’t,” England told the AP. “People don’t realize I was just in a photo for a split second in time.”
For her part in the scandal England was convicted of conspiracy, mistreating detainees and committing an indecent act. She was one of 11 soldiers found guilty of wrongdoing at Abu Ghraib and served 521 days in prison (approximately half of her three-year sentence).
Since her release from prison England has struggled to land a job, and even finds it a chore to be seen in public in spite of repeated attempts to hide her identity.
“It’s my face that’s always recognized,” she told the AP, “and I can’t really change that.”
England told the Associated Press she has gained weight, changed her hair color and tried to hide behind sunglasses and baseball caps, but strangers still point and whisper, “That’s her!”
Familiarity with her face – and her trial – has, according to England, rendered her unemployable. She told the AP she had submitted “hundreds of resumes for all kinds of jobs” but no one would hire her. She also said one restaurant manager was willing to give her a chance but the other employees threatened to quit.
As a result, she gave up on searching and now relies on her parents and welfare to make ends meet. England has a son, four-year-old Carter, whose father - former Cpl. Charles Graner Jr – is still serving time for his role in the abuse of Iraqi prisoners.
“I couldn't have Carter exactly as he is without anybody else except Graner,” England told the AP reporter when asked if she would change anything about Abu Ghraib if given the chance. “So to me that’s the whole reason for me meeting him.”
England said it was her hope that the biography and book tour would help rehabilitate her tarnished image.
“We were just pawns,” she told the Associated Press. “People were just playing us.”
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