Damien M. Corsetti was a soldier in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

.Closing Arguments Set In Fort Bliss Court-Martial
, '' KWTX'', February 23, 2006 As part of the Army's investigation into prisoner abuse at Bagram, Corsetti was charged with dereliction of duty, maltreatment, assault and performing an indecent act with another person. PFC Corsetti was later found not guilty of all charges. At the time Corsetti was a specialist in the 519th Military Intelligence Battalion, serving under

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

Carolyn Wood Carolyn Wood, United States Army captain, is a military intelligence officer who served in both Afghanistan and Iraq. She was implicated by the Fay Report to have "failed" in several aspects of her command regarding her oversight of interrogator ...

. On May 20, 2005, Tim Golden of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' published a long article on the Bagram murders based on a 2,000-page classified report to which ''The Times'' had gotten access.In US Report, Brutal Details of 2 Afghan Inmates' Deaths
, originally published by ''

'', May 21, 2005, mirrored by Veterans for Common Sense This article contained many allegations about Corsetti's role. According to ''The New York Times'': * One of Corsetti's nickname in the unit was "Monster". He had a tattoo across his stomach of the Italian word for Monster. * Another of Corsetti's nicknames in the unit was "The King of Torture". Corsetti was large and imposing, and was called upon by other interrogators to frighten prisoners using the interrogation technique known as " Fear up, harsh". * According to one detainee Corsetti's abuse of prisoners included poking bound prisoners in the face with his naked penis and threatening them with sexual assault. * During his posting to

Abu Ghraib Abu Ghraib (; ar, أبو غريب, ''Abū Ghurayb'') is a city in the Baghdad Governorate of Iraq, located just west of Baghdad's city center, or northwest of Baghdad International Airport. It has a population of 189,000 (2003). The old road t ...

Corsetti and two other soldiers were reprimanded. Corsetti was charged on October 6, 2005.NATION IN BRIEF
, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', October 6, 2005. According to the ''

National Catholic Reporter The ''National Catholic Reporter'' (''NCR'') is a progressive national newspaper in the United States that reports on issues related to the Catholic Church. Based in Kansas City, Missouri, ''NCR'' was founded by Robert Hoyt in 1964. Hoyt want ...

'', Corsetti's lawyer said: ''“The president of the United States doesn’t know what the rules are. The secretary of defense doesn’t know what the rules are. But the government expects this Pfc. to know what the rules are?"''Quotable and notable
, ''

'', February 24, 2006. Corsetti's

court martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

commenced on May 30, 2006.Trial under way for soldier in Afghan prisoner abuse case
, '' Star Telegram'', May 30, 2006 Guantanamo detainee

Ahmed al-Darbi Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al-Darbi ( ar, احمد محمد احمد هزاع الدربي) is a citizen of Saudi Arabia who was held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba from August 2002 to May 2018; in May 2018, he was ...

, a brother-in-law of a 9/11 hijacker, claimed to be a victim of Corsetti's abuse, and was able to describe Corsetti's tattoos in detail. On 1 June 2006, a military jury found PFC Corsetti not guilty of all charges.In Final Trial, G.I. Is Acquitted of Abusing Jailed Afghans
June 2, 2006 The September 14, 2006 issue of ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' contained an Op-ed from

Moazzam Begg Moazzam Begg ( ur, ; born 5 July 1968 in Sparkhill, Birmingham) is a British Pakistani who was held in extrajudicial detention by the US government in the Bagram Theater Internment Facility and the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp, in Cuba, for ...

, who described his contact with Corsetti.Guantanamo's Catch-22: defining the rules of the road
, ''

'', September 14, 2006 Begg described being approached by Corsetti's defense attorneys, to serve as a defense witness. Begg described Corsetti as a friend, who gave him a copy of the classic anti-war novel ''

Catch-22 ''Catch-22'' is a satirical war novel by American author Joseph Heller. He began writing it in 1953; the novel was first published in 1961. Often cited as one of the most significant novels of the twentieth century, it uses a distinctive non-chr ...

''. Begg said that Corsetti never abused him, and would stop for friendly conversations with inmates including

Omar Khadr Omar Ahmed Said Khadr ( ar, عمر أحمد سعيد خضر; born September 19, 1986) is a Canadian citizen who at the age of 15 was detained by the United States at Guantanamo Bay for ten years, during which he pleaded guilty to the murder of U ...

, and that he was one of the friendly GIs who had helped him endure his imprisonment. However, Begg expressed the opinion that while Corsetti's superiors deserved a heavy load of responsibility for the abuses at Bagram and Abu Ghraib, low level soldiers like his friend Corsetti couldn't escape all responsibility if they committed illegal acts. On 2 October 2006, PFC Corsetti was honorably discharged from the United States Army. Corsetti consented to appear at a December 5, 2007 preview screening for the film ''

Taxi to the Dark Side ''Taxi to the Dark Side'' is a 2007 American documentary film directed by Alex Gibney, and produced by Gibney, Eva Orner, and Susannah Shipman. It won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. It focuses on the December 2002 killing of ...

'', that is critical of the "War on Terrorism".

Steven Clemons Steven Craig Clemons (born 1962) is an American journalist and blogger. In March 2022, he became Founding Editor at Large of '' Semafor'', Justin Smith and Ben Smith’s new media startup, to create their global events vertical. He spent three ye ...

Alex Gibney's "Taxi to the Dark Side" Really a Critique of Bush's "War on Democracy"
, '' TPMCafe'', December 2, 2007. Corsetti's war experience has been summarized by the Spanish journalist Pablo Pardo in the boo
''El Monstruo'' ('The Monster')
published in Spain on September 12, 2011.

References

External links

Former US interrogator Damien Corsetti recalls the torture of prisoners in Bagram and Abu Ghraib
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corsetti, Damien M. Living people United States Army soldiers Year of birth missing (living people) United States Army personnel who were court-martialed

See also

References

External links