Santos A. Cardona (1974 – 28 February 2009) was a
war criminal and was a
sergeant in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
. He was one of the members of the
U.S.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
military police
Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear rec ...
personnel who were charged with torturing prisoners at
Abu Ghraib prison in
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
.
Military career
Cardona joined the United States Army in 1993 at the age of 17, needing his father's signature as a waiver to join. His career led him to become a dog handler, a job he performed on deployments to
Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
,
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
, and later, as a government contractor in
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
. His duties as a dog handler included both security, and also use of the canine's sense of smell to locate explosives, both improvised explosive devices (
IEDs) and unexploded ordnance (
UXO).
While deployed to Iraq, Cardona was accused of using his
Belgian Malinois dog "Duco", to threaten Iraqis in Abu Ghraib prison. Photos of the event were later made public. In May 2006 he was convicted of
dereliction of duty
Dereliction of duty is a specific offense under United States Code Title 10, Section 892, Article 92 and applies to all branches of the US military. A service member who is derelict has willfully refused to perform his duties (or follow a given o ...
and
aggravated assault, the equivalent of a
felony
A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...
in the U.S. civilian justice system. The prosecution demanded prison time, but a military judge imposed a fine and
reduction in rank
Reduction in rank may refer to three separate concepts:
*In military law, a ''reduction in rank'' or ''degradation'' is a demotion in military rank as punishment for a crime or wrongdoing, imposed by a court-martial or other authority. It may be im ...
, and he was required to serve 90 days of hard labor at
Fort Bragg,
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
.
After his release he was transferred to a new unit and was promoted to Sergeant. He was then assigned to the 23rd MP Company that was staged in
Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
as of November 2, 2006. He arrived in Kuwait with his unit and was selected to train
Iraqi police
The Iraqi Police (IP) is the uniformed police force responsible for the enforcement of civil law in Iraq. Its organisation, structure and recruitment were guided by the Coalition Provisional Authority after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and it is ...
.
On November 3, 2006, Lt. Col. Josslyn L. Aberle, chief of media operations for the
Multi-National Force in Iraq, stated on behalf of
the Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a meton ...
that Cardona's movement with his unit into Iraq from a staging area in Kuwait had been stopped and that "he's not coming to Iraq, and will depart Kuwait and will return to Fort Bragg immediately where he will be assigned duties commensurate with his Military Occupation Specialty and rank that allows him to be a productive member of the military police corps and the United States Army." Following his return to Fort Bragg, Cardona worked at the Army dog kennels. Cardona needed 5 more years of military service in order to gain full retirement benefits, but was unable to re-enlist due to provisions of his conviction for the incidents at Abu-Ghraib prison in Iraq. On September 29, 2007, Cardona left the Army with an
Honorable Discharge.
Post-military career and death
After leaving the Army, Santos Cardona worked in
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
for a time as private security for a musician, then also as a motorcycle salesman. With the intention of returning to work as a dog handler, Cardona joined the Florida firm
American K-9 Detection Services, and returned to Afghanistan in November 2008 as a government contractor. Cardona and his Working Dog, a
German Shepherd
The German Shepherd or Alsatian is a German breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various traditional German herding dogs from 1899.
It was originally bred as a herding dog, for ...
named "Zomie", were
Killed In Action (KIA) on February 28, 2009, in
Uruzgan Province
Uruzgan (Dari), also spelled as Urozgan or Oruzgan, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. Uruzgan is located in the center of the country. The population is 436,079, and the province is mostly a tribal society. Tarinkot serves as t ...
, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, when the vehicle he was riding in struck a buried Improvised Explosive Device.
Personal life
Cardona became involved with Heather Ashby, a fellow Military Police soldier, while stationed in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
in the late 1990s. They had a daughter Keelyn in 1999. Cardona adopted his working dog "Duco" at the end of the animal's military service.
References
External links
An Abu Ghraib Offender Heads Back to Iraq*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20050113080047/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,994176,00.html The Scandal's Growing Stain
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardona, Santos
1974 births
2009 deaths
United States Army personnel of the Iraq War
United States Army soldiers
United States military personnel convicted in the Abu Ghraib scandal
Civilian casualties in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
Deaths by improvised explosive device in Afghanistan