US drops charge against Abu Ghraib accused, Sabrina Harman. 06/02/2005. ABC News Online

US drops charge against Abu Ghraib accused. 06/02/2005. ABC News Online:

" US Government has dropped the main charge against a female soldier who posed in front of a pyramid of naked Iraqis at Abu Ghraib prison.

The charge against Sabrina Harman, over viewing and failing to prevent other soldiers from forcing detainees to masturbate, was dropped without discussion.
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Attorneys for Harman argued that charges related to the photographs of hooded detainees should be dismissed, because victims must be aware of abuse in order to be abused.

'There is no mental suffering by the mere act of photographing,' Capt Takemura said.

Harman is seen in one notorious photograph... giving a 'thumbs up' sign behind a pile of naked Iraqis.

In another photo from a separate incident, she flashes a broad smile in front of a dead Iraqi.
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Harman's lawyers have argued that there was a breakdown of leadership, and she and others became scapegoats for the failures of a system that reached the highest levels of the military bureaucracy and the Bush administration."