WASHINGTON, D.C. - An Army dog handler who worked at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq was found guilty yesterday of improperly frightening detainees with his collie. A military jury found Sgt. Timmy Martin, 55, responsible for mistreating prisoners by allowing his dog Lassie to intimidate high-value detainees by growling and barking at them at close range. A contrite Martin, addressing the Military Tribunal that found him guilty, said he was “awful sorry.” Speaking to his co-defendant, Lassie, Martin said, “We were just trying to prevent another terrorist attack, weren’t we girl?” Lassie responded with a robust bark. The prosecution immediately objected, and the presiding judge instructed the court reporter to strike the bark from the record.
Speaking with reporters from their farm in an unidentified hamlet somewhere in the American heartland, Sgt. Martin’s parents, Paul and Ruth Martin, expressed concern for their son and his dog in stern, but loving, tones. “Timmy knows better than to allow Lassie to violate international standards of behavior when it comes to treatment of enemy combatants in a time of war,” said Mr. Martin. “And Lassie knows better, too. Why, she’s been a member of Amnesty International for years.” Mrs. Martin said her son “needed to be punished,” but felt that spending the rest of his life in prison was too severe. “I think sending him to bed without a glass of warm milk for a week would have done the trick.”
