I recieved this article in an e-mail. Some excerpts are below.
Revealed: U.S. Soldier Killed Herself After Objecting to Interrogation Techniques
…Now we learn that one of the first female soldiers killed in Iraq died by her own hand after objecting to interrogation methods used on prisoners. …
…She was Army specialist Alyssa Peterson, 27, a Flagstaff, Ariz., native serving with C Company, 311th Military Intelligence BN, 101st Airborne. …
…According to official records, she died on Sept. 15, 2003, from a “non-hostile weapons discharge.“…
A newspaper reporter named Kevin Elston made a FOIA request after other methods of inquiry into this story proved fruitless. He actually did receive the records, and he found them to be a revelation.
“Peterson objected to the interrogation techniques used on prisoners. She refused to participate after only two nights working in the unit known as the cage. Army spokespersons for her unit have refused to describe the interrogation techniques Alyssa objected to. They say all records of those techniques have now been destroyed. …”.
She was was then assigned to the base gate, where she monitored Iraqi guards, and sent to suicide prevention training. “But on the night of September 15th, 2003, Army investigators concluded she shot and killed herself with her service rifle,” the documents disclose.
An Army inquiry revealed this:
“The reactions to the suicide were that she was having a difficult time separating her personal feelings from her professional duties. That was the consistent point in the testimonies, that she objected to the interrogation techniques, without describing what those techniques were.”
The documents also refer to a suicide note found on her body. Elston is now attempting to obtain a copy.
