Lawyer says: US soldier facing Iraq abuse charges just followed orders

Lawyers for US Army Private Lynndie England are due back in court here where they will defend their client against charges she abused Iraqi detainees by claiming she was simply following orders. England, 21, is confined to this sprawling military base while the hearing against her which started Tuesday is completed. If the presiding judge decides she should face a court martial, the one time jailor could be looking at a maximum sentence of 38 years in an army prison. Her defense team, headed by Richard Hernandez, signalled to the media that it will argue in coming days that the abuse of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad last year was "systematic" and approved by senior officers. "The government is doing everything they can to make her a scapegoat," Hernandez told reporters as he left the court hearing late Tuesday. [more]