Four SEALs Are Charged With Abuse Of Prisoners

By Thomas E. Ricks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 4, 2004; Page A04

The Navy said yesterday it charged four of its SEALs with abusing detainees in Iraq, marking the first time that elite Special Operations troops have been accused of such offenses in the expanding series of probes into the U.S. military's mistreatment of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The charges against the four sailors, which include assault, maltreatment of detainees and making false statements to investigators, arise from incidents between October 2003 and April of this year, the Navy said. Officials declined to release the names of those charged, saying they were being withheld because of the sensitive nature of the sailors' work, which can take them behind enemy lines on reconnaissance and sabotage missions.

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