Iraq IV: Alyssa Peterson Died For Our Sins

It took an enterprising small-town reporter and a bunch of bloggers, but the tragic story of Army Specialist Alyssa Peterson, an Arabic-speaking interrogator in Iraq, has finally gone prime time.

Peterson, 27, a Flagstaff, Airzona native serving with the 311th Military Intelligence Batallion of the 101st Airborne Division, was assigned to the prison at an air base at Tal-Afar in northwestern Iraq.

According to official records, Peterson died on September 15, 2003, from a "non-hostile weapons discharge."

But Kevin Elston, a longtime Flagstaff radio and newspaper reporter, sensed that there was more to the story and decided to dig deeper. Hundreds of telephone calls and one Freedom of Information Act request later, Elston was able to go public with the real story:

"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.”

More here.