Exposing The Truth Of Abu Ghraib

(CBS)  This segment was originally broadcast on Dec. 10, 2006. It was updated on June 21, 2007.

You may not remember the name Joe Darby, but you remember the impact of what he did. Darby turned in the pictures of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib in Iraq – pictures he had discovered purely by accident. Unfortunately for Darby, exposing the truth has changed his life forever, and for the worse.

60 Minutes first broadcast this story last December, the story of an ordinary Joe who grew up in Appalachia and signed up to be an MP in the Army Reserves. As CNN's Anderson Cooper reports, Darby's local unit was sent to Abu Ghraib where he worked in the office while others guarded the prisoners.

And then one day, when Joe Darby wanted scenic pictures to send home, he spotted the unit's camera buff, prison guard Charles Graner.

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"So I walked up to Graner and I, you know, 'Hey do you have any pictures?' And he said 'Yeah, yeah, hold on.' Reaches into his computer bag and pulls out two CDs and just hands them to me," Darby remembers.

Asked if he thinks Graner realized what was on these discs, Darby says, "I don't think he realized what was on, but I don't think it would have mattered either way. I knew Graner and Graner trusted me."

That trust was about to change Darby's life forever. He copied Graner's discs and gave him back the originals. Later, when Darby looked at the photos he first saw scenic shots of Iraq, but then he came upon the pictures that launched the scandal. One of the first shots was a photo of a pyramid of naked Iraqis.

"I didn't realize it was Iraqis at first, you know? 'Cause we lived in prison cells too," Darby says.

At first, Darby thought the pictures were maybe of American soldiers goofing off.

"I laughed. I looked at it and I laughed. And then the next photo was of Graner and England standing behind them. And I was like, 'Wait a minute. This is the prison. These are prisoners.' And then it kind of sunk in that they were doing this to prisoners. This was people being forced to do this," Darby recalls.

Forced, Darby said, by Graner, who he called the ring leader.

Asked what Charles Graner was like, Darby says, "If you were around him long enough you saw that he had a dark side, a morbid side."

And a sadistic side, according to Darby, who told 60 Minutes Graner directed the abusive posing and picture taking during his night shift when he and his buddies were alone with the prisoners.

What was going through his mind when he clicked through the photos?

"Disbelief," Darby says. "I tried to think of a reason why they would do this, you know."

"Well there's some who say, 'Look, this is a valuable interrogation tool,'" Cooper remarks.

"These were MPs. Our job wasn't to interrogate prisoners," Darby says.

"There has been testimony that some of the MPs were told to soften the prisoners up, that this was part of that," Cooper says.

"And I've heard that. And I wasn't there. I didn't work the tier. I can't say that that didn't happen," Darby replies.

But no matter why they were doing it, Darby knew what they were doing was wrong.

"I've always had a moral sense of right and wrong. And I knew that you know, friends or not, it had to stop," Darby says.

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[peasoid55]

Mr. Darby is a hero. A man of integrity who acknowledges the distinction between legality and morality; cronies and criminals; right and wrong. It's been a long time since I've had someone make me feel so proud to be an American. Mr. Darby, you have served and sacrificed much, you have carried yourself with great dignity and honor and I thank you.

Andy Pease

[MPSTeachr]

re: Sgt. Joseph Darby:
As a combat vet, Republic of Viet Nam,1967-68 and a proud VFW member, I congratulate Sgt. Darby for his courage.
As a combat vet, Republic of Viet Nam,1967-68 and a proud VFW member, I am ashamed of the VFW Post that would not defend the Constitution and therefore the soldiers fighting under that sacred document.
As members of the United States Armed Forces, we pledge allegiance to the Constitution. All else is secondary.
Sgt and Mrs. Darby, I wish you well and God Speed.
Manuel Serrano HM3
3/7-1

[MPSTeachr]

re: Sgt. Joseph Darby:
As a combat vet, Republic of Viet Nam,1967-68 and a proud VFW member, I congratulate Sgt. Darby for his courage.
As a combat vet, Republic of Viet Nam,1967-68 and a proud VFW member, I am ashamed of the VFW Post that would not defend the Constitution and therefore the soldiers fighting under that sacred document.
As members of the United States Armed Forces, we pledge allegiance to the Constitution. All else is secondary.
Sgt and Mrs. Darby, I wish you well and God Speed.
Manuel Serrano HM3
3/7-1

[MPSTeachr]

re: Sgt. Joseph Darby:
As a combat vet, Republic of Viet Nam,1967-68 and a proud VFW member, I congratulate Sgt. Darby for his courage.
As a combat vet, Republic of Viet Nam,1967-68 and a proud VFW member, I am ashamed of the VFW Post that would not defend the Constitution and therefore the soldiers fighting under that sacred document.
As members of the United States Armed Forces, we pledge allegiance to the Constitution. All else is secondary.
Sgt and Mrs. Darby, I wish you well and God Speed.
Manuel Serrano HM3
3/7-1

[MPSTeachr]

re: Sgt. Joseph Darby:
As a combat vet, Republic of Viet Nam,1967-68 and a proud VFW member, I congratulate Sgt. Darby for his courage.
As a combat vet, Republic of Viet Nam,1967-68 and a proud VFW member, I am ashamed of the VFW Post that would not defend the Constitution and therefore the soldiers fighting under that sacred document.
As members of the United States Armed Forces, we pledge allegiance to the Constitution. All else is secondary.
Sgt and Mrs. Darby, I wish you well and God Speed.
Manuel Serrano HM3
3/7-1

[newtsmom]

Reading these comments is a very sad thing. I am dismayed, disgusted, and flabbergasted at those who think it is alright to humiliate and torture prisoners. Have you all forgotten that these prisoners who were presented to the public as vicious war criminals were simply released after all of these atrocities came to light? Clearly, there was little evidence on them to begin with. However, that said, it is never permissible to treat another human being in such a way. What if those were our men in someone else's prison? America used to be the nation that set the standard for humanity. Since the Bush administration, we are known throughout the world for our brutality and bullying of other countries. I suppose it was alright for those soldiers to go into that building and shoot all of those unarmed civilians, too. Just because they are wearing a uniform does not make them all heroes. The majority of the servicemen and women are just that. However, some of them, just like some of us, are horrible, cruel individuals who joined the service so that they could have the sheer pleasure of legally torturing or killing people. Shame on all of you who think it's loyalty to turn your head when you see things like this. Perhaps you should move to Iraq or Iran or Darfur where these things are looked upon as patriotic. I am very proud of you, Joe. You can live in my town any day.

[bethgo7]

God bless Joe Darby. If we had more people like him in the world who were willing to bring atrocities to light I think we would all be better off. Shame on his "friends" and "family members" who have turned against him, I would be honored to have him live in my town.

[ak311]

Bravo to Joe Darby. It's to bad that he had to be put in this position in the first place. Unfortunetely, the real culprits are still running free and doing what they've always have been doing. How much longer do the American and Iraqi people have to endure the unjustified sacrifices being made for reasons that are as invisible as the people that are controlling the offensive.

[vprin23512]

where was the outrage when they captured our soldiers and did what they did to them? I could care less what happens to this man, to go to the press is like going to the pimp with this.

shame on 60 minutes.

[cysciborg]

Again, I wish to say, that the comments placed here, by me, were as sanitized as possible.
as, due to reporting " WAR CRIMES ", I was, as an American Service person. repeatedly Imprisoned in Brig, and then on to "Secret" prisons in Asia and pacific. NEVER charged, given represenative, have hearing or trial.
was however given pick and shovel, at 100 +
in shorts and tshirt. to dig ditches. we, as I was not alone, were given food altered by liquid and solid human waste. NOT given matress, blanket, pillow, or anything but out under shorts. no toilet in the solitary cells. the light on for days, then off for same. when human waste got too smelly for the goons, they took hire hoses and a cup of detergent thrown into cell, and blasted clean. real water park for the solitary prisoner. then for hygene, they often took me, and handcuffed me to the shower head. Oh, this was for hours, and at times at night, where we were allowed to hang in cold water, in the dead of winter nights. they used clubs and metal folding chairs for beatings, at times, I was taken in leg irons, and cuffs, and chained to metal chair outside, under high intensity light, at night. well, I got to meet all the biting species of insect. however, there were MURDERS of americans, by americans, in the secret prisons.