The Fish Rots From The Tail Fin Up?

We got another verdict on the misconduct at Abu Ghraib. It's good to see that those really in charge of setting policy finally are being held responsible:

A military jury sentenced an Army dog handler to 90 days hard labor and a reduction in rank Friday for allowing his Belgian shepherd to bark within inches of an Iraqi detainee's face at Abu Ghraib prison.

Army Sgt. Santos A. Cardona was the 11th soldier convicted of crimes stemming from the abuse of inmates at the prison in late 2003 and early 2004.

He was found guilty of dereliction of duty and aggravated assault for allowing his dog to bark in the face of a kneeling detainee at the request of another soldier who wasn't an interrogator.

The military jury acquitted him of other charges, including unlawfully having his dog bite a detainee and conspiring with another dog handler to frighten prisoners as a game.

It wasn't clear where Cardona, who was based at Fort Bragg, N.C., will serve the sentence or what sort of hard labor he will be require to do. He won't be confined during the sentence.

Cardona's rank was reduced to specialist and the court ordered him to forfeit $600 a month in pay for 12 months.

"It wasn't an acquittal," Cardona's civilian attorney, Harvey Volzer, told his client, "but it was pretty darn good."

"Pretty darn good" indeed....