HAGERSTOWN, MD. ? A platoon leader’s memorandum to an Army reservist charged with abusing Iraqi detainees praised him for “doing a fine job” and said prisoners often tried to incite the guards to aggression.

The message from Capt. Christopher Brinson to Spc. Charles A. Graner Jr. also held Graner blameless for a prisoner’s injuries but urged him to study the military’s rules governing treatment of detainees.

The memo is dated Nov. 16, 2003, eight days after Graner was photographed in images showing some of the abuses alleged at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad. In one, the former Pennsylvania prison guard stands grinning behind a pyramid of naked prisoners. In another, his fist is cocked as if to punch a hooded prisoner.

Brinson’s memo bolsters defense claims that higher-ranking soldiers condoned rough treatment of detainees by Graner and six other members of the 372nd Military Police Company charged in the scandal. Some defendants have claimed commanders and military intelligence personnel encouraged such treatment to soften up prisoners for interrogation.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the memo last week from former Sgt. Kenneth A. Davis of the 372nd Military Police Company. He returned to the United States in December 2003 for medical treatment and received an honorable discharge for disability in July.

Brinson, who in civilian life is deputy chief of staff to Republican Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers, has neither been recommended for, nor received any discipline for his role at Abu Ghraib. He declined through an attorney, David Sheldon, to comment while the government continues its investigation into the alleged abuses.

Rogers, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, also declined to comment.