During an event last night, a prominent Republican senator took a swipe at the conduct of the general who oversaw the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, only to learn that she was sitting in the audience, and ready to fire back at his statement, according to an item at last night's Wall Street Journal website.

In the Journal's Washington Wire blog, reporter Jess Bravin reports that former Brigadier-General Janis Karpinski and Senator Lindsey Graham were both in attendance at an event in Washington Monday night, following the screening of an HBO documentary by Rory Kennedy called Ghosts of Abu Ghraib. However, Graham, a former Air Force lawyer, arrived after some brief introductory remarks, and didn't know Karpinski had already been introduced.

As Graham spoke, according to Bravin, he proceeded to declare that Karpinski, who commanded a military police unit that included the soldiers in the infamous Abu Ghraib photos, "got off easy with a demotion to colonel. She should have faced a court-martial."

The moderator of the event offered Karpinski a chance to respond to the senator.

“Sen. Graham…I consider you as cowardly as Rumsfeld, as Sanchez, and Miller and all of them,” she said, referring to her superiors in the military and Defense Department. Karpinski claims she took the blame for a situation they created at Abu Ghraib.

Graham stood by his statement, saying that Karpinski was responsible for what happened on the ground. He also noted "I’ve probably lost your vote," as the former highest-ranking female officer in Iraq lives in his state.

Bravin's item can be read at the Washington Wire blog's website.