How many leaders came to troops’ defense saying those few betrayed their buddies and their commanders, their commander-in-chief included?
Wronging prisoners is a capital offense; wronging military leaders is a Capitol pastime. Friendly fire in battle is deplorable; on Capitol Hill, it’s routine. Collateral damage is despicable, collateral damage to troops matters as much to congressional leaders as nursery tots did to Timothy McVeigh.
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Tags: Congressional, exploited, Ghraib, leaders, more, Qaeda
I assume you are upset that after Abu Graib congress held the soldiers superiors responsible. Should they not be responsible for the actions of their subordinates? Or do you believe that a military officer that does not maintain discipline in the ranks shouldnt be criticized?
I just figured it out – you’re Mr. Feelsgreat, aren’t you?
Look into some psychotropic drugs, pal.
Are you really trying to tell me that you think the worst part of the Abu Ghraib scandal was who used it to their advantage more?
Those people were a disgrace to the US and the uniforms that they wore.
You have no problem with the White House ordering the torture of prisoners? What a moral abyss you Republicans have become.
Once again, a Republican propagandist is claiming that the problem aren’t the screwups, the lies, the illegalities and the war crimes, the problem is that we know of Republican screwups, Republican lies, Republican illegalities, and Republican war crimes.
I personally think that the sin is in the act, not in the discovery of the act.
You said it yourself, wronging prisoners is a capital offense. How much damage have those on on the right done who, without knowing all of the facts, were immediately ready to give the offending soldiers a pass? How do you think that looks to the world community, particular the non extremest Muslims? If we don’t come down hard on offending soldiers then it tells those Muslims that the US government condones that activity. Perception is reality. If we allow that perception to linger in the Muslim community then we are making the job of defending ourselves that much harder. We need as much as possible to develop trust with more moderate Muslims. Abu Ghraib and similar situations only make that harder.
I wouldn’t say either of them really exploited the situation. It was pretty deplorable, and any consequenses Abu Gharib had on the military efforts in Iraq happened as a result of the actions taken there.
Congressional democrats (who weren’t really leading at the time) wanted to draw attention to un-American activities going on there. It is the heart of the red/blue divide on the war–do we allow our American principles to stand in the way of our efforts to win in Iraq because it is those principles, and not America itself that we are fighting for; or do we do whatever it takes to win, even if we look to the world as low-down as the guys who flew jets into the towers, in hopes that we’ll be able make a better world for the future.
I don’t think the democrats were stretching too much when they refused to believe that a couple of young American men and women took it upon themselves to torture and humiliate prisoners and that they must have received orders or training from higher up. Since it was impossible to prove, they let the subject go–you don’t hear much about Abu Gharib or Gitmo in the news anymore.
Bush should have come straight out and defined torture–some of the ‘deplorable’ practices seem acceptable to me, but the Oval Office’s silence on the topic was read by most as a sign that the US government would continue to torture if they felt like it, and didn’t care to answer to our citizens or the world on the subject–it made us look like bullies, where we could have done a little explaining and looked like heroes.
I don’t know though–I used to think elections gave us the choice between stupid and evil–I’m starting to think that politicians are all both stupid and evil.
The answer to that is difficult, but my first answer would be Rush Limbaugh who used Abu Ghraib to create a cottage industry in indignation and thereby prevented people from finding out what actually happened. Do you know who MG Miller is? Have you read MG Taguba’s report? Do you understand that the Army (an Army I love and served in for 23 years) scapegoated a bunch of kids after it got caught with its pants down? Do you know that MI and contractors were, in my humble opinion, more responsible for what happened at Abu Ghraib than the soldiers who were convicted in court martials? (and they–the MI and contractors–were following guidance/directives from senior DOD leaders–National Command Authority in military parlance) Do you know that speedy-fours and PFCs and a couple of noncoms are the only ones to be convicted of any crimes even though all government reports clearly indicate that the whole mess began because these soldiers were softening up prisoners at the behest of the others mentioned earlier in this post? Now, here’s my final answer to your question. Suspend your beliefs and judgments and read the reports. If you have spent time in the military, you will understand what I have been alluding to in this post. If not, find someone with military experience to talk with. Even the most conservative military folks I know of and read, admit that justice has yet to be served. I would love to add more to this post, but it would not serve a useful purpose. Investigate, but please be open and honest as you do.