Saturday, May 08, 2004
Is Charging the Torturers Fair?
Soldier: Unit's Role Was to Break Down Prisoners (washingtonpost.com)
If what this GI says is true, then I don't know if throwing the book at her is fair. I think that these soldiers are the victims of the negligence of their superiors as much as the prisoners are the victims of torture. Despite the fact sending her to Leavenworth for much of the rest of her life may help to calm critics of the US, sacrificing soldiers that were irresponsibly placed in this situation by their superiors would be equally wrong. We should send their commanders to prison.
If the soldiers were ordered to 'break down' the prisoners for interrogation, and given little instruction on how to do so, then what do we expect? They are the product of a lawless environment which is not one that they created.
I don't want to see these soldiers used as scape-goats; everything I say hinges on what the charged soldiers are saying, but since it seems to jive with the testimony of others about he lawlessness of the prison, I suspect that what the GIs say is true.
Update: The NYTs has a lengthy, informative piece that details the lack of preparation that the soldiers had before being sent into Iraq to face a near impossible task of guarding and keeping subdued hundreds of prisoners.
If what this GI says is true, then I don't know if throwing the book at her is fair. I think that these soldiers are the victims of the negligence of their superiors as much as the prisoners are the victims of torture. Despite the fact sending her to Leavenworth for much of the rest of her life may help to calm critics of the US, sacrificing soldiers that were irresponsibly placed in this situation by their superiors would be equally wrong. We should send their commanders to prison.
If the soldiers were ordered to 'break down' the prisoners for interrogation, and given little instruction on how to do so, then what do we expect? They are the product of a lawless environment which is not one that they created.
I don't want to see these soldiers used as scape-goats; everything I say hinges on what the charged soldiers are saying, but since it seems to jive with the testimony of others about he lawlessness of the prison, I suspect that what the GIs say is true.
Update: The NYTs has a lengthy, informative piece that details the lack of preparation that the soldiers had before being sent into Iraq to face a near impossible task of guarding and keeping subdued hundreds of prisoners.
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