Check out Seymour Hersh's piece in the New Yorker, on the issue of torture of Iraqis by US military. Hersh is a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist, who won noteriety when he helped uncover the My Lai massacre in Vietnam. He's read a fifty-three-page report written by Major General Antonio M. Taguba completed in late February. "Taguba found that between October and December of 2003 there were numerous instances of 'sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses' at Abu Ghraib. This systematic and illegal abuse of detainees, Taguba reported, was perpetrated by soldiers of the 372nd Military Police Company, and also by members of the American intelligence community."
Human Rights Watch points out, the United States has also not adequately responded to allegations of other abuses in U.S. detention in Afghanistan, including cases of beatings, severe sleep deprivation, and exposure of detainees to extreme cold.
In Iraq a U.S. army lieutenant colonel who admitted that in August he threatened to kill an Iraqi detainee, firing a shot next to the man's head during a violent interrogation, received a fine as a disciplinary measure, but was not subjected to a court martial. The U.S. army in January discharged three reservists for abusing detainees at a detention camp near Basra in southern Iraq.
There are enough reports of abuses that lead one to fear these may not be exceptions. Either the orders come from higher up, or there is a chronic loss of the chain of command - as some of the officers in Abu Gharaib complained about. I heard a right-wing talk show host yesterday, lamenting the outcry at these photos, whereas there was small outcry at the photos of US contractors killed in Falluja. [He must have been referring to the Arab press.] But there is a fundamental asymmetry. The atrocities perpetrated in Falluja were done by a mob, composed of people angry at their state of siege. These military atrocities were committed by members of a hierachical structure, pledged to abide by the Geneva conventions. In addition, they are the occupying power, with greater force, and greater responsibility of setting an example. Neither group has a moral excuse. But the military (or the police) have the higher moral burden.
And there are channels to correct abuses, which must be pursued to the fullest extent.
Human Rights Watch points out, the United States has also not adequately responded to allegations of other abuses in U.S. detention in Afghanistan, including cases of beatings, severe sleep deprivation, and exposure of detainees to extreme cold.
In Iraq a U.S. army lieutenant colonel who admitted that in August he threatened to kill an Iraqi detainee, firing a shot next to the man's head during a violent interrogation, received a fine as a disciplinary measure, but was not subjected to a court martial. The U.S. army in January discharged three reservists for abusing detainees at a detention camp near Basra in southern Iraq.
There are enough reports of abuses that lead one to fear these may not be exceptions. Either the orders come from higher up, or there is a chronic loss of the chain of command - as some of the officers in Abu Gharaib complained about. I heard a right-wing talk show host yesterday, lamenting the outcry at these photos, whereas there was small outcry at the photos of US contractors killed in Falluja. [He must have been referring to the Arab press.] But there is a fundamental asymmetry. The atrocities perpetrated in Falluja were done by a mob, composed of people angry at their state of siege. These military atrocities were committed by members of a hierachical structure, pledged to abide by the Geneva conventions. In addition, they are the occupying power, with greater force, and greater responsibility of setting an example. Neither group has a moral excuse. But the military (or the police) have the higher moral burden.
And there are channels to correct abuses, which must be pursued to the fullest extent.
posted by André Levy @ 10:03 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home