“We kept it to broken arms and legs.”
--Sergeant in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division
Three members of the 82nd Airborne have come forward to the United States Senate and Human Rights Watch to expose systematic abuse of detainees in their battalion in Iraq. They first reported these abuses to their chain of command, but they said their request for action on these matters was denied for over 17 months.
The Army says it just started a criminal investigation into the matter a month ago. The abuse and torture took place between September 2003 and April 2004. This was, by the way, before and during the investigations into misconduct at Abu Ghraib.
As President Bush went around the world to explain that what happened at Abu Ghraib was un-American, the same abuse was happening in prisons around Iraq. The Pentagon knew about it -- and continued to do nothing to stop it.
Meanwhile, the one thing the Pentagon was busy doing was blaming the abuse on the troops. They said it was rogue soldiers at Abu Ghraib. No one higher up had ordered this, condoned it or was even aware of it. It was only the troops who were to blame.
Since then, the Army has opened up more than 400 cases of detainee abuse in Iraq and punished more than 230 enlisted soldiers and officers. Over 400 cases throughout Iraq, and we are supposed to believe all of these soldiers acted alone, without authority and were solely responsible for the abusive tactics?
We are supposed to believe that they all came up with the idea of threatening the detainees with dogs, putting them on leashes, beating them in the legs and arms and stacking them on to each other in naked pyramids all by themselves. They independently came up with the same perverse ideas at the same time magically throughout Iraq.
I’m sure it had nothing to do with Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld writing a memo saying you could threaten detainees with dogs, put them in to stress positions and humiliate them. I’m sure it had nothing to do with a memo authorized by the White House that said that anything other than physical harm leading to death or organ failure is no longer considered torture.
Does anyone really believe there are 230 rogue soldiers who were all out of control and did the same abuse throughout Iraq at the same time by coincidence? If you do, please check your beverage because it is clearly either way too much Jack Daniels or way too much Kool-Aid.
And remember these are only the 400 cases the Army decided to pursue. As is evident from the testimonials of the men in the 82nd Airborne, there were many cases of abuse that the Pentagon refused to investigate.
Now, I’ve been calling what happened to the detainees “abuse” for most of this piece. But I’m soft pedaling it. To be fair, we should call it what it is – torture.
If that word makes you uncomfortable and you instinctively don’t want to believe it, then I will let the soldiers of the 82nd Airborne explain it to you:
“We would give them blows to the head, chest, legs, and stomach, and pull them down, kick dirt on them. This happened every day.”
“[Military intelligence personnel] wanted intel. As long as no PUC’s (Persons Under Control) came up dead, it happened. We kept it to broken arms and legs.”
“Despite my efforts, I have been unable to get clear, consistent answers from my leadership about what constitutes lawful and human treatment of detainees. I am certain that this confusion contributed to a wide range of abuses including death threats, beatings, broken bones, murder, exposure to elements, extreme forced physical exertion, hostage taking, stripping, sleep deprivation and degrading treatment.”
Now imagine if Saddam’s forces had captured some our boys and stripped them naked, broke their arms and legs, took members of their family hostage, threatened to kill the soldiers and sometimes carried out that threat. What do you think we’d call it then? Abuse?
My guess is that we would be perfectly comfortable calling that torture if it happened to us. The Army has also investigated over 30 homicides of detainees by US soldiers, including throwing people off of bridges, suffocating them and, most often, beating them to death. I guess those were the cases where we couldn’t just keep it to breaking arms and legs.
It isn’t any easier for me to write this as it is for you to read it. I love this country and I have always believed that is a special place. A place where things like this don’t happen. A city on a hill that aims to be a light unto the world. That is what makes me so sick about what has happened.
And it has happened in our name. They did this in the name of America.
And then they blamed it on the troops. On all those rogue troops. As they encouraged you to put yellow ribbons on the back of you car that say, “Support the Troops.” They played you for a fool. They played the world for a fool. They thought no one would find out.
Bu the one thing they underestimated was the decency of some of our soldiers. Soldiers are trained to carry out orders. So, unfortunately a lot of them did in this case. But some of them also remembered their training as Americans. They remembered what it meant to be an American. They remembered that our mission is not to simply a defeat an enemy, but to be a beacon to the world that represents all that a free society can be. They remembered it was their duty as American soldiers to be decent first.
Now you can rest assure that they will be smeared. The right wing attack machine will try to destroy the brave soldiers that have stepped forward to defend America’s honor. Their personal lives, their families and everything they hold sacred will be under siege. Politics before honor.
The reality is that we don't have rogue soldiers, we have a rogue Pentagon. They are acting on our behalf without our approval. We are their commanding officers. It is our responsibility to reign them in. Otherwise, we sanction their actions.
Now, it is your turn. You get a second chance. In 2004, we should have thrown out the men who disgraced America’s name through their false bravado and senseless torture. But it can be argued that you didn’t know. Well, now you know.
If the next time you have a chance to vote for the people who enabled this -- who allowed and condoned this -- you still vote for them, then understand this – you are voting for torture. You are voting for an ugly America that believes that might makes right. That brutal force is acceptable if we are the ones delivering it. That torture is the American way.
On this alone I would never vote for anyone in this administration, or anyone who supported their actions in Congress, ever again. I’m hoping we can reclaim America’s great name and honor. Now, it’s up to you. What kind of America do you want? What kind of America do you believe in?