Gen. Petraeus and a High-Level Suicide in Iraq

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The scourge of suicides among American troops in Iraq is a serious and seriously underreported problem. One of the few high-profile cases involves a much-admired Army colonel named Ted Westhusing -- who, in his 2005 suicide note, pointed a finger at a then little-known U.S. general named David Petraeus. Westhusing's widow, asked by a friend what killed this West Point scholar, had replied simply: "Iraq."

Now there is a disturbing update on this case.

Before putting a bullet through his head, Westhusing had been deeply disturbed by abuses carried out by American contractors in Iraq, including allegations that they had witnessed or even participated in the murder of Iraqis. His suicide note included claims that his two commanders tolerated a mission based on "corruption, human right abuses and liars." One of those commanders: the future leader of the "surge" campaign in Iraq, Gen. Petraeus.

Westhusing, 44, had been found dead in a trailer at a military base near the Baghdad airport in June 2005, a single gunshot wound to the head. At the time, he was the highest-ranking officer to die in Iraq. The Army concluded that he committed suicide with his service pistol. Westhusing was an unusual case: "one of the Army's leading scholars of military ethics, a full professor at West Point who volunteered to serve in Iraq to be able to better teach his students. He had a doctorate in philosophy; his dissertation was an extended meditation on the meaning of honor," as Christian Miller explained in a major Los Angeles Times piece.

"In e-mails to his family," Miller wrote, "Westhusing seemed especially upset by one conclusion he had reached: that traditional military values such as duty, honor and country had been replaced by profit motives in Iraq, where the U.S. had come to rely heavily on contractors for jobs once done by the military." His death followed quickly. "He was sick of money-grubbing contractors," one official recounted. Westhusing said that "he had not come over to Iraq for this." After a three-month inquiry, investigators declared Westhusing's death a suicide.

Last March, The Texas Observer published a cover story by contributor Robert Bryce titled "I Am Sullied No More." It is featured in a chapter in my new book on Iraq and the media.

Bryce covered much of the same ground paved by Miller but added details on the Petraeus angle. Now, in the past few weeks, Bryce has added more in an update -- which explores whether Westhusing was murdered.

"When he was in Iraq, Westhusing worked for one of the most famous generals in the U.S. military, David Petraeus," Bryce observed last year. "As the head of counterterrorism and special operations under Petraeus, Westhusing oversaw the single most important task facing the U.S. military in Iraq then and now: training the Iraqi security forces."

Bryce referred to a "two-inch stack of documents, obtained over the past 15 months under the Freedom of Information Act, that provides many details of Westhusing's suicide....The documents echo the story told by Westhusing's friends. 'Something he saw [in Iraq] drove him to this,' one Army officer who was close to Westhusing said in an interview. 'The sum of what he saw going on drove him' to take his own life. 'It's because he believed in duty, honor, country that he's dead.'"

In Iraq, Westhusing worked under two generals: Maj. Gen. Joseph Fil, and Petraeus, then a lieutenant general. But Bryce continued: "By late May, Westhusing was becoming despondent over what he was seeing." When his body was found on June, a note was found nearby addressed to Petraeus and Fil. According to Bryce it read:

"Thanks for telling me it was a good day until I briefed you. [Redacted name]--You are only interested in your career and provide no support to your staff--no msn [mission] support and you don't care. I cannot support a msn that leads to corruption, human right abuses and liars. I am sullied--no more. I didn't volunteer to support corrupt, money grubbing contractors, nor work for commanders only interested in themselves. I came to serve honorably and feel dishonored. I trust no Iraqi. I cannot live this way. All my love to my family, my wife and my precious children. I love you and trust you only. Death before being dishonored any more.

"Trust is essential--I don't know who trust anymore. Why serve when you cannot accomplish the mission, when you no longer believe in the cause, when your every effort and breath to succeed meets with lies, lack of support, and selfishness? No more. Reevaluate yourselves, cdrs [commanders]. You are not what you think you are and I know it."

Twelve days after Westhusing's body was found, Army investigators talked with his widow, who told them: "I think Ted gave his life to let everyone know what was going on. They need to get to the bottom of it, and hope all these bad things get cleaned up."

Bryce concluded: "In September 2005, the Army's inspector general concluded an investigation into allegations raised in the anonymous letter to Westhusing shortly before his death. It found no basis for any of the issues raised. Although the report is redacted in places, it is clear that the investigation was aimed at determining whether Fil or Petraeus had ignored the corruption and human rights abuses allegedly occurring within the training program for Iraqi security personnel." Since then, the corruption and failed training angles have drawn wide attention although the Petraeus's role, good or bad, has not.

The writer returned to the case this past February with another Texas Observer article. I've run out of space here so I will merely quote its opening and link to it:

Since last March, when I wrote a story about the apparent suicide of Col. Ted Westhusing in Iraq, I had believed there was nothing else to write about his tragic death.

But in December, I talked to a source in the Department of Defense who met Westhusing in Iraq about three months before his death. The source, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals, was investigating claims of wrongdoing against military contractors working in Iraq. After a short introduction, I asked him what he thought had happened to Westhusing. 'I think he was killed. I honestly do. I think he was murdered,' the source told me. 'Maybe DOD didn't have enough evidence to call it murder, so they called it suicide.'"

Bryce doesn't yet back the "murder" claim but notes that Rep. Henry Waxman is now looking into the Westhusing case.

Link: http://www.texasobserver.org/article.php?aid=2682
*
Greg Mitchell's new book is So Wrong for So Long: How the Press, the Pundits and the President Failed on Iraq. It features a foreword by Joe Galloway and a preface by Bruce Springsteen, and has been hailed by our own Arianna, Bill Moyers, Glenn Greenwald and others.

Comments

[bansidh]

I have as much trouble with Westhusing shooting himself behind the ear as I do with Gary Webb committing suicide by shooting himself TWICE in the head. They were suicided.

[naeby]

This just breaks my heart to hear how good men like Wethusing (and too many others) are being destroyed (suicide OR killed) because they won't stoop to the level often required now. It must be soul-crushing to be put in such an untenable situation. It's impossible to express how bitterly sad and hopeless I feel about the downward spiral that's happening in our government and country.

I send care packages to deployed soldiers & often think how difficult it must be to operate from a position of honor, duty, country in this war/occupation that is such an embarrassment of bungling, corruption, and corporate profiteering from the President down. I'm careful to never mention my reservations to "my" soldiers, and focus on trying to boost spirits. They're doing such hard jobs and following orders til they can come home. My only goal is to brighten their day - no politics, ever. After reading this and other stories on milblogs tonight, I'm feeling physically sick. Literally, I may throw up.

If anyone else out there worries about the mental health of our troops, don't just talk or think about it - do something. Adopt a service member and send care packages. Or funny cards & uplifting letters. It makes a huge difference in morale. There are lots of military support groups providing names, including AnySoldier.com. I've been doing it because it seems the only thing I personally can do to make a difference. It's nowhere enough, but it's something.

[gde]

This is unlikely to be resolved as murder versus suicide. In the Pat Tillman case, it is reported (by some) that he died of 3 closely based shots to the back of the head. The odds of that happening by chance in a "friendly fire" incident are real low. This doesn't appear on the major media.

Westhusing spent his entire adult life, 26 years, in the Army and believed all that crap. It had to be a real major shock to learn it was all a lie. I suspect most Pointers (and those in the other academies) figure out the truth: the honor code itself is dishonest, and so is the Army. Some lies result in the end of a career, but others are required to maintain a career. The trick to advancement is to know which is which.

[Eso]

We all are making a tragic mistake by calling the death of anyone who has sacrificed his or her life as a protest againt violence-- "suicide". It must be called SELF-SACRIFICE. Then we can write an honors list to these brave men and women, rather than make the loosers, re suicides.

[Marichu]

I cannot imagine the sense of betrayal and despondency Colonel Westhusing must have felt where the only avenue left opened to him was suicide. And now comes the added uncertainty of whether it was a suicide or a murder, adding a sinister pall to his death. I hope for the sake of Colonel Westhusing's memory, his family, and this country that Rep. Waxman thoroughly investigates and reveals the truth no matter how ugly it may be.

[Disparaged]

This is absolutely tragic and the truth, as it should be told to all, will never be known because the military cannot afford to display that truth; if they did, our fragile military ranks will shrink even more.

[getoffmedz]

Sure. With Rep. Henry (Gravedigger) Waxman this will go far.

The apparent suicide of Colonel Ted Westhusing has been rattling around quite awhile.

[ItsNeverOver]

This is the unfortunate consequence of the accountability coming too little too late. The DoD has set up such a cryptic labyrinth of bureaucracy with the intention of taking complete capital advantage of the lack of transparency and accountability.

"...tradit­ional military values such as duty, honor and country had been replaced by profit motives in Iraq, where the U.S. had come to rely heavily on contractors for jobs once done by the military."

Instead of taking responsibility, our leaders have outsourced the burden to private contractors, who signed exceedingly lucrative "cost-plus" contracts to provide a variety of "services" for the troops. Instead, however, they are poisoning our troops, getting away with rape, misplacing weapons that end up in insurgents hands, and dodging taxes. And the DoD, content to outsource its dirty work, turns the other cheek when this news surfaces.
We cannot allow the government to continue to run our economy and infrastructure into the ground and use our tax money in ways that reflect on our country so poorly in the international community and undermine our security. Join Progressive Future's call for consequences to demand accountability for contractor behavior, and ensure that next year's tax dollars are spent with responsibility: http://www.progressivefuture.org/contractor-accountability?id4=DK

[schatsie]

I agree with you totally, we have been sold down the river with this overwhelming outsourcing. Read about some of it in Murphy's book 'Over the Wall' (I think that is the title). We are paying these contractors $150,000 per year to do work that soldiers were doing for $15,000...­..There is no f---ing way that privatization is saving us stupid taxpayers a dime, just dropping the money down the rat hole and sitting in Swiss and Cayman Island banks while the rest of us are slaving away...

Remember these Repusses at the same ones that REDUCED the military after the Cold War and now we are paying more than ever except into the Repusses pockets...­..directly and indirectly. Ask Blackwater­...

[Marmoset]

Very important article. I hope it gets picked up abd distributed.

I have to call you out on the use of the word "tantalizing" in this regard. Seems disrespectful to the tragedy of the case.

Yes, I spent time as a journalism instructor. I can't help it.

[hopeless277]

What with a cowardly congress and a corrupt ruling regime, we'll never know the truth.....­about any of it.