According to recent reports:
“A coalition military spokesman says he is “disgusted” by photographs that apparently show U.S. soldiers abusing detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad.
The photographs, first aired on a U.S. television network, were being shown by Arab television networks Friday.
CBS says it has “dozens” of pictures showing a wide range of abuse.”
The military is appalled:
“Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the coalition’s deputy chief of operations, told CNN Friday he was “appalled that fellow soldiers who wear same uniforms as us would do this.
“They let us down. It is hard to provide any way to provide any excuse … they crossed the line and violated every tenet we teach in the army about dignity and respect,” he said.
The U.S. military says six U.S. soldiers have been charged with abusing inmates at the prison.”
How serious are the allegations?
They even suspended a U.S. General:
“A US general has been suspended in Iraq over the alleged abuse of prisoners by US troops in jails she ran.
Brigadier General Janice Karpinski is among seven officers being investigated following claims that soldiers under their command mistreated detainees.”
When I wrote that it is possible that Americans could resort to torture at Guantanamo Bay, I was asked about evidence.
“I have a couple of questions, though: how do you define torture, and why is it so hard to believe that the U.S. Army has not engaged in it?”
I define torture as displayed by some irresponsible members of the U.S. Military in the new items above. I cite as evidence the photos of alleged abuses and the suspension of a U.S. General.
I think most U.S. soldiers act responsibly and respectfully. I do believe that the majority of U.S. soldiers are well trained and well disciplined. However, there are some who commit heinous acts. The actions of the heinous few do not, and should not, speak for the entire U.S. military.
But clearly some members of the U.S. military are not above the use of torture. It is not a stretch to think that some members of the U.S. military could have tortured detainees at Guantanamo like they have done in Iraq.
Not a stretch to think that some members of the U.S. military could have tortured civilians on Army bases in the U.S., also. And in Germany.
I’m honestly confused: what do the actions of a few criminal soldiers have to do with Guantanamo?
I believe Joshua’s point was to show that torture can, and has, occurred at the hands of US Military personnel, albeit a rogue few. The torture he referenced in Iraq occurred at a prison camp run by US Military. Guantanamo is currently a prison camp being run by US Military. Seems the parallels are obvious…
Well, I guess I’m just not that smart, and the obvious eludes me just too damn often. The U.S. military has prison camps elsewhere, too. Perhaps prisoners get tortured at these other places. I don’t see what it has to do with Guantanamo any more than it does in Leavenworth.
There are individual soldiers committing illegal acts, and they’ll get punished for it. I thought that crimes were taken on a case-by-case basis, and I also thought that suspects were innocent until proven guilty, no matter what prison they’re guarding.
If you have a problem with enemy combatants being imprisoned in Guantanamo, fine. That’s one issue. To claim that there’s more likelihood that the detainees in Cuba are being tortured because some Iraqis may have been tortured seems to me to be a stretch. Some military men have murdered their wives. Does that mean I should suspect some of my ex-military colleagues of being potential murderers? They were in the Army.