WASHINGTON, D.C. (5/2) - The war for the hearts and minds of the
Iraqi people and for greater international support for the war in
Iraq has just received two black eyes. Shocking pictures and
detailed reports of PoW abuse by both the US and UK military now
flood the world. These
actions may be isolated aberrations. But, the pictures alone create an
indelible impression of tyranny and abuse which provides fodder
for those that oppose the US occupation of Iraq.
Many will compare the humiliating tactics of some US and UK
military to those of
Saddam. Although there may be no comparison in the minds of some, it does not help that
much of the abuse took place Abu
Ghraib prison, one of the prisons used by Saddam
for torture. Nor, does it help that a former Republican Guard
general under Saddam wares his old uniform as he commands patrols
in Fallujah. Some may see shadows of Saddam caste in a new mold.
Seymour Hersh, the Pulitzer Prize winner who broke the story
on the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam, appeared on Wolf Blitzer's Late
Edition (CNN), and stated that the abuse has been substantial,
widespread and systematic. Although not defending the actions of
the soldiers that committed the acts, according to Hersh, the
actions were condoned to get information about insurgents and that
the actions were known to higher ups. According to Hersh,
humiliation and in some cases torture are widespread and have been going on
for a long time. Hersh says, at least one person was killed during
interrogations.
According to Hersh, thousands of people are rounded up in sweeping
arrests that include many innocent people. They are kept for over
six months without charges in violation of the Geneva convention.
Then their friends and associates are arrested. There is a
perpetual cycle of detention and interrogations that gets broader
and broader. Hersh wrote a detailed article for New
Yorker Magazine. See
full article.
The Hersh article states, "A fifty-three-page report, obtained
by The New Yorker, written by Major
General Antonio M. Taguba and not meant for public release, was
completed in late February. Its conclusions about the
institutional failures of the Army prison system were devastating.
Specifically, Taguba found that between October and December of
2003 there were numerous instances of “sadistic, blatant, and
wanton criminal abuses” at Abu Ghraib." Taguba’s report listed
some of the wrongdoing:
"Breaking chemical lights
and pouring the phosphoric liquid on detainees; pouring cold water
on naked detainees; beating detainees with a broom handle and a
chair; threatening male detainees with rape; allowing a military
police guard to stitch the wound of a detainee who was injured
after being slammed against the wall in his cell; sodomizing a
detainee with a chemical light and perhaps a broom stick, and
using military working dogs to frighten and intimidate detainees
with threats of attack, and in one instance actually biting a
detainee."
The 35 report by
Taguba about the abuse of Iraqi prisoners was
provided to General Myers which, according to General Myers,
he had not read.
International Amnesty, a human rights watch
group, has been reporting on the mistreatment of prisoners
for months. According to Amnesty International's website:
"Amnesty International has received frequent reports of
torture or other ill-treatment by Coalition Forces during the
past year. Detainees have reported being routinely subjected to
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment during arrest and
detention. Many have told Amnesty International that they were
tortured and ill-treated by US and UK troops during
interrogation. Methods often reported include prolonged sleep
deprivation; beatings; prolonged restraint in painful positions,
sometimes combined with... prolonged hooding... Virtually none
of the allegations of torture or ill-treatment has been
adequately investigated by the authorities."
Few would deny that this "reality on the ground" - abuse of
prisoners - which seems to occur in some degree in all wars,
mars US and UK credibility, motive, tactic and ability to
supervision and control its own soldiers.
Although tactics may be borne of necessity, fear, hatred or lack
of control, the public relations impact strikes deep to darken
hearts.
This is especially true since US policy appears to back
extrajudicial assassinations -- Hamas leaders and suspected Hamas
members -- and other heavy handed tactics by Israel.
To add make the perception worse the US seems to mimic the
strategies of Sharon for dealing with terrorism and the Iraqi
resistance to US occupation.
The US uses Apache helicopters to shot into neighborhoods. It
detains tens of thousands of suspects
and imprisons the relatives
of suspected guerrillas, in hopes of pressing the insurgents to
turn themselves in -
often
without charge or trial.
In selective cases,
American soldiers are demolishing buildings thought to be used by
Iraqi attackers. US forces have
destroyed the homes of
members of suspected Iraqi resistance (800 homes destroyed in a
4-day-long continuous bulldozer offensive last week), crushing
residents including young children to death.
There are lock downs and curfews, everyone is given an ID card,
barbed wire to separate certain areas, blocking exits and
entrances to certain areas and otherwise using overwhelming
military force to solve political problems.
An Iraqi man named
Tariq muttered in anger "I see no difference between us and the
Palestinians," he said. "We didn't expect anything like this after
Saddam fell."
Many argue that the US is sacrificing the ideals for which
American stands to maintain our freedom and to establish for
others. Are we sacrificing principles for security and in the long
run does that make us more secure? We cannot become the enemy that
we are fighting. As put by Spartacus, "To become like the enemy is
to loose to him."