The Sheila Variations

These reports make me sick. SICK. I'm so ashamed to call those people soldiers from my country.

I felt like I was going to puke. I would have no problem sending everyone involved in this atrocity to the gallows, they humiliated their charges, disgraced themselves and embarrassed their nation. Our justice should be harsh, as an example to anyone who imagines doing anything similar in the future.

This makes me sick to my stomach. You're right, Sheila, there is something incredibly righteous--morally and otherwise--about a lot of Americans. God I have so much to say about this post, that I don't even know where to start!

I read more of the comments over on Balloon Juice and one of them said: I am extremely hard pressed to believe that American soldiers actually pulled this kind of shit.

To me, this lacks an understanding of the human condition and the human personality, in general.

What - evil is parsed out on the basis of national borders?

Allison - there are righteous people everywhere. That's my point. I'm sure Osama bin Laden is one of the most self-righteous muthafuckas alive.

Human beings are human beings. We are capable of horrors.

Meant to write: we are ALL capable of horrors.

So many people really can't face that, Bill - they have a knee-jerk response to any critique at all. Little programmed responses coming out ...

They live in a black and white world, with easy answers, and easy moral solutions.

Those pictures are awful, terrible - but in a way, I am glad I saw them.

I understand what you're saying, yes humanity is capable of unimaginable degrees of evil, yes we all contradict ourselves, yes human nature is inherently imperfect. But I do think that there is something decidedly hypocritical about the "Americans"--the so called "leaders of the free world" waving about the "Operation Iraqi Freedom" flag and then commiting acts like these. Whatever fucked up motivations Osama and his pals are driven by, I believe that *they* thoroughly believe that there is some salvation in and justification to their actions. Their convictions are confirmed by the fact that they are willing to die for their cause...that they are willing to kill themselves. Don't get me wrong, their actions are evil and indefensible. But I think they're coming from a very different place from us. The soldier in these pictures (and the ones who are there but not depicted) don't have any convictions about what they're doing. They don't think there is salvation in grinning at the camera and giving a "thumbs up." it's all just frivolity and "ha ha, we've got you." they are just sick motherfuckers. and yes, so too, are osama and the terrorists. it's just a different shade of evil.

by the way, bill, i agree americans aren't special. i just think we have a distinct brand of arrogance.

by the way, bill, i agree americans aren't special. i just think we have a distinct brand of arrogance.

Allison - I disagree.

Judging these bad apples as indicative of hypocrisy in our mission (which I, and many millions of people believe in) is just as inappropriate as judging all Muslims as militant wackos because of the actions of their evil members.

Many servicemen and women (and I know some of them, and correspond with some of them) would NEVER behave like that.

And you know why? Because it is not in their nature. Some people would laugh gleefully at the pain of others, others would not.

And as far as Osama believing his cause is justified:

Well, I believe we are justified as well. And you know I'm not just some dumb-fuck idiot who believes everything I am told. I believe we were justified going in there, and I believe in what we are trying to do in Iraq.

My point in this piece is to express my disgust at the behavior of these people, and to point out the fact that a lot of people do not want to face the fact that ALL human beings are capable of great horrors. Why are we shocked that there are bad and evil Americans?

That viewpoint is ahistorical and stupid.

(Allison's a very good friend of mine, by the way, peeps. We just disagree on many things.)

What I'm saying is - is that there are plenty of people willing to die for the cause of America. Plenty of good and courageous people. People of character. People who know what they are doing, and why they are doing it.

The actions of the goons in those photos tarnishes the reputation of all the good men and women who are over there, trying to do what is right, trying to represent us with dignity.

believe me i don't think this incident is, alone, indicative of american hypocrisy. and i totally agree that there are a lot of very good men an women over there doing their job. but i also think the motivations that this administration has given for being over there (weapons of mass destruction, freedom for the iraqi people, etc.) have proved to either be totally unfounded or ridiculously laughable. what do you think the reason we are over there for is? is the motivation to overthrow a despotic dictator? yes, saddam is an evil person and has committed heinous acts of savagery on his own people. but do you really believe that is why we're over there?

sheila, i think we need to agree to not talk politics...especially while we're in ireland! i do respect your thoughts and opinions. i've just been harboring some serious doubts about what we're doing and why we're doing it. love you!

I guess I don't think that the comments section of this particular post is where I want to get into that discussion. Just because the purpose of the post is different - to express my outrage and shame and anger at those soldiers. To express my sadness, and my horror.

This isn't the place where I want to debate why we I think we are over there.

Dear Sheila:

I could write volumes here. I won't. It's not necessary; much of what I'd say has been said.

A question -- which might cost me every friend I have, but still; it's worth the asking: Have we not -- even just a bit -- ASKED for what we've received from the Arab world?

Ponderingly yours;

-Will

Allison -

Sounds good to me. When we're in Ireland, I hope all we talk about is how much fun we're having, and where we will be boozing it up that night.

fair enough

Will -

Like I said: I do not want to get into that particular discussion in the comments to this post.

There is no excuse for this. zero. zilch. From anyone who participated. From the time I was in basic through NCO school and the rest of my time in the US Army, it was drilled into me that it was my duty to uphold military law and any applicable codes such as the Geneva Convention. I'm not a lawyer but I'm sure that these pics show clear violations of both.
Disobeying an unlawful order is a scary thing in the military but it's done and if you have integrity and courage and stick to your guns the truly decent, overwhelming majority of your fellow soldiers will back you up. I ran printing presses in my Reserve unit and had 4 pressmen who reported to me. One time I was ordered to keep running equipment when we were at full MOPP (chemical suits). I refused because it was a dangerous and stupid exercise and it would have put the health of my charges at risk for no good reason. The Captain who gave it went to the CO and demanded I be charged. The Colonel listened to us both and promptly told the Captain to not be "an idiot". I'm not saying it is always that easy but it's every soldier's duty. These people disgraced us all.

Dave E: Wow. Thank you so much for that perspective.

To state the obvious, this is very, very bad. Not only because it was incredibly stupid and horribly wrong, but also because it will strengthen the hand of those in Iraq and elsewhere who desire to kill and maim Americans.

However, I do not believe for a moment that it is a simple case of a few evil soldiers secretly torturing prisoners solely for their own amusement. Rather, it sounds like mistreatment and humiliation were encouraged on at least a general level by the US intelligence community in the hope that it would break down the prisoners' resistance and lead to their divulging more information. Yes the soldiers involved should be punished, but there should also be a REAL investigation of how this situation was allowed to happen, and any military officers or civilian officials found culpable should receive punishment at least as harsh as the six soldiers who have been charged.

It's customary in our armed forces for the low-level soldiers to receive the blame for the sins of the brass, and I have a feeling that's what's happening in this case. What really bothers me is that this sort of problem was not dealt with in a pre-emptive way. We HAD to know that the entire world would be watching our behavior in Iraq very closely. This was not a battlefield interrogation designed to save lives that were in imminent danger - it's likely that some of these detainees were not even involved in ANY attacks on American forces. Even if you favor torturing anyone we think might be fighting against us, the risk of a catastrophic publicity disaster - such as the one we're now being forced to deal with - could be seen by a blind man to vastly outweigh any small intelligence benefit we might receive from such grossly abusive treatment.

It seems obvious to me that there should have been some variety of ombudsman system in place to ensure that this sort of mistreatment could not happen, regardless of whether some of our soldiers were sadistic or some of our officers believed that it would be helpful as an interrogation aid. Mistreatment of prisoners is hardly an unheard-of phenomenon, yet we seem to have failed miserably to take the necessary steps to prevent it. The powerful added symbolism that it was allowed to happen in one of Saddam's infamous prisons will only serve to further inflame anti-American sentiment in Iraq and around the region.

The bottom line is, more American soldiers will almost certainly die as a result of this horrific failure to adequately protect detainees under our control.

As is often the case, the Bard put it best:

Touching our person seek we no revenge;
But we our kingdom's safety must so tender,
Whose ruin you have sought, that to her laws
We do deliver you. Get you therefore hence,
Poor miserable wretches, to your death:
The taste whereof, God of his mercy give
You patience to endure, and true repentance
Of all your dear offences! Bear them hence.

--Henry V, Act II, scene ii.

What heart-sickening and deflating news. I hope the disposition of those involved is that they fill out the rest of their service as corpsmen tending to the additional dead and wounded that will occur; or in reconstruction activities to attempt to make up for the tens of thousands of hours of hard and dangerous and honorable work done by others that their selfish and pointless and petty and small actions have pissed away. Perhaps in showing them the mercy (or at a minimum the common f***ing decency) that they failed to show those in their charge, some good will come out of it.

Dave J:

Tears, I'm in tears. Your comment is one of the reasons I am so glad that you visit my blog and participate here.

Mike R:

Ralph Peters has a column about some of the context behind this:

http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/19985.htm

One of the most shocking things about this for me is that were women involved. I know that might sound sexist, but I have always assumed that women are the fairer of the species. You know, they brought civility to the "Wild West" and all that. So much for that concept.

Patrick -

as a long-time girl (hell, I've been one all my life) - I can tell you that our character is just as diverse and varied as men's.

Women can be the meanest people on the planet. A man may beat you upside the head, but a woman can skewer your soul.

Thanks for the link, Red. That article confirms most of my initial impressions about the situation.

Shocking. Mortifying. Disgusting. Outraged. Depressed. Manic. Awake. Appalled. Insenced. Run over. Maddened. Whipped.

and I simply couldn't believe my eyes.

Hi Sheila,

I realize that this topic is rather old and has probably been retired, but I just wanted to pass along a link for a BBC article which I think you should read: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3684381.stm

Here is a sample that summarizes the important points:
"A senior army official said there had been investigations into 25 cases of death and 10 of abuse in US custody in Iraq or Afghanistan since December 2002.

The BBC's Pentagon correspondent Nick Childs says of the 25 deaths, 12 were found to be either of natural or "undetermined" causes, one was a "justifiable homicide", and two were murders. Ten inquiries are ongoing, he says.

...An Army official said a soldier had been convicted of using excessive force when he shot dead a prisoner who was throwing stones at him.

He was thrown out of the army but did not go to jail.

The other murder was committed by a private contractor who worked for the CIA, the official said.

...The internal report by Maj Gen Antonio Taguba found evidence of "sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses of Iraqi prisoners", including sexual abuse."

My point is this: We both agree that the majority (meaning greater than 50%) of American soldiers do not murder, mutilate, or abuse Iraqi prisoners. And obviously, abuses of authority occur in every part of the world and target a wide variety of individuals (and the Middle East hosts many of the most disturbing human rights abuses in the world). But I also think that such abuses are far more common than most American citizens are willing to consider(many American commentators on a BBC forum have expressed disgust or shame or anger, but I can't recall a single one that said "yes, these abuses may have been going on for a while and may be greater in frequency than the current allegations suggest").

But as the recent U.S. governmental report mentioned in the above article suggests--an article that mentions several past abuses that were never reported--these incidents are not isolated by any means. Such incidents have occured in the past; in fact, some prisoners were even murdered while in American custody. And imagine: this is just the statistics for the American forces. What about the British and the Bulgarians and the Poles and the Ukrainians?

The fact remains that--regardless of the inherently dirty nature of war and occupation, and the universality of cruelty/arrogance/mental instability, and the fact that many U.S. forces are honestly committed to helping Iraqis--these incidents should have been reported a long time ago and measures should have already been taken to prevent them. The fact that nothing was doen suggests a huge lack of respect for the very human rights that Bush constantly proclaimed as one of his lovely gifts to the Iraqi people. So why has the government or the military failed to act? Why has a thorough, complete investigation been delayed for so long? And MOST IMPORTANTLY, why is it that even the American man who was charged with killing an Iraqi was not imprisoned!?! (the article mentions that he was simply discharged from service!!!). Why should the Iraqis respect or tolerate or welcome the Americans when these incidents have been handled in such a callous, careless, imperialistic manner? Human rights abuses may be common in the Middle East, but supposedly the entire purpose of this war was to create a genuine civil society--a level of social equality that even Israel and Turkey have not achieved yet.

Why is at the beheadings and dismemberment of Americans in Iraq receive so much less scrutiny than prisoners and terrorists? How come they can drag bodies of innocent Americans behind vehicles and hang them from a bridge and there is no uproar from the US Media and public? I'm to the point where I don't give a shit about those Iraqis in the POW camp. Wake up Amereica- if dgrading photos are as bad as it gets for those prisoners then they can count their blessings. How about some bamboo shoots under the fingernails and feces mixed in with their meals. Its a war- it's not Disneyworld.