This article by Seymour Herschel in the New Yorker says that the abuse has been going on for some time, was in the process of being investigated when it was exposed, and involves far more people than the six now being tried.
The abuse seems to go all the way to the top
by myauntfanny 2 Replies latest social current
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patio34
Thanks Aunt Fanny. I guess this article was the basis for some interviews on this morning's news programs I saw.
Pat
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blacksheep
Well, somehow I managed to make it through the unsubstantiated, drawn out verbosity that is so characteristic of the New Yorker. They seemed to really enjoy reporting on the atrocities committed, esp. on the materbating parts.
Beyond that, let's get to the punch: The final words of the article are as follows:
"...Gary Myers, Frederick's civilian attorney [Oh, year, Frederick is one of the key guys being court martialled for doing some of of the worst atrocities on Iraqi prisoners, just to fill ya in, in case you cannot spot classic CYA actions], told me that he would argue at the court-martial that culpability in the case extended far beyond his client. "I'm gointg to drag every involved intelligence officer and civilian contractor I can find into court, he said."
Oh gee, WHAT a surprise, coming from a Frederick's attorney.
Then, the last sentence of the article, again from the abuser's attorney is:
"do you really belive tha Army relieved a general officer because of six soldiers? Not a chance."
Not a chance? With all the publicity? And let's go back and review the highlights of this winding story.
The officer relieved of her duty was Janis Karpiniski, and Army reserve brigadier general who was named commander of the 800th Military Police Brigade and put in charge of military prisons in Iraq. As the article notes: "Karpinski, the only female commander in the war zone, was an experienced operations and intelligence officer who had served with teh Special Forces and in teh 1991 Gulf War, but she had never run a prison system. Now she was in charge of three large jails, eight battalions, and their-four hndred Army reservists, most of whom, like her, had no training in handling prisoners."
General Karpinski was later "formally admonished and quietly suspended, and a major investigation into the Army's prison system,..was under way."
Yes, indeed, she really sounded like the right woman for the job... The article notes that one of the key abusers (under Karpinski), our friend Fredericks "had not been given any "training guidelines" that he was aware of" Oh, by the way, it also said that Frederick, "at thirty-seven was far older than his colleagues and was a natural leader; he had also worked for six years as a guard for the Virginia Department of Corrections."
Yeah, poor guy, just wasn't given training for the job, so how can he be blamed for tormenting his wards?
And poor, inept, General Karpinski, when interviewed by officials was described as "extremely emotional. "What I found in her testimony was her complete unwillingness to either understand or accept that many of the problems inherent in the 800th MP Brigade were caused or exacerbaed by poor leadership and the refusal of her command to both establish and enforce basic standards and principles among its soldiers."
So, inept general with no experience appointed to an important office. She's obviously out of touch, emotional, and should not have been appointed. Those under her command who actually HAD some experience with prison systems abused it. Pretty much a formula for failure.
Bad appointments, bad soldiers, sure. But NOT evidence of some concocked conspiracy theory to abuse Iraquis, possibliy even--what else in this election year--funneling up to the White House and probably Bush HIMSELF!!
Really, people. You've got LAWYERS of this torturer trying to blame anyone else but their client. How naive can you be?
So, as the mysterious New Yorker article ends with this yellow-jacket question:
"do you really belive tha Army relieved a general officer because of six soldiers? Not a chance."
The answer to this is, you're damned right. The only other person who needs to be fired is the schmuck who appointed her.