But This Always Happens in War

Many people that I talk with tell me that reason they are not upset by the reports of the torture which is being done in this war is because “Well look what they did to their own people” or “This always happens in war”. As if either one of these reasons are an acceptable excuse for this type of behavior, instead of one more damning reason for an end to this war.

The Geneva Convention is really a self-serving agreement, for all sides of a conflict. We feel better if we believe that our boys and girls are being treated well. We have faith that the prisoner’s of war are going to survive this and return home to us. The families on both sides of the war, hope for this agreement to help make this happen.

We signed the Geneva Convention(s) many times through the years, as it has been amended, to add additional protections. In 1882, U.S. President Chester Arthur signed the treaty, making the U.S. the 32nd nation to do so. The second Geneva Convention in 1907 extended protection to wounded armed forces at sea and to shipwreck victims. The third convention in 1929 detailed the humane treatment of prisoners of war. The fourth convention in 1949 revised the previous conventions and addressed the rights of civilians in times of war.

Treaties are the highest form of laws under our Constitution. This convention is said to be the cornerstone of modern humanitarian law, we were the leading force in implementing this agreement of acceptable behavior during war. This Adminstration, our government or our military can not decide when and under what circumstances we will abide by it and when it is not in our interest to do so.

Red Cross delegates saw U.S. military intelligence officers mistreating prisoners under interrogation at Abu Ghraib prison and collected allegations of abuse at more than 10 other detention facilities, according to the report.

The 24-page document cites abuses — some ‘’tantamount to torture'’ — including brutality, hooding, humiliation and threats of ‘’imminent execution.'’

The report said some military intelligence officers estimated ‘’between 70 percent and 90 percent'’ of the detainees in Iraq had been arrested by mistake.

‘’Sometimes they arrested all adult males present in a house, including elderly, handicapped or sick people,'’ it said. {Source}

As long as people believe in absurdities,
they will continue to commit atrocities.
~Voltaire~

Atrocities happen much easier when you vilify the enemy. When you make them less than human. We call them by derogatory names, we tell of actual events or make up stories of their atrocities, we denigrate their religion. Of course, without their attacking us, how else would you get most Americans to wage war against other people?

“It’s the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it’s always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it’s a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger.

~Herman Goering~ (second in command to Adolf Hitler) at the Nuremberg Trial

I am outraged by the actions of our military. I feel impotent because the good people on this earth, seem to have no power to hold our military or the civilian leadership to the high standards we demand of ourselves.

I understand that in the heat of battle, some horrific things will happen. But we try to keep these to a minimum. (In the first Gulf War, the shooting along the highway of those Iraqi troops heading back to Iraq from Kuwait, was finally stopped. Much too late, but it did not continue on until all were dead or had surrendered). But once someone is captured, the rules change. The military may want to put hand-cuffs on the prisoners, (although I remember photo’s from WWII of thousands of captured enemy soldiers marching along without any form of restraint, with very few of our soldiers guarding them). Once you have these unarmed prisoners in a confined area, there is no reason for restraints. There is never a reason for leading a naked prisoner around with a dog collar around his neck and on a leash. There is never a reason for mistreating anyone.

One of the most appalling regular treatment are the hoods on all the prisoners. This seems to be the preferred treatment at all of our military prisons. Exactly what is the reason for this? Other than terror! This is one of the most inhuman treatments, next to actual torture that you can do to another human being. This is so frightening to humans, that even those who are facing a death squad, will ask for the hood or blindfold not to be put on them. Even though we may not be able to stop what is going to happen, we need to be able to see, to be able to prepare ourselves for what is coming, even if it is only for a brief moment.

Again, hooding and exposure to loud music may not at first sound too harmful. The medical evidence, however, shows just how quickly such treatment affects prisoners.

Hooding isolates the prisoner, impedes breathing, and rapidly induces panic and disorientation. When hooding and exposure to white noise (loud indistinct sounds) are combined, this causes confusion and psychological disturbance, and after 40 minutes most victims begin to hallucinate. The adverse effects of sensory deprivation, which can involve prolonged exposure to white light, include:

anxiety

disorientation

visual and auditory hallucinations

changed sense of time

impairment of cognitive functions

increased suggestibility.

The ICRC, in a leaked report on abuses by US forces in Iraq, stated: “Hooding was sometimes used in conjunction with beatings, thus increasing anxiety as to when blows would come.” It said hooding lasted from a few hours to four consecutive days.

“Sexual abuse, whatever form it takes, is an extremely damaging form of torture. For tormentors to penetrate this most private realm produces deep feelings of despair and self-loathing.” Uwe Jacobs, Executive Director of Survivors International, March 2005

Some of the types of sexual abuse alleged to have taken place at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere cause physical as well as emotional pain and are clearly torture. But what about forced nudity, being forced to assume sexually degrading positions and forced masturbation. These do not necessarily cause physical pain, but are designed to degrade and humiliate, and to undermine the person’s sense of identity.

The adverse effects of sexual humiliation include:

making victims feel deeply humiliated and ashamed, stripped of their identity and powerless in front of interrogators

arousing a heightened fear of imminent sexual and physical assault

post-traumatic stress disorder

severe depression

flashbacks and nightmares

anxiety

chronic headaches

eating disorders

digestive problems

suicidal tendencies. {Source}

As noted by the former UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Prof. Sir Nigel Rodley, “the practice of blindfolding and hooding often makes the prosecution of torture virtually impossible, as victims are rendered incapable of identifying their torturers. Thus, blindfolding or hooding should be forbidden.”

The Committee against Torture has made a similar recommendation. In addition, Amnesty International considers hooding to be a form of ill-treatment given that it per se constitutes sensory deprivation by impairing the sight, hearing and sense of smell of the individual who is subjected to it. Hooding is also cruel and inhuman because the disorientation resulting from it increases peoples vulnerability. There can be no justification for hooding detainees. Therefore, Amnesty International has urged the UK authorities to ensure that the practice of hooding detainees be banned and criminalized, and that personnel who engage in it, including by ordering it, or tacitly acquiescing in it, be prosecuted.

The other excuse given for this type of behavior, is that the Iraqi’s treat prisoners worse than this. I heard one of our official’s say, “The Iraqi’s have done such terrible crimes, that they deserve this type of treatment”.

So the crime that someone does, decides the type of treatment that we can inflict upon them? If you are charged with shoplifting, then we can not rape you while you are in police custody, but if you are charged with murder, we can? Human rights are for everyone, under every circumstance, even our enemies!

There were many reasons given for this war, when one turned out to be a lie, another would take it’s place. The final one seemed to be, that we had rescued Iraq from evil. “Now there are no more torture rooms, rape rooms or mass graves”, George W. Bush told us this. Hurrah! Oops, all we did was change the nationality of those involved.

One of the other reasons given for this war, was to make us safer. I would be safer, if all those people who commit or might commit crimes, because of where they live, or because of the group of people they hang out with, it is probable that they will commit crimes, were rounded up and put behind barbed wire, if all those who are different from me were put behind bars. But we are a nation of laws, not man and we can’t just decide that we don’t like some group of people and so we can declare war on them or deprive them of their human rights, to make me feel safer. This is what we have done in Iraq. Neither the Iraqi people, nor their government declared war on us and they did not have anything to do with 911.

Before this barbarous behavior of our military toward prisoners-of-war, one could argue that removing Saddam Hussein and his gang would make us safer. This unconscionable treatment of prisoners has made us much less safe.

You could not come up with a better recruitment poster for the terrorists than the pictures of these abuses of the Iraqi prisoners. Just the rumors of these would be enough. What American would sit by while this was going on with our people, by an occupying army? We would fight back and be justified to do so.

Whatever happened to winning the hearts and minds of the people? When you make it a policy and do everything you can to help the people of the country that you are occupying and treating their captured soldiers with respect, you make your troops safer and you take the power out of the terrorist organizations to recruit and therefore, you make America and the world safer. Common sense tells you this is true.

“Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar.”
~attributed to Julius Caesar.~

General Meyer’s should have been fired for these atrocities, that happened under his leadership. Also because he is guilty of not doing his sworn duty of defending and supporting the Constitution. He tried to keep these pictures from the American people. He tried to stifle the Free Press that helps to keep America free.

“The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth becomes the greatest enemy of the State.”
~Dr. Joseph M. Goebbels~

Secretary Rumsfield should be fired for these atrocities! He is not responsible for every abuse that happens in these wars. He can not control every action of every soldier. But this was not just a one time occurrence, this was an ongoing, accepted policy which had been reported by the Red Cross and others for a very long time. “I did not know that this abuse was going on” just does not stand up to the truth.

Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney should be fired because they both took an Oath and have repeatedly broken that Oath. I am not sure that there is one member of this Administration which does not have blood on their hands, from authorizing, or knowingly allowing these crimes to be committed.

Not that it will change what has happened, but I feel guilty for what my military and my government has done to the Iraqi people. I apologize to the Iraqi people for my goveernment and the military’s despicable treatment of their loved ones!

I have seen the terrorist, and I am saddened to say that our military and this Administration have joined their ranks.

REPORT: 98 Detainees Have Died While In U.S. Custody

Human Rights First just released a report concluding that since Aug. 2002, 98 detainees have died while in U.S. custody in the global war on terror. “According to the U.S. military’s own classifications, 34 of these cases are suspected or confirmed homicides; Human Rights First has identified another 11 in which the facts suggest death as a result of physical abuse or harsh conditions of detention.” The report also found that officials often failed to report the deaths and “effective punishment has been too little and too late.”

Yesterday on BBC Newsnight, Bush administration apologist David Rivkin defended the administration’s practice of torture. He argued that even if the report is true, torturing people to death is no big deal. Watch the exchange here.

BBC: If that [HRF report] is true, then this is a big scandal.

RIVKIN: No, with all due respect, it is not. Let’s assume that 10 individuals were tortured to death. And again, I’m not conceding it to be the case. Let’s assume for the sake of a discussion that this is the case. The biggest problem of criticis like Deborah and most other criticis, is that terrible historical amnesia and a failure of perspective. Ten people were tortured to death out of over 100,000 detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan…..So from a standpoint of sheer numbers, it’s not a scandal. Unfortunately, bad things happen in detention. Bad things happen in confinement.

When the President insists, “We do not torture,” reserves the right to bypass a ban on torture, and then fails to punish officials who do torture, there’s something like a scandal going on. {In Depth}

Torture: the ultimate abuse of human rights.