How many wars can the American spirit and soul fight at the same time before hemorrhaging into civil disorder and widespread maliase? There is the war--now some 30-plus years-old--in Vietnam that never really ended in America's collective body politic, evidenced by the fierceness of the battle raging over Senator John Kerry's service in that longest, most unpopular of American wars, and his passionate attack against that war--and the atrocities that beyond doubt did occur, as they have in every war ever fought, committed by all sides--when he came home from that war. There is the war in Afghanistan that appears headed towards its 4th year of "low intensity combat"--low that is unless it's your family member sent home in a body bag or a wheelchair. And there is the hot war still raging in Iraq.
Of the two active wars, not only is there popular contention over the why's, how's and what-for's of both, we are having to stare into the mirror and see not only "atrocities" staring back at us but a much more troubling, ugly incarnation, TORTURE. For a number of months now we have dealt with the Abu Ghraib accusations in speech or type using the much less nasty term "abuse." That other word? Goddamn, that's not us!
Officially, though, it is, the Pentagon and its many generals today tell us that despotic word is indeed now a U.S. phenomena--and they tell us it is not even an isolated phenomenon.
Somebody, several somebodies, from top to bottom have to go. If not, how do we tell people in other lands that this really isn't tolerated in the American scheme of things. Or...maybe it is now, and we have to own up to it--come down from our moral high-horse?
No! We cannot. I will not! Even to my last breath, if it ever comes to that, I will tell everyone I can overseas that we are not, as a people, that morally bankrupt. I am too much of an emotional coward to accept any truth but that.
If you are an American, or perhaps an admirer of America, read the words below, and weep a little, please:
WASHINGTON - An Army general acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that U.S. forces tortured Iraqis at the Abu Ghraib prison, and his report said a colonel who headed the military intelligence unit at the prison could face criminal charges.
"It's a harsh word, and in some instances, unfortunately, I think it was appropriate here. There were a few instances where torture was being used," Maj. Gen. George Fay said at a briefing at the Pentagon on the Army's investigation into the role of military intelligence personnel in the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, on the outskirts of Baghdad.
Defense Department leaders and Bush administration officials had previously steered clear of describing the physical abuse and sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners as torture. Fay did not specify the actions he considered torture.
"We discovered serious misconduct and a loss of moral values," said Gen. Paul Kern, the head of the investigation.
The findings, by Fay and Lt. Gen. Anthony R. Jones, came a day after an independent panel released a report blaming senior leaders, including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for lax oversight and inattention to the issue of military-run prisons in Iraq. This contributed to the chaos at Abu Ghraib, said members of that panel, led by former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger.
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said Wednesday that civilian leaders in the White House and the Defense Department should be held accountable for the abuses.
"Harry Truman had that sign on the desk, and it said, 'The buck stops here,'" Kerry said in Philadelphia. "The buck doesn't stop at the Pentagon."
As he has several times before, Kerry called for Rumsfeld to resign. He also called for President Bush to appoint an independent commission to investigate "all of the chain of abuses that took place, and why they took place, including the civilian side."
46 could be charged Investigators referred Col. Thomas Pappas, commander of the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade at Abu Ghraib, to Army authorities for possible disciplinary action, which could prompt criminal charges.
In all, the report referred 46 names for possible charges. In addition to Pappas, four other Army officers, 29 more military intelligence soldiers, four military police soldiers and two medical personnel were forwarded. On the civilian side, the names of six private contractors were sent to the Justice Department for possible legal action.
There is a lot more to this ugly story, including graphics and sidebar information at: MSNBC
