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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Sixty years ago at Nuremberg, we tried, convicted and punished those within the Third Reich for their acts of barbarism. At that time, morality, integrity, and the civil-legal-human rights of all were paramount. Any such acts of barbarism, whether it's the persons who set policies, gave orders for implementing such acts, executed them, or sanctioned, condoned, or "legally" justified acts of torture upon unarmed people are patently illegal under international laws, the Geneva Convention, and our Constitution. Regardless as to who tortures, or their reasons, such acts can and should never be tolerated by civilized society, without exception.
By engaging in extreme Rendition, illegally detaining civilians, and subjecting people to nefarious tactics, guised as "enhanced interrogation techniques," our nation plunged into an abyss of immorality, duplicity, lawlessness, and disregard for democratic principles. In fact, we're no better than the Nazis we prosecuted, or the so-called "terrorists" we claim to despise, and whose acts of barbarism we decry.
Charles Graner, and others who assaulted the human rights of detainees at Abu Ghraib, Guantanimo, or elsewhere, are criminals, and are justly held as perpetrators of crimes against humanity. However, the burden is greater to prosecute and punish those who set such policies, justified the use of torture, gave the orders to commit such heinous acts as well.
I hope president-elect Obama allows the new Attorney General to order investigations (by independent prosecutors), into all within the administration who knew about, or sanctioned such policies: John Yoo, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Condi Rice, George W. Bush, Alberto Gonzalez, Michael Mukasey, etc., and even those in Congress, who sanctioned, approved, or voted for such a policy of barbarism to continue. This would send a clear message to the world that we are not hypocrits, that such abuses will never be tolerated under our own law, ignoring international standards and laws will not be permitted, and we will uphold our Constitutional guarantees for citizens and civilians to the fullest. It will restore our integrity, credibility, and principles upon which our free repulic are based.
I have the same intellectual/emotional reaction to Graner's situation as I have to the death penalty: I will always vote against capital punishment, but I lose not a moment's sleep when I read about a particularly vicious killer being executed.
Graner is one of those knee-jerk patriots whom I often encountered duirng my years in the trenches fighting Reagan's war against the peasants of Nicaragua. Had Graner met me or any of my friends protesting outside federal buildings, he would have accused us of being Soviet stooges and urged us to "move to Russia" if we "didn't like it here."
The fact is that Graner reveled in every second of his abuse of the Iraqi prisoners. Why did not Mark Benjamin even mention Joe Darby, whose conscience led him to expose the abuse? There is no indication in Graner's letters to his parents, which included the photos, that he expressed the slightest moral qualm about what he was allegedly "told" to do. Nor is there any indication that his parents were concerned that their son might be acting illegally and immorally, even if supposedly "under orders."
So Graner and his family are somehow surprised that the higher-ups get off scott-free and the lower ranks take the heat? Duh!! Generations of American peace activists have fought against this corrupt system, and and it is a certainty that Graner and his good old dad, "Red," held those activists in absolute contempt.
The proper solution to Graner's problem is not to release him, but to put Rumsfeld, Bush, and the spooks in the cell with him. (Condolezza Rice goes to the women's floor.) That won't happen, but neither will I lose any sleep over the injustice of it all.
1. Graner was regularly emailing the abuse photos together with sadistic descriptions of his role to his family. Yet all we get is a warm-and-fuzzy softball questions for them? They are responsible for this too. Yes he was family, but he was a little Eichmann in the family. They should have reported him or blown the whistle. Did they even tell him to stop?
If they had blown the whistle they might have not only stopped and prevented the torture of many Iraqi detainees but might have prevented Graner from getting anywhere near the level of punishment he ended up with. Failing to act in this case is not a crime but is morally repugnant.
2. Graner was in SHU. You are not sentenced to serve in an SHU (that would be "cruel and unusual"). You are put there for administrative purposes. The article rightfully bemoans the rigid SHU conditions, but does nothing to inquire as to how he got there. It only takes at face value his self-reported statement that it was for having one too many magazines or forgetting a bar of soap. This I find beyond belief, especially from a brutal man with a proven history of brutalizing those under his control.
I don't know much about military prisons. I do know in civilian lockup SHU is generally given to those who are so violent that they are out of control or those with a persistent history of serious infractions. SHU is abused and there are terrible cases of mentally ill individuals who are kept in SHU for years without treatment. But here we have no explanation. Salon does not have his disciplinary records and does not report that it even tried to obtain them. If it did I am willing to bet the farm that he's not in lockup for dropping the soap.
No sympathy for Graner here. I don't have that much sympathy to go around.
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Too much satirical writ invites mischief, and many conflicts.
Big troubles. You have a Grim Reaper with a curved scythe.
Knock knock. Who there. Who dunce? Get, and whoa. Sram.
'Um tapped notes on my door. Stick tape had pubic hairs?
I don't know? The judges gave me a Restraint Order. Yup.
NO GO TO BANK ANYMORE IN THE PA COMMONWEALTHS.
S.S. I like to read without scrolling, who is the commenter?
I followed your every word. I agree. A non-Veteran rehabs.
The VA has brain jarred victims from the horrible warfare.
Sad. Skulls are knife-marked. Scars from brain surgeries.
I tried to help a demented Iraq vet up. He fell. O Dropped.
He was Down! Down is a living causality. In a VA hallway.
I tried to help him back on his feet. Irrational. O PTSD?
The brain damaged, former Military Police wished this:
The sad Veteran wanted to be healed to return to Iraq!
WHAT? War Wounds. Wishing to save fellow comrades.
Listen to the war wounded. You may no agree. Listen.
They have something to say:`There is NO language.
Susan Sunflower. Plant the garden, and tend beauty.
Candide made sweet sugar coated plums for cranks.
Complaints followed. Times, same. Wastrel luxury.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
