Posted on 12/09/2003 4:16:55 AM PST by Ispy4u
Under the strain of command in a dangerous situation, Lt. Col. Allen West committed a serious error in judgment. And in a military environment, such errors by a commanding officer cannot go unpunished.
Informed on Aug. 20 that an Iraqi policeman might have information about potential attacks on West and his troops, the colonel invited soldiers under his command to beat the suspect as West looked on. When that did not produce the desired effect, West threatened the prisoner, first firing a pistol into the air, then holding the pistol to the policeman's head and firing a shot into the ground nearby.
Not surprisingly, the terrified suspect then began babbling information. As is often the case when such crude techniques are used, it later proved impossible to verify whether that information was accurate or whether it had been invented by the suspect in a desperate attempt to save his life.
Nor was it clear that the suspect was guilty. As U.S. intelligence officers testified in a preliminary hearing in the case, Iraqis will often finger an innocent person to American troops as a way to wreak personal revenge on each other.
Unfortunately for West, there is no question whatsoever about his own behavior in the case, or that it violated U.S. Army regulations. After complaints were filed by other soldiers, the colonel was relieved of command and is awaiting word whether he will be court-martialed on charges of aggravated assault and communicating a threat. If found guilty, the well-respected officer could be sentenced to up to eight years in prison.
It is hard not to feel sympathy for West, and almost impossible to sit in judgment of him from afar. "If it's the lives of my men and their safety," he said in his preliminary hearing, "I'd go through hell with a gasoline can." His case has even drawn congressional interest, with two U.S. senators suggesting that West deserves to be commended for his actions, not prosecuted. And certainly, a prison term does seem an unduly harsh punishment.
It is even more difficult to condemn West for violating the standards of the Geneva Convention for warfare and occupation when more senior U.S. officials are themselves treating those rules as inconvenient guidelines that can be ignored at will. The hundreds of prisoners captured in Afghanistan and held under harsh conditions by the United States in Guantanamo Bay, for example, have been ruled ineligible for protection under the Geneva Convention because they are supposedly "enemy combatants" rather than prisoners of war.
That effort to redefine the problem calls to mind the argument used by the North Vietnamese more than 30 years ago to justify their cruel treatment of captured American aviators. John McCain and others in the Hanoi Hilton were not prisoners of war, we were told, but war criminals who deserved what they got. In other words, it is always easy to find a justification if you want one badly enough.
It is also true that in Iraq, we are engaged in a bitter struggle with people who do not recognize such distinctions. As the West case illustrates, it is tempting to then fight the battle on their terms, and in rare cases it may indeed be necessary to do so.
But those and other distinctions are part of why we're fighting. We believe such rules are important to civilized life; our opponents do not. In the eyes of the Iraqis, it is hard to distinguish ourselves from the previous regime if we ourselves do not attempt to live by the rules we claim to uphold. The suspect threatened by West, for example, was a policeman, and hundreds of U.S. personnel are trying hard every day to convince Iraqi policemen that such tactics are simply unacceptable.
For military reasons, punishing West in some way is mandatory. The tactics that he used that day contradict the values this country is supposed to be defending. Allowing an officer of his rank to evade consequences for such behavior would send an unmistakable signal up and down the ranks and greatly erode the discipline our soldiers rely upon in tough situations.
Certainly, the pressures of combat help explain his mistake. They do not excuse it.
Jay Bookman is the deputy editorial page editor.
Btw, every single General and Colonel now working for FOX News as a military analyist (of which there are several) essentially has the same take on the matter -- that Colonel West acted as they themselves would've acted, and that court martialing him not only would play havoc with troop morale, but would also encourage the enemy.
Sometimes initiative is required in battlefield situations, and sometimes that necessarily requires breaking a reg or two. The Freepers who believe otherwise would've fit in very nicely in the Third Reich, where everything was done "by the book" at all times. ...."I was just following orders and regulations." ......One doesn't need to think on his feet. Thankfully most Americans are made of different stuff -- we can improvise when necessary.
Excellent point. It reminds me of a movie called "Equilibrium" where in an effort to avoid another war, humankind established a totalitarian/fascist society, the effects of which were exactly the same as continual war. My favorite line comes when one of the enforcers says "What good has this society done us", which was answered by his partner, words to the effect that "we have eliminated war and murder". The first guy then said "What is it you think that we do ?"
Sometimes they yeild lies, and sometimes they don't. Yeah, there are undoubtedly much better techniques for getting info out of the enemy, but those techniques require something Col. West didn't have -- time.
But to me the worst infraction is that he failed to set the proper example for his troops.
Actually, he set a terrific example -- he showed that the lives of his men are infinitely more important than a few ridiculous regulations.
My position is that I have no quarrel with his action. Whereas, you have tried, through several specious and hyperbolic arguements have attempted to persuade us that your vitriole in this matter makes sense.
Listen up.. we BOTH admire you immensely!!! I also want to thank you for directing me to my long neglected homepage! I just updated it! :o)
It is still a BOOK.. sigh. But there was some stuff I needed to add that is very current about Vietnam Vets getting the HepC virus from the airguns they used on us/them.
Plus, I added a tad to it. I know I know.. BUT.. I did put a warning at the top of the page about it BEING A BOOK!! LOL
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