Posted on 05/10/2004 11:00:30 PM PDT by MrBallroom
MUCH ADO ABOUT SOMETHING
by Timothy Rollins, Editor and Publisher
May 11, 2004
With news coming out of Baghdad about Iraqi prisoner abuse by American soldiers and the accompanying outrage, we see that unlike the Left where leadership exists in a vacuum, positive results were taken and accomplished in the wake of this unacceptable conduct. What I'm about to say is going to outrage many and surely offend more than a few. So what. The fact that this conduct occurred is not unacceptable in and of itself; what makes this conduct unacceptable is that it was done solely for the sake of a few frustrated soldiers getting their jollies at the expense of some prisoners in custody.
As a result, some soldiers are now facing Article 32 investigations (the military equivalent of a grand jury) and subsequent courts-martial for their actions, and deservedly so if their actions indeed violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice by which they've sworn to live their lives. The fact of the matter is that the 800th Military Police Brigade - a bunch of reservists transported from their homes and day jobs to Baghdad and other Iraqi hellholes - has suffered from low morale, much can be blamed on to the platoon sergeants, company, battalion and regimental commanders, many of whom felt that the orders of the brigade commander - Brigadier General Janis Karpinski - did not need to be followed because Karpinski was a woman. Like it or not, Karpinski earned her flag rank the same way others earned it, and at that level of the officer corps, politics and sponsorship plays a large role in who gets promoted and who gets sent to the retired list with a nice party on the way out. Like her or not, Karpinski made the grade, and they had - as part of their oath - swore 'to obey the orders of the officers appointed over them', and by failing to do so, not only endangered themselves, they jeopardized the safety of all Americans, not only in the region, but worldwide, to include possibly their own families back on the home front.
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Talk show host Rush Limbaugh is too quick to dismiss much of it and liken it to a "Skull & Bones" initiation at Yale University or the like where they 'let off steam'. That is where Limbaugh is way off the mark. Fraternity pranks and initiation is one thing; to intentionally defile some of the most sacred tenets of their religion - Islam - which requires modesty and covering of the body, is wholly inexcusable any way you look at it. If torture has to be applied, certainly there are quicker and more effective methods. Ask me how. The fact of the matter is that such behavior - torture - is only appropriate in certain settings, as it is administered to these Iraqi prisoners while in custody. Regardless of what the soldiers' lawyers tell them, the 'following orders' defense cannot and must not be allowed to work. It didn't work at Nuremburg and shouldn't be permitted to work here. As one who once wore the same uniform they do, I remember being told I'd never be required to follow an illegal order or obey an order requiring me to perform an unsafe act, so their 'following orders' defense is crap, pure and simple. It just doesn't wash with me or with most of the American people. Not only should the guilty soldiers be punished, so should the commanders who put them up to it, along with CIA personnel and other civilian contractors that were involved in the unnecessary atrocities that have come out of the prison at Abu Ghraib.
There are times however where this conduct is not only permitted, but where it must be used. Yes, it is torture, but the fact is torture must sometimes be used in time of war - and that is exactly what this is - for we are responding to an attack on our homeland and seeking to liberate an oppressed people as well. While you may have the hard-core 'loony left' spewing their vehement disapproval of using such tactics to obtain information, one need look back no further than November of 2001 when noted liberal legal scholar Alan Dershowitz articulately made the case for the use of torture as a means of defending America and her vital national security interests. With the revelation of these abuses in Iraq, more and more Americans - primarily innocents - will find themselves the potential targets of Arab and/or Muslim extremists who are bent - no, make that obsessed - with destroying our nation and our way of life. We need look no further than Lieutenant Colonel Allen West who fired a pistol next to the ear of one of his prisoners, and in the process obtained information that saved more than 80 of his own people. His reward? An 'outraged Congress' - most of whom never served a day in uniform - forced him into retirement because these gutless wonders have neither the stomach to handle what comes home from the war front or the cojones to get into the fight and defend America and all that she stands for.
What we as a nation can ill afford at this point in time is to let the loony liberal left take a turn at the reins. Between John Kerry's unexplainable flip-flop over his 'revolving-door' Iraq position, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) ranting about a place she has never been to, and Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) being all too quick to suggest that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld resign, we get a pretty convincing picture of a party that is not only in complete meltdown, but desperate to use whatever ploy they can to get back the power America's voters have clearly told them they no longer are entitled to.
Much ado about nothing? Not quite. However, it was certainly Congress and CBS News making Mt. Everest out of a sloping hill. Which begs one last question. Was it sweeps week motivating CBS to sit on the story for two weeks before going public with it as 'breaking news.'?
You tell me. ***
© 2004 Timothy Rollins
COPYRIGHT © 2004 BY THE AMERICAN PARTISAN
All writers retain rights to their work.
1). I agree with the basic premise of your column. These vile behaviors were shameful, embarrassing and damaging to the war effort, and should not be dismissed as fraternity-level pranks. On the other hand, nobody was put in a shredder, nobody was electrocuted, there was no actual torture. Perspective is key.
2). Minor grammatical error: and they had - as part of their oath - swore 'to obey... should be "had sworn" and don't break up your helping and main verbs.
3. You need to make sure you post this in Editorial or under the Blogger section. You will be savaged by FReepers if you post a self-promotional or vanity piece in Breaking News, because, by definition, an Editorial is not.
Have a good day.
Where was Islam defiled? All I saw was a bunch of guys with hoods. Sorry but Limbaugh is right!
It at one time was drill into a soldiers head that he not only had a right to disobey and illegal order but a duty to report it, either up the chain of command or to the IG.
Of course these were not out professional soldiers, these were part of the clintoon army, they army that was never suppose to be activated, because we weren't going to study war, no more.
We were never going to get on the ground again and be dirty.
There was a command failure in this brigade, this brigade should have its colors struck, never to be allowed to fly again, the officers in the chain of command decimated and the troops assigned to new units, preferably after a tour at the disciplinary barracks at Ft. Leavenworth.
I worked too hard to make my Military Police Corps a great organization, to have these scum buckets ruin my work.
Oh yeah those guilty of this vile crap should be punished to the fullest extent the UCMJ allows.
Oh, the horrors we would have to face if there were to be torture used and pictures taken.
After this "torturous scene" what could one call torture if it were to be brought on to an individual after this scenario has been deemed torture?
Lynndie England's three lawyer, I will bet, are not being paid by the England family. They are either working pro bono or being paid by a third party.
The England family, who apparently aren't the sharpest needles in the haystack, are thrilled to have this free legal help.
The good news for Lynndie England is that the lawyers are free.
The bad news for Lynndie England is that these lawyers took the case for political purposes and are perfectly willing to see her get a maximum sentence at court-martial just as long as they can get media publicity for their political agenda.
When Lynndie England shows up at her court-martial, where her fate will be decided by a military jury, with left-wing, rhetoric-spouting femi-Nazis for defense attornies, she will be awarded a medal.
On this one, Rush was (take a breath here...) WRONG!!! There, I said it! our link to that silly site only had one substantive ring of truth and that was the hypocrisy of Kennedy calling for Rumsfeld's resignation.
Personally, I'd like to see Rummy call Teddy Kennedy a "Chappaquiddick Murderer' out loud in the middle of the hearing room on national televison for all of America and the world to hear, followed with the line, "I'll resign if you resign!" We'll see how far that commie-lovin' scumbag gets then!
Other than that, Rush remains wrong.
Sure, movie rights, the book deal, the appearances on Larry King Live, the celebrity treatment, the works. Why do you think PFC (who had been busted a grade down from Specialist - probably for fraternizing and getting pregnant while in Iraq) Lynndie England is restricted to base? Remember former Air Force 1stLt Kelly Flinn, the B-29 driver who was having an affair with the husband of one of her enlisted crew members? The Army learned from the Air Force's mistake and grounded England like the brat she is. Send that little twerp to the stockade without supper!
She crybabied her way onto 60 MINUTES and onto LARRY KING LIVE, not once - but twice - in a crafted and well skilled maneuver to get the Air Force to avoid court-martialing her for adultery. Through her civilian attorney, she managed to settle for getting drummed out out of the Air Force with an administrative discharge and for all I know, she probably skated out of reimbursing the government some $80,000 for her taxpayer-paid education at the Air Force Academy, thus stiffing all of us with the tab. Talk about being a government-subsidized bimbo.
If a civilian attorney is admitted to the practice of law and is permitted by the presiding judge to represent the accused, then he is permitted to practice and represent a military defendant in a court-martial. The accused has the right to counsel of their choice. Military counsel comes free of charge; civilian counsel is provided at their own expense or whomever is bankrolling them.
Their names will become public knowledge when their file their notice of appearance. Who is bankrolling them and/or whatever their agenda is will become clear soon enough.
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