First it was “we need an extension†now it is “we will be
done on timeâ€ÂÂ. This came out of the council in Iraq that is authoring the new
constitution. If they can’t agree on how much time is needed to complete the
constitution, then how can we expect them to agree on an actual constitution?
While the Iraqi officials are debating over a constitution
and a time table, we lost another 14 marines today in a roadside bomb. The total
number of U.S. military killed in Iraq now sits at 1821. That is 1684 soldiers
killed since President Bush made his historical speech aboard an aircraft
carrier while standing in front of the “mission accomplished†banner.
Also today, the
Washington Post is reporting on document
abuse of prisoners during interrogations. The main incident involves and Iraqi
Major General named Hamed Mowhoush, who was one of Saddam’s right hand men. The
military once again over exaggerated themselves when they detailed the capture
of the Maj. Gen. They painted a picture of them capturing him in an effective
raid, when in fact he went to the detention facility to arrange for the release
of his sons.
In the final minutes leading up to Hamed’s death, he was
shoved in a sleeping bag and beat repeatedly. This beating was conducted by
soldiers and CIA officers. The autopsy report was sealed, but testimony gave to
the circumstance of his death being from asphyxiation and traumatic.
The fact that this abuse now spans different agencies of
the government proves that it is part of a larger policy invoked by the
administration. So if we are using these techniques are they working?
Well yesterday I reported about two military prosecutors
who had written emails about the trials at Gitmo. They saw the trials as being
fixed in favor of the prosecution. Furthermore, they did not want to prosecute
the trials because of ethic and moral reasons. They believe in the law, and they
spoke out against their superiors who are willing to break the law.
ABC news in Australia is now reporting that a third
prosecutor has chosen a reassignment because she too felt the trials were being
rigged. Of course the Pentagon has said that they have made changes to the
system because of the seriousness of these allegations.
So I am still sitting here wondering about the torture
techniques we employ. How can we justify them if they can’t even produce enough
evidence to have a fair trial? The Pentagon goes on about the wonderful
information they get out of the detainees using these techniques, but they can
not even guarantee a conviction from it. That is proving that the abuse is not
working, and perhaps it is time to switch to more humane techniques, like trust
building.
The saddest part about this whole incident is the fact that
the military and FBI both urged the administration not to use torture
techniques. Even Senator John McCain wrote a letter urging them not to approve
it. Sadly though, our White House does not care about the opinions of
professionals and they have a “go it alone†attitude. This attitude is putting
our soldiers in an even greater way of harm. Now we must sit back and wonder how
many of our brave soldiers are getting tortured.