A rchive Date
[ 31-05-2004 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ U.S ]
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[Two dared to speak truths about Abu Ghraib
By HELEN THOMAS
May 28, 2004, 11:11PM
Two profiles in courage stand out in the expose of the Iraqi prison disaster.
They are Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba - who investigated reports of the abuses of the Iraqi prisoners at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison - and Army Spc. Joseph Darby, the military policeman who alerted Army authorities by turning over a disc of photographs showing the shocking mistreatment of the prisoners.
Whistle blowers take big personal risks in terms of how they are viewed - heroes or traitors - and how they are treated in the aftermath of their revelations.
A statement at the Nuremberg War Crime Tribunal in 1950, where Nazi officials were in the dock after World War II, seems to apply: "Individuals have international duties which transcend the national obligations of obedience ... Therefore (individual citizens) have the duty to violate domestic laws to prevent crimes against peace and humanity from occurring."
Such a statement would be an anathema to super patriots.
Darby, 24, of Jenners, Pa., turned over the abuse photos to an Army investigator on Jan. 13. The photos showed some prisoners hooded, stressed out, sexually humiliated, cowering naked against a wall, facing their tormentors who held back open-jawed attack dogs.
Before he turned over the photos, Darby called his mother and indicated that he was disturbed over an ethical problem but gave her no details. Seeking her advice, Darby's mother told him to follow his conscience and "the truth will make you free."
Some in his hometown later grumbled that he had ratted on his buddies, but Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, in testimony before Congress, praised Darby, singling him out as the soldier "who alerted the appropriate authorities that abuses were occurring" at Abu Ghraib.
Taguba, the highest-ranking Filipino-American in the Army, is widely respected among his peers. Taguba's father fought alongside American forces in World War II on Bataan and was captured by the Japanese.
Taguba's orders last Jan. 31 were to investigate prison abuses. He obviously took those orders seriously, telling those on his team that they should follow their "consciences" and "do what is morally right."
Taguba's March 12 report documented widespread abuse of prisoners by military police. Even so, the sensational report only got the attention of Rumsfeld and Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, after CBS-TV broadcast the photographs.
This was much too late for Rumsfeld and Myers to learn about such an important matter.
Rumsfeld and Bush were profuse in their apologies, and both men expressed disgust over what had happened in the prison. In an address at the Army War College at Carlisle, Pa., last Monday night, Bush called for the razing of Abu Ghraib.
He said that under Saddam Hussein, such prisons as Abu Ghraib "were symbols of death and torture." He noted that "the same prison became a symbol of disgraceful conduct by a few American troops who dishonored our country and disregarded our values."
It's unclear at this point whether there were only "a few," as Bush described it, or whether the abuse was more widespread. Also in the pending basket: Who in the chain of command knew about the abuse and either approved of it or failed to stop it?
Coinciding with the president's policy speech on Iraq, Pentagon officials reported that Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the top military commander in Iraq, would be replaced this summer. Sanchez has been in the hot seat about the Abu Ghraib scandal. But Pentagon officials insist that the transfer of Sanchez out of Iraq was unrelated to the prison scandal.
Bush said last Tuesday, "Rick Sanchez has done a fabulous job."
But the timing of his removal sparked speculation that blame for the prison debacle would go higher than low ranking MPs.
The Wall Street Journal says that lawyers on Sanchez's staff wrote the International Committee of the Red Cross on Dec. 24, 2003, and explicitly claimed that the prisoners were not subject to the Geneva Conventions on humanitarian treatment of prisoners. Pentagon spokesman Larry DiRita disagreed last Wednesday, contending that U.S. commanders consider all prisoners in Iraq to be protected by the Geneva Conventions. He also claimed that all prisoners in Iraq have been treated in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.
The photos show otherwise.
Bush would have won more brownie points if he had affirmed in his war college speech that the United States will again abide by the Geneva accords on prisoner protection - to the spirit and the letter.
Thomas is a Washington, D.C.-based columnist for the Hearst Newspapers. (hthomas@hearstdc.com)
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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