Our Military Covering up Prisoner Abuse?? Surely Not.
Sgt. Frank "Greg" Ford was in Iraq working at a military prison, and witnessed a lot of prisoner abuse. Then, when he compained and stuff, his superiors said he was delusional and ordered him to lie down on a gurney and flown out of Iraq for phychological evaluation. When the Army phychiatrist that evaluated him didn't find anything wrong with him, Ford's commanding officer, Victor Artiga had a big cow, and intimidated him into changing it.
How messed up is that???
In reading this article, I found out some things I didn't really know. I didn't quite know what the Geneva Conventions were except something about how to treat prisoners, but here it is, in a nutshell:
The Geneva Conventions signed by the United States and 114 other countries in 1949 give prisoners of war strict protections. They cannot be assaulted, photographed (except for counterintelligence purposes), threatened with physical harm, denied medical care and medication, or deprived of food, water, clothing or sleep. They are also entitled to have mail access and regular visits from the Red Cross or other humanitarian groups.
And in the ongoing prisoner abuse investigation, it's been all low-level soldiers that have been investigated.
Seven low-level soldiers have since been charged, with one conviction, but no one up the ladder has been held accountable. Meanwhile, it has become increasingly clear that the mistreatment at Abu Ghraib was symptomatic of a wider problem. The Department of Defense is currently investigating more than a hundred allegations of prisoner abuse. So far, not a single officer or high-ranking enlisted soldier has been charged in any of them
If this bad stuff is really happening, shouldn't some higher level soldiers or officers get investigated too? I know I'd be really mad if I got in trouble for something that my mommy or teacher told me to do, especially if lots of other people were doing it, and I was just doing it because I'm supposed to do what my mommy and teachers tell me to do.
How messed up is that???
In reading this article, I found out some things I didn't really know. I didn't quite know what the Geneva Conventions were except something about how to treat prisoners, but here it is, in a nutshell:
The Geneva Conventions signed by the United States and 114 other countries in 1949 give prisoners of war strict protections. They cannot be assaulted, photographed (except for counterintelligence purposes), threatened with physical harm, denied medical care and medication, or deprived of food, water, clothing or sleep. They are also entitled to have mail access and regular visits from the Red Cross or other humanitarian groups.
And in the ongoing prisoner abuse investigation, it's been all low-level soldiers that have been investigated.
Seven low-level soldiers have since been charged, with one conviction, but no one up the ladder has been held accountable. Meanwhile, it has become increasingly clear that the mistreatment at Abu Ghraib was symptomatic of a wider problem. The Department of Defense is currently investigating more than a hundred allegations of prisoner abuse. So far, not a single officer or high-ranking enlisted soldier has been charged in any of them
If this bad stuff is really happening, shouldn't some higher level soldiers or officers get investigated too? I know I'd be really mad if I got in trouble for something that my mommy or teacher told me to do, especially if lots of other people were doing it, and I was just doing it because I'm supposed to do what my mommy and teachers tell me to do.
posted by cookie christine @ 12/09/2004
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