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Much Ado About Something
by Timothy Rollins, The American Partisan
11 May 2004

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.

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 of which can be blamed on the platoon sergeants, company, battalion and regimental commanders, many of whom felt that the orders of 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.

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.