Burnt Orange Report

Why so Shocked?

We look at images on the television. Embarrassing, humiliating pictures of people being degraded, stripped naked and denied all dignity, subject to exercises in mental cruelty, all at the hands of smiling, booted people in uniform. Our uniforms. American uniforms.

And we shrug.

The media cries out “how could this happen?” The president is indignant. Congress demands an investigation. And everyone asks “how could our fine, upstanding troops engage in such behavior?”

They shrug. They say they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. They say that civilian contractors and the intelligence operatives wanted these prisoners and suspects “softened up” for interrogation. They were just following orders. Some of the troops we are implored to support and not criticize, at the risk of being branded traitors, are engaged in behavior that is definitely illegal, definitely immoral, and which possibly reaches the level of war crimes.

And my mind cries out “how could this happen?” We went to Iraq to topple a thug with weapons of mass destruction. Or to bring democracy to the region. Or to stop the torture and abuse of prisoners in Saddam’s jails. And now, all of that moral superiority goes out the window with digital photographs and the revelation that a Pentagon investigation of prisoner abuse was being quietly bottom-drawered.

How could this happen indeed?

Perhaps it is an age. We have sent to war a generation that thinks of death and humiliation as entertainment. Some of these folks are not so different from the young collegians who video tape themselves having sex in dorm rooms, in the backs of cars, even in public areas, often with strangers, and then post the film to the internet. They are socialized by humiliation-as-entertainment, from reality shows to the graphic details of the celebrity failings watch. We are in the age of human degradation.

Perhaps it is an arrogant sense of superiority. We are the last superpower. We conquer (but do not occupy) with impunity, without our allies and without solid support from the public. If we can make war without accountability, we can certainly turn prisoners, human beings no matter how deplorable, into our plaything.

Perhaps it has always happened, and we did not know. Maybe things happened after we took over Nazi prisons or Vietnamese villages that we do not know about. Perhaps periodic American atrocities have always happened, regardless of the age or our sense of entitlement.

I read in the papers that the families of the soldiers accused of these crimes are saying they were scape-goats for higher policy. If this is the excuse, there is still a problem, and a big one. A soldier has an obligation to follow the law. That obligation extends to refusing to obey an illegal order, and to reporting illegal acts. The troopers in charge of these prisons, it is said, did not have an appreciation and understanding of the rules of war and prisoner rights under the Geneva Convention. Who has the job of making sure that The Finest Military in the World has soldiers who understand the Rules of Civilized Warfare?

These reasons do not excuse the acts. We cannot easily separate the acts of some of our people in uniform from all of our people in uniform in the court of world opinion. We cannot easily separate suspicion from the minds of a sizeable number of patriotic Americans who cautiously supported this war, but who had misgivings that are now being realized. And, when they raise voice to the inconsistencies of this administration’s prosecution of war in the Middle East, they will be admonished as traitors and fellow travelers who are lending aid and comfort to terrorists and evil-doers.

The Pentagon tried to keep this story from coming out. It appears that an investigation of abuse in Iraqi prisons was slow-tracked or headed for the bottom drawer. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff got CBS to sit on the story, and likely wanted it sat on indefinitely. When we cannot trust soldiers to behave inside the law, and we cannot trust the military to be vigilant in limiting abuse by its personnel, how can we fight wars for democracy and human rights?

And we’ll shrug.

I thought it was bizarre that this story and others reduced this:

"Iraq is unwinnable if the U.S. military does not dramatically increase troop levels, provide more ground support and seek significant international involvement."

...to "Murtha says war is unwinnable." Saying that the administration's course is untenable is not the same as saying it's a lost cause altogether.

It certainly seems like you caught that, but it seems a bit sloppy from the reporters covering it. Anyway, as I noted on our site, their press conference is today, and we'll see what comes out of it.

P.S. - I think your take on the general situation at the end is spot on.

Yes, Kerry's plan on Iraq may be similar to Bush's, but I look at it this way:

If you're interviewing two people for the job of janitor, and one of them craps on your floor, but BOTH of them promise to clean it up, which one do you hire?

For once i hear a man -talk some sense in the world -He brave bold enough to say it !
Thank You Rep John Murtha -You show the republicans -and show the world that we need to get out of Iraq -We all know -without the right directions -orders -plans -No war good ? I am just very happy to hear You come out -and tell it like it is -that takes guts , be proud of self - Everytime someone -someOne criticises you what you say-you know it truth ?
Rep. John Murtha, a longtime Democratic hawk, calls Thursday for an immediate pullout of U.S. troops from Iraq. Full Story
Murtha's Background:
Age: 73
Home: Johnstown, Pa.
Military: Marine Corps, 1952-55; 1966-67; Marine Corps Reserves, 1955-66, 1967-90
Medals: Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts
U.S. House: 1974-present; First Vietnam vet elected
It is baffling that [Rep. Murtha] is endorsing the policy positions of Michael Moore and the extreme liberal wing of the Democratic party. The eve of an historic democratic election in Iraq is not the time to surrender to the terrorists."
-- Scott McClellan, White House press secretary
''It is irresponsible for Democrats to now claim that we misled them and the American people.''
-- President Bush, Nov. 14
(Nov. 18) - Every week, Rep. John Murtha makes the rounds at Walter Reed Army Medical Center to stand at the bedside of soldiers wounded in Iraq.On Thursday, the Pennsylvania Democrat could stand by no more. Belying his reputation as one of Congress' most hawkish members, Murtha called for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq."I feel very passionate about this," Murtha said in an emotional interview hours after his remarks. "I see a kid blown apart, and it breaks my heart."Democrats have long assailed President Bush's Iraq policy. But this is the top Democrat on the House panel that pays for Pentagon programs, a former Marine who was the first Vietnam veteran to serve in Congress and one of the most influential members of his party on military matters."It's a turning point in the growing opposition to the war," said Rep. John Conyers, a liberal Democrat from Michigan. He said Murtha's time in military hospital wards "had a profound impact on him, and he's finally come to the point where he cannot rationalize us staying over there any longer."Murtha voted to authorize the 1991 Persian Gulf War. He voted with 80 other House Democrats to give Bush the authority to use military force against Saddam Hussein in 2002. But his doubts about the administration's handling of the war have steadily mounted.In September 2003, he stood with liberal House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to criticize the Pentagon as stinting on equipment and body armor for the troops. In May 2004, Murtha warned his party that the war was unwinnable unless more U.S. and coalition forces were sent to Iraq.But his call to pull out rises above a growing chorus of lawmakers questioning the war. It comes days after a Senate vote calling on Iraqis to take the lead on security and the Bush administration to make its exit strategy clear.Republicans lashed out. Rep. Deborah Pryce of Ohio called Murtha "highly irresponsible."Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind., suggested that Murtha spoke out in hopes he'll become chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee if Democrats regain control of the House. "He is conflicted between his ideals as a Marine and as an American and the anti-war crowd that dominates his party," said Buyer, an Army reservist. "He has to play against his principles, and it must eat him inside."Murtha says all that's eating him is seeing troops killed and injured because they lack armored Humvees and body armor. "This is not political to me," he said.The media-shy congressman rarely speaks from the House chamber or gives interviews. But he still holds court regularly.Reuters"I like guys who've never been there that criticize us who've been there... I like guys who got five deferments and never been there and send people to war, and then don't like to hear suggestions about what needs to be done."
-- Rep. John Murtha, refering to Vice President Cheney's Vietnam War deferments
"People line up to seek his counsel," said Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., who says no one dares sit in the last seat in the last row in the House chamber area known as "the Pennsylvania corner." That seat belongs to Murtha.Murtha's military credentials, including two Purple Hearts for wounds in Vietnam, mean that "when he says something in regards to defense, people listen," Doyle said. "Unlike some of the people on the Republican side, he's seen bullets."Murtha is "not a lightning rod. He's not divisive," says Terry Madonna, a political scientist who runs the Keystone Poll of Pennsylvania politics. "It provides a lot of cover for Democrats who wanted to call for a pullout earlier but ... were unwilling to do so."Is the White House right to attack Rep. Murtha? No, his background gives him credibility 76% Yes, Murtha is motivated by politics 24% Is the White House smart to attack Rep. Murtha? No, it gives his stance more publicity 74% Yes, he could sway public opinion 26% Total Votes: 69,331 Do you think the White House misled the public in its case for war? Yes 74% No 26% Total Votes: 63,550 Those remarks stirred angry responses from Democrats, who accused Bush of questioning their patriotism. At a news conference in South Korea on Thursday, Bush denied he was challenging the patriotism of his critics, but reasserted his initial criticism.It is "patriotic as heck to disagree with the president," Bush said. "It doesn't bother me. What bothers me is when people are irresponsibly using their positions and playing politics."{ bush says "that the politicians -shouldnt talk politics -but what is he doing ? bush says , that they are use their positions and play politics -that exactly what bush is doing ?dont he sound like a hyprocrite -like a person saying , dont do this -but he is doing it lol so it do as I say -but dont do as i do lol }
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