New Rules

I've made some new rules for myself. Starting Monday, I'll blog during the week mainly about things that affect my life such as work, personal things and the like. On the weekends, I'll post my opinions about things that have happened of a more general, national interest. During the week, I'll make notes and Friday night will rough them out and will post over the weekend.

Of course, since these are my rules, I can deviate anytime I feel the urge to do so. Since this is the weekend, I think I'll start on the Rumsfeld/Iraqi prisoner abuse situation.

Iraqi Prisoner Abuse

According to Tony Snow at Fox News: "Here’s a rough timeline: A soldier or soldiers informed lower-level officers last November that something was amiss at Abu Ghraib. Gen. Rene Sanchez, the general in charge of operations in Iraq, got word of the problem on Jan. 13. Donald Rumsfeld got a cursory briefing then, too. Sanchez launched an investigation the next day, and the next week he appointed General Antonio Taguba, asking Taguba to conduct a no-holds-barred inquiry. Taguba got cracking. By early March, he had nailed the prison guards for misconduct; documented an appalling breakdown in leadership, training, discipline and professionalism; given military authorities the names of the guards involved; and recommended disciplinary proceedings against at least 18 people in supervisory positions, including the general in charge of military police, the colonel in charge of the prison, and the lieutenant colonel charged with overseeing the unit guilty of the crimes."

I can't fault the military for their actions after finding out that something was happening. Apparently, Rumsfeld failed to inform Bush about the situation when he should have. And of course, Congress wasn't notified. Rumsfeld dropped the ball, but should he be fired or resign? No. The situation was dealt with. Had it not been, I would have a different opinion. Whose heads should roll? The ones who actually committed these atrocities and those up to and including the general in charge of the military police.

I can't think of anything right now that is more reprehensible than an MP abusing any prisoner. There is no justification for the actions of those MP's. They should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. I have no problem with the person who came forward and notified their superiors. It was something that needed to be brought to light, investigated, and appropriately dealt with. I know what would happen to any corrections officer who engaged in such activity in a stateside detention facility. He or she would be occupying a cell of their own and facing all sorts of charges including civil rights violations. And rightly so.

President Bush should have been informed as soon as Rumsfeld knew. Congress? With the leaks they have? No, I can't fault anyone for not notifying Congress. The only good it would have done would be to get the scandal out in the open sooner and it would be over with by now. My main question is why it took from November to January for General Sanchez to be notified - something in the vicinity of six weeks. The lower-level officers should have informed their supervisiors immediately and so on up the chain. It should have been hours, not weeks. If I were Sanchez, I'd be asking a lot of questions and there would be people doing a lot of sweating. Of course, Sanchez may have asked these questions, got the answers, and dealt with it already. I hope so.

One report says that the MP who was leading a nude Iraqi around on a leash was following orders. I'm assuming that the content of other photographs was under similar circumstances - orders. Who in their right mind would follow such an order? That could not be construed as a lawful order. It's not moral, legal, or ethical in any way, shape, or form. And anyone who would issue such an order is morally bankrupt. Anyone who would follow such an order hasn't got the sense God gave little green apples. I pray to God and all that is holy that this is not indicitive of our MP's. I can honestly say that I know several former MP's and none of them would have been involved in such a sorry state of affairs.

If this situation happened in any detention facility in the US and it took more than a few hours to get to the top person with the authority to order an investigation, heads would roll from the first person who delayed in reporting the situation. In our facility, if I, as secretary, becomes aware of something like this, I am required to immediately report it to my sergeant. The sergeant then reports to the lieutenant, who reports to the captain, who reports to the major.

Say the sergeant is on vacation; I have to go up the chain until I find someone to report it to. It's not acceptable to say the sergeant wasn't available. There's always someone. There have been a few times when everyone in my chain of command was unvailable for one reason or another. If I was faced with this, I would have to find someone to report it to. Otherwise, I am the one in trouble.

I understand that someone somewhere wanted to do some cover up. It's human nature, but, you know, I've found that it's better to bring my mistakes out on my own rather than have someone else discover that I messed up. When someone in my agency messes up, the agency is open and right out there about it. We learned it the hard way. And hopefully, someone in the Army has learned it.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,119290,00.html