Like,
the only way to get through s*** like that was to concentrate
on getting through it by killing as many people as you can,
people you know are trying to kill you. Killing them first and
getting home. - Sergeant First Class John Meadows to the
Mirror, June 19, 2003
There
was no dilemma when it came to shooting people who were not in
uniform, I just pulled the trigger. -
Specialist
Corporal Michael Richardson to the Mirror, June 19, 2003
On
Thursday, CBS aired pictures of female and male US soldiers
torturing Iraqi detainees at the notorious Abu Ghraib
prison, an area known for its history of torture and execution
during Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s 35-year reign.
According
to Reuters, “The photos showed U.S. troops smiling, posing,
laughing or giving the thumbs-up sign as naked, male Iraqi
prisoners were stacked in a pyramid or positioned to simulate
sex acts with one another.” Several pictures depicted a female
US soldier, cigarette dangling from her mouth, pointing her
fingers in a gun-like fashion at the penises of several naked, yet
hooded Iraqi men. Other pictures showed US servicemen and women
giving the thumbs-up.
Staff
Sergeant Chip Frederick, one of the six men and women about to
face court-martial for the incidents at Abu Ghraib prison (there
are 17 others still being investigated for allegations of
related abuse), told CBS that “[w]e had no support, no
training whatsoever. And I kept asking my chain of command for
certain things... like rules and regulations.”
Hold
on there, let me get this straight: Iraqi prisoners are sexually
harassed, abused, tormented, tortured, humiliated and insulted
and a US soldier blames the US military for conditions that led
to such incidents?
Rules
and regulations? By Frederick’s rationale US soldiers kill
prisoners of war unless they are told not to, rape women and
children unless they are told not to, burn people alive unless
they are told not to, pee on one another unless they are told
not to. I am sure the US military is not comprised of dolts
although Frederick seems to be a good candidate for the year’s
biggest moron. He needed “support… training… rules and
regulations” to understand that sexually harassing prisoners
was a no-no?
It
seems Frederick has a low humanity quotient. But then again, are
Iraqis humans? After all, weren’t they the animals that
brought down the Twin Towers? Er… no, although listening to a
lot of early interviews with US soldiers who invaded Iraq last
year,
one would have been excused for believing them when they
“confirmed” that they were “going to kick raghead ass”
for the September 11th tragedies.
Okay,
pause. Let us take the pictures that CBS aired and exchange the
hooded men, the men with their penises shown in full frontal,
for white men. White men with blue or green eyes and a
nice bushel of yellow hair. Do you think that the abuse of Iraqi
prisoners would have been repeated with an American? A Swede? Or
even US public enemy number one, a Frenchie?
No.
Never. And if, by some cosmic ripple of reality and truisms,
such acts had occurred with Europeans or North Americans, then
you could have bet your bottom
petro-dollar
that there would have been candle-light vigils and
demonstrations; Johnnie Cochrane would have been shocked into
whiteness; Rush Limbaugh would have gone soprano; Ann Coulter
would have shaved her head - you get the picture.
But
no outrage in North America. At least not yet. Instead, CBS, the
network that aired the pictures of tortured Iraqis, ABC, the
network that is about to name the fallen GIs in Iraq, and the
poor woman who got the picture of US coffins published, have
been ostracized and labeled traitors by the neocons and their
barking right-wing radio supporters.
But
there are those few courageous columnists who will tell it like
it is. Take the Baltimore Sun, for example: “Of the 17
reservists implicated in the mistreatment, 14 were assigned to
the 372nd Military Police Company based in Cumberland and are
facing criminal or administrative charges. A company like that
usually includes police and correctional officers with some
years of service who would be familiar with
the
basics of securing prisoners. That raises even more questions
about the accused soldiers' behavior and the procedures at Abu
Ghraib prison.”
However,
parents of the accused six have complained that the government
turned its back on “stupid, kid stuff.” They also asked why
the Geneva Conventions only applied to US soldiers. In fact, it
doesn’t; because the US did not sign on to the International
Criminal Court, it will not allow any court to try US soldiers
during times of war. There is, therefore, no guarantee that US
felonies in any country will be addressed.
But
hold your yankee horses! On Friday, London’s Daily Mirror
newspaper ran a front page picture of a UK soldier urinating on
a hooded Iraqi detainee.
It later emerged that no charges were brought against the Iraqi
detainee, but that he was dumped from the back of a racing
truck. It was not known whether he survived. Nice.
Don’t
forget the investigation into the pictures
which depict
two Iraqi boys holding up a sign indicating that a US soldier
killed the boys’ father and “knocked up” their sister. The
soldier is standing behind the boys with a thumbs-up. Has the
thumbs-up become a US military sign of abuse and humiliation?
In
April 2003, a Norwegian newspaper ran pictures of Iraqi men
stripped naked and forced to run through Baghdad streets. They
were accused of being looters, but no charges were brought
against them.
In
May 2003, a photography shop assistant developed pictures which
depicted “allegedly showed an Iraqi, bound and gagged, hanging
from a rope on a fork-lift
truck,”
the BBC said.
In
July 2003, Amnesty International (AI) reported that Iraqis were
being shot while in detainment and subjected to human rights
abuses - “Detainees continue to report suffering extreme heat
while housed in tents; insufficient water; inadequate washing
facilities;
open trenches for toilets; no change of clothes, even after two
months' detention.” However, US authorities refused to allow
an AI delegation into the detention centers.
Freedom.
Liberty. War against terrorism. Blah, blah, blah. What adds
insult to injury is the spate of columns written every now and
then accusing the Iraqis of laziness, ungratefulness, etc. Some
newspapers in the US have received boisterous complaints that
the pictures were phony or doctored in some way. Is the ostrich
native to the continental US?
For
a country that prides itself on its democratic institutions and
love of freedom, a country that sees a holy mission in spreading
freedom wherever it is needed, a country that grimaces when a
girl is kidnapped, a famous star dies an untimely death, or a
hero is fallen, the actions in Iraq are beyond expression.
Hypocrisy, racism, ethno-centrism… what words can suffice?
Perhaps,
if this was a Nazi army, history may have instructed us to
understand - the Nazis were often brutal in their repression. If
this were a Roman army, history may have taught us the lessons
from the ashes of Carthage. But this is the 21st Century and -
long live racism - nothing has been learned. There is no
civilization. Columnists decry Islam as a religion of violence,
Muslims as wife-beaters, etc, etc. They judge the actions of the
few and apply it to the many.
Tonight
then, by their own testament, I will apply the actions of the
few to the intentions of the many.
This
is the face of freedom. The face of righteousness. Next time
someone asks you the most idiotic of questions - “why do they
hate us” - ask them to see the pictures in question. Next time
someone asks you how Iraqis could have cut US and
South
African mercenaries to pieces, ask them to see the pictures in
question. Next time someone asks you why Iraqis are taking up
arms tell them to shut up.
Sleep
well if you can… tomorrow is another hell.
Firas
Al-Atraqchi is a Canadian journalist of Iraqi heritage. Holding
an MA in Journalism and Mass Communication, he has eleven years
of experience covering
Middle East
issues, oil and gas markets, and the telecom industry. You can
reach him at firascape@hotmail.com.
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