A report issued by the Human Rights Watch last week concluded that soldiers in an elite Army battalion systematically tortured Iraqi detainees from 2003 through 2004. After long-standing debate concerning the true nature and extent of detainee abuse in Iraq, that report reinforces the conviction that abuse has been more widespread than the Defense Department would have the American public believe. In a war that is already losing public support, more responsibility and accountability are necessary to avoiding further breaches of international law.
The report was compiled from interviews with a captain and two sergeants serving in a battalion of the Army's elite 82nd Airborne Division. The soldiers spoke of almost daily abuse at their base outside Fallujah, including beatings with baseball bats, dousing with chemicals, subjection to extremes of heat and cold and stacking prisoners in human pyramids. Furthermore, the soldiers said the abuses often took place under orders. In addition to all of that, the abuses would have coincided with those at Abu Ghraib, outside Baghdad. It is increasingly clear that prisoner abuse across Iraq was much more prevalent than military commanders have asserted. The treatment and subsequent dishonesty are completely unacceptable. Although better behavior should be expected from all soldiers, it is those in charge who must be held most accountable. The soldiers quoted in the report expressed confusion regarding what types of treatment were allowed under the Geneva Conventions, which bar mistreatment of prisoners of war or detainees. According to the soldiers, their senior officers provided little guidance.
Responsible leadership is essential if the military is to achieve its goals. The denial and equivocation expressed by most ranking officers is doing nothing to remedy that situation. Those in charge need to admit to the American people the mistakes and work to correct them. The abuse of those prisoners is reprehensible and contradicts the U.S. message that all people deserve basic human rights.
It is pivotal that the policy of the U.S. military in Iraq be explicitly outlined and acted upon with renewed integrity. One important aspect of that is for the Department of Defense to take this opportunity to apologize for the wanton brutality. Ranking officials now must do what they can to salvage the legitimacy of the American war effort in Iraq by taking more responsibility for the actions of men and women in uniform.
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Prisoner abuse findings unacceptable
