The case of US soldiers' abuse of Iraqi prisoners detained at Abu Ghraib prison is plenty disturbing on its own. But it's made even more so by the suggestion made by US Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez that the soldiers' supervisors seemed to condone the abuse; and secondly, by the suggestion of one of the accused soldier's attorneys that the soldiers were under orders to create conditions favorable for US intelligence operatives to interrogate the prisoners.

The soldiers "were provided no guidance on how to run the prison while they were there," [Gary] Myers, [the lawyer for one of the accused, Ivan Frederick,] said. "They came under the influence of the intelligence community, whose interests may not be necessarily consistent with good prison management. The prison was set up in such a fashion that the intelligence community had far too much influence.

"They were instructing or advising the MPs to create 'favorable conditions' for interrogation. . . . 'Favorable conditions' were conditions where the detainees were susceptible to providing intelligence information, and that process involved techniques of humiliation."

The soldiers were congratulated by their senior officers, he said. "These guys are being told they are doing a fantastic job for their country, that they are saving lives and to keep up the good work," Myers said.

During Frederick's hearing, three of his supervisors appeared, and all invoked their constitutional right against self-incrimination, Myers said.

Three of the soldiers involved have been recommended for court-martial, and several more are to face hearings to determine if they too should face court-martial. Perhaps just as important, Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez has quite rightly recommended severe penalties for the soldiers' supervising officers.

A senior U.S. official said Thursday that Sanchez was surprised by the severity of the abuses and the apparent lack of response by the military police unit's officers.

"One of the things General Sanchez was concerned about was the fact that this was more than one bad apple, one bad incident," an aide to Sanchez said on condition of anonymity, because of the continuing investigation. "Why wasn't the chain of command involved? Why wasn't the chain of command aware?"

This case is so troubling not only because it makes one ashamed that the US led an invasion of a dictatorship only to have US soldiers abuse prisoners in a manner one would expect only in a dictatorship. But what is the atmosphere that leads to a culture among US soldiers running that prison where such cruelty and degradation was celebrated? Just how bad are things going in Iraq that at least this unit was letting off steam by abusing these people in such a cruel and ugly way? Is this how confident soldiers behave? Or is this rather more a sign of the anxiety of -- losing it?

Posted by Laura at April 29, 2004 10:15 PM