Since everybody who’s anybody is blogging about the “abuse” in Iraq (do the abused include dead Americans?), I’ll offer my 2¢. I don’t want American soldiers torturing Iraqi soldiers for the sake of torturing them. I believe that torture is sometimes necessary to save lives, the Geneva Convention notwithstanding. There, I said it.
I want American soldiers to instill fear in the people who want to slit our throats in the name of Allah, so I’m not going to second-guess volunteer freedom fighters risking life and limb in a desert while I sit here in my nice office enjoying the freedom these men and women are dying for.
Can you imagine how reviled the press would have been in 1941 if they’d given blanket coverage to a bunch of Nazis accusing GIs of torture, even if they’d had photographs?
Should the Defense Department investigate these allegations at this time? I don’t know. This reminds me of what happened to a man I consider a hero, Lt. Col. Allen West.
Lt. Col. West fired his weapon near the head of an enemy to scare him into giving up information about a planned ambush on U.S. soldiers. The man cracked, gave up his buddies, and the ambush was prevented. For this, Lt. Col. West was punished (see article for more information). Only in PC America.
