this is just a thing that should stop as of 2 years ago. Don’t you think? What do you think? Is this a set up for our military or what is it really indicating? Is the White House doing things again to our troops or are they really doing bad things again?
I am so totally confused as to why our troops are doing things like this when it is not necessary.
American Soldiers Charged with Assaulting Detainees
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/071605A.shtml
Eleven US soldiers have been charged with assaulting detainees in Iraq, the
military said Saturday, while three British soldiers were killed by a roadside
bomb in a rare attack in the relatively stable southern part of the country. The
US military said in a statement that the charges against the 11 troops, who
served in the Baghdad area but were not otherwise identified, were filed
Wednesday after another soldier complained about the alleged assaults.
I’m so glad you diaried this, Brenda.
It is so distressing 🙁
I only read one story and was confused by it. Where exactly did this occur, and when? Were you able to find out more?
That’s terrible about the British soldiers who’ve been so much more successful than ours.
Susan, I am not able at the present to confirm any more than what truthout has given. I am alerted to it tho and will try to find more.
I am so dismayed by all of this happening and can not get a grip of things if they are being done in my name ( and yours too).
I am so inapt on doing diarys that I am so embarresed as to my skills but I am trying to learn and will try harder to do better as time goes on, I hope….:o)
Well you did a great job with this diary, and from what I gather from several shows on cable this weekend the situation is getting worse. There were interviews with familes, etc. and a first hand opinion of what they actually think, not at all happy with the US and confused why we did this and then bungled it so bad. Father said that everyone family has at least one, but most likey more than one dead.
In the midst of this horror the family put on a very lovely wedding so that the children could see a future, but they say they are always afraid and are very tired of things the way they are. The country is being destroyed and there does not seem much hope.
Oh, they said also the soldiers (US as well) and police are very tough if not brutal with innocent people.
Hi Brenda – Please don’t worry about your “ability to do diaries.” This is not…you know where. I believe your heart is what counts here.
And to paraphrase an old 60’s maxim, you have to bottom out before you can go up – and unfortuneately, there doesn’t seems to be a bottom low enough for the current administration.
this is what is known as urban warfare. we are not trained well in this at all. The Brits said so in the beginning of this whole show. It is becoming quite obvious as to the truth in that statement. Besides they are in the south and we are everywhere else.
Thanks go to Diane for helping me delete my hiccup….:o) Hugs….
Hello Brenda,
This stuff is literally right out of the US Army field manual…even in a copy from 1898.
We were waterboarding Philippinos then, just as we are waterboarding Iraqis today. This is war. Violence is not pretty. Our politicians espouse this myth that we hold our soldiers to a higher standard, the bad apples myth. Our generals know better. War is inherently morally bankrupt, why would we expect these manifestations of it to be any different.
Sure, our field manuals have been updated (w/ the aid of Mossad) for the Islamic enemy with psychologically tried and tested approaches to humiliating and destroying one possessed of an Islamic sensibility, but the desired result remains unchanged…break the spirit of the enemy…and control them.
What can exacerbate the situation is the quagmire we find ourselves in today…an unwinnable war, with an unjustifiable mission, and with troops being asked to stay or forced to stay beyond their tour. Who else are the scapegoats going to be for grunts that feel ineffectual,desperate, and afraid?
The International Red Cross’ report on the tortue at Abu Ghraib is a must read.
thanks neo, and I do understand your statement. I just can not concieve the whole idea that the mistreatment of the Iraqi’s are not what should be done. When the Iraqi police leave some 14 or so men sit in a van without ventalation to sufficate and this is not good either. What will it take for this nonsense to stop? Can if anything is there to take place to stop this all without sacrificing military stance on things?
I really want to just stop thinking at this point and deny my heart from being so broken.
First, good diary! And I can sympathize/empathize with your feelings, it’s hard not to give up hope. But despair doesn’t achieve anything so…we just have to keep trying, find new ways to approach the problem, keep our hearts strong.
As to the question about what has to be done to stop this? I don’t know of any occupation that treated the native population with respect or kindness. I am not a historian so I may be missing something obvious and if I am I’ll gladly admit my mistake.
I’m not trashing individual soldiers here, but dehumanizing the “enemy” is one of the basic tactics to create soldiers-if you have managed to make the soldiers despise the enemy then you trap them in close contact with said enemy over lengthy periods of time, at the same time putting their lives in constant danger from resistance fighters, well, it’s not a recipe for respect or restraint. I admire the soldiers who speak out and the ones who remain decent.