More Shame from Abu Ghraib

Somehow, I had forgotten about Charles Graner and Lynndie England. Remember them? They were the poster children for the horrors of the Abu Ghraib jail in Iraq. The way prisoners were being treated there had been leaked. The pictures that came out horrified a nation and made us feel ashamed of our troops. Bad apples, our leaders said. Renegade troops, we were told. A total of 12 guards were convicted. Graner got ten years, England got three, and Al Queda got some great photos for their recruitment posters.

I remember being so mad at those guards. I had served in the military. I thought that the guards had betrayed everything our country stood for. The United States does not treat prisoners that way. It's what separates us from the bad guys. That was 2004.

Fast forward to 2009 and we find out that we most certainly DO treat prisoners that way. That way and worse. According to the recently released torture memos, pretty much all of the abuses at Abu Gharaib were devised at the highest levels of goverment. Now, as The London Times recently reported, the guards want new trials because the memos prove that they were just following orders.

It is hard to think of the guards as "innocent" when you look at those pictures from 2004. But when you review the tortured logic of the torture program, it's pretty easy to see what happened. Only four years after 9/11, sentiments would still be running high, and the demonization of the Abu Gharaib prisoners an easy accomplishment. Convinced that their prisoners were evil, and assured by their superiors that the techniques were legal, the guards abused the inmates repeatedly. When word of those abuses came out, the guards found themselves all alone to face the music.

During their trails, the Abu Ghraib guards claimed that they were just following orders.. Their superiors denied it. Now it appears that their superiors lied. Their superiors were involved in a coverup. as were thier superiors, and theirs, and theirs. This coverup went all the way to the White House, because that is where the torture parameters were set. The Bush Administration KNEW that the guards were following orders, but they allowed the guards to be convicted rather than shine a light on the secret torture program. The administration, the Pentagon, and the entire military chain of command threw the guards under a bus just to keep the truth from coming out. Criminal.

The cowardice of the Bush administration appears to have no bottom. I am no longer satisfied to only call for an investigation into the torture program. We need to investigate the lies that led to the conviction of these guards. The torture techniques were devised by some the strongest minds in the country, but executed by some of the weakest. When the spam hit the fan, those strong minds hid like cockroaches. It's time to shine a light on those disgusting insects.

Perjury was committed in those trials. Obstruction of justice was committed at the highest levels of the military and of the government. Our military men and women have been abused enough with endless tours of duty in two wars and inadaquate medical care at home. We cannot permit lives to be ruined with wrongful convictions and imprisonment. The guards need to be exhonerated. They need to be reinstated with full back pay, their records expunged, and appologies issued. Those who purjered themselves need to be punished. Of course, they will say that they, too were following orders. In that case, let's start unravelling this mess and see where it leads. I expect that trail of bread crumbs to lead straight to the Bush White House, probably to Dick Cheney's door. Regardless of where it leads, we need answers and we need accountability.