Updated: 5/1/04; 10:43:54 AM.
A Man with a Ph.D. - Richard Gayle's Weblog
An attempt to use Radio to further my goal for world domination through the study of biology, computing and knowledge management.
        

Thursday, April 29, 2004


Accused Soldier's Journal Details Prison

I do believe that the officers who supervised the soldiers should get something more than administrative punishment. But you have to wonder at these sentiments, viced by one of the men's relatives.
That probably is a violation of some directive, yes it is, I would agree, but if you use it to get information that's going to save American lives, I have to weigh those two things.

No. Torturing and humiliating detainees does more to hurt our troops, to put them in danger. Many Iraqis knew of this and responded in violent ways. Heck, it was the SAME prison where Saddam had been doing similar things for years. How can we work to win their hearts and minds when this is going on, and they know about it? If you had heard that your son had been detained and had been treated thusly, you would be raging. America should not treat prisoners this way. This treatment of prisoners is rightly repugnant to any sane person.  comment []9:51:04 PM    



More from Abu Ghraib. While we were debating whether or not it was remotely conceivable that an American marine could stoop so low as to have himself photographed humiliating Iraqi children, some other photographs emerged: It was American soldiers serving as military police at... [Body and Soul]

Anyone who has heard of the Stanford Prison Study would not be surprised by this at all. College students rapidly became sadists. Only the intervention of outsiders prevent something awful. In someplace like Iraq, it is all too easy to see it happening. And it appears that the superiors did not do much of anything. No wonder so many of the Iraqis see us as invaders. Something like 90% of the detainees were innocent and released. I am sure they went right out and told everyone about their humiliations. And we apparently looked the other way until too many people, including American soldiers, made sure the someone in a position of responsible authority took action. Only when people of real courage and conviction stand up will these sorts of things be handled properly. Hope that is what we are about to see.

What is also amazing is how many people replied to CBS' broadcast by blaming the messenger or worse. You can bet that many in our own military had heard about what was going on. Stories like that will get around. And you can be very certain that many Iraqis know about it. So, if this was not publicized, the American public would be the only ones who did not know. Our leaders would do the thing that humans always do if they think they will not get caught - simply deny anything that was said. That is what they have done, from at least My Lai.

The fact that this happened is despicable in its own right. But, because it happened, it undermined our own operations there, hurting our troops. If anyone did anything to hurt the ability of our troops to do their job, it was the soldiers that permitted this to happen, not the press for letting us know about it.  comment []9:31:12 PM    



Oklahoma City, 9/11, and the Face of Terror
. [Part 1]

Part 2: Waco in Iraq

Nearly everyone who was alive and aware in the 1990s knows about Waco. But hardly anyone, it seems, has a clear idea what happened there in 1993.

And that, as it happens, affects how we think about what's happening [Orcinus]

More to read about the other terror bombings in America. It is not just Muslims but groups that feel they have to legitimate outlet for their grievances, groups that have isolated themselves so much from the social network that they can twist their viewpoint around and permit themselves to kill hundreds of innocents. We saw it with McVeigh. We saw it with al-Queda. we will continue to see it as we take a military approach to what is, at base, a social problem. It is the isolation, the separation of a group away from interaction with anyone else who holds a different view. The ability of this group to continue to feed itself the same distortions of the world allows it to dehumanize its opponents. It is writ large in the continuing division of this country into red and Blue groups. I will not be surprised to see continuing homegrown violence as members of each of these 2 groups become more and more isolated and cut off from any interaction with the other. The continuing degradation in the diversity of America, the loss of its love for the frisson that comes from different approaches, will eventually cause us to lose our primary role for innovation, creativity and leadership.  comment []9:01:07 PM    



Will Liberty Live?.

  • NY Times: Court Hears Case on U.S. Detainees. The Bush administration yielded no ground before the Supreme Court on Wednesday in arguing that the open-ended military detention of United States citizens as enemy combatants, without criminal charges or access to lawyers, was justified both in law and as policy.
  • The administration's claim here -- that the president and his aides alone can decide to lock an American citizen away forever is a claim to their right, and that of future presidents', to be tyrants.

    It's incredible that this is even thinkable. But our collective fear from the Sept. 11 attacks, and Congress' absolute spinelessness in defending the Constitution it swore to uphold, has given Bush what he so plainly wants: the opportunity to be the president who asserts, and gets, absolute power.

    Absolute power is always abused. Always. This kind of absolute power -- making leaders the prosecutor, judge and jury -- is the lynchpin of tyranny.

    If the court upholds this abuse of liberty, it will be assisting in a crime: If this assault on the Constitution succeeds -- if the Constitution has truly become meaningless on something so fundamental -- then we will have destroyed America to save it.

    The stakes are that high.

    NOTE: Slate's coverage of the court arguments yesterday has a smart additional feature. There are inserts linking to the audio of specific exchanges.

    [Dan Gillmor's eJournal]

    Many of the questions that were asked are encouraging, recognizing that warlike conditions that last for 25 years do not need the same rules as a hot war being fought now. I am hopeful but I do not think it will be much better than 5-4 or 6-3. It needs to be 9-0. this is a landmark decision, one that will be right up there with Brown, Plessy, Roe v Wade. And all these judges know that.  comment []7:00:02 PM    



    Making the new reality. From Chris Nelson's blog: The following is what one of the Bush administration's representatives told journalist Ron Suskind, regarding their philosophy behind the administration's actions and their relationship with journalists. I'm quoting from an Air America Radio interview with Suskind: Suskind: He says, you know, "You, Suskind, you're in what we call the 'reality-based community'" — that's actually the term he used. I said, "The WHAT?" He says, "The 'reality-based community'.". He said, "you all believe" — now let me see if I can get this right — "You all believe that answers to solutions will emerge from your... [Joho the Blog]

    SOmetimes they pull the curtain back and let us see what is really going on. I am sure Britain said the same thing, until Ghandi came along. The arroagance to believe that you will always create a worthwhile reality, one that the people will support, is what will really bring us down. George III and his government thought this way. This is why empires fall. And, usually, in their falling, million die or are dispossessed. It is not a prety world they are planning if you are not one of the Red elite.  comment []6:50:42 PM    



     
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    Last update: 5/1/04; 10:43:54 AM.