Chain of Command [The New Yorker]
More news from the "liberation" of Iraq. There were a couple of things that I found especially interesting:
A few days after his arrest, according to a federal-court affidavit filed by his attorney, James Brosnahan, a group of armed American soldiers "blindfolded Mr. Lindh, and took several pictures of Mr. Lindh and themselves with Mr. Lindh. In one, the soldiers scrawled 'shithead' across Mr. Lindh's blindfold and posed with him. . . . Another told Mr. Lindh that he was 'going to hang' for his actions and that after he was dead, the soldiers would sell the photographs and give the money to a Christian organization." Some of the photographs later made their way to the American media.
Funny how the American media never actually showed anyone those pictures. Perhaps they were all afraid the FCC would shut them down for showing "obscene material."
Ryder may have protected himself, but Taguba did not. "He's not regarded as a hero in some circles in the Pentagon," a retired Army major general said of Taguba. "He's the guy who blew the whistle, and the Army will pay the price for his integrity. The leadership does not like to have people make bad news public."
Ironically, Taguba is the only person in this whole mess whose behavior might preserve some scrap of the Army's reputation. Everyone else involved, at every level, should be sentenced to death (if they participated) or life imprisonment (if they simply stood by and did nothing).
9:26:12 AM 
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