PhotoDude.com

Wed. May 12, 2004

Things That Make Reid's Head Explode

I think I have about reached the point where I can no longer write rationally about the aftermath of Abu Ghraib and the murder of Nicholas Berg. And I’ve seen so much moral mayhem elsewhere, I’d just as soon stop before I descend into that.

Yesterday, it seemed an hour didn’t pass without me seeing or reading some absolutely infuriating remark about Abu Ghraib or Berg that would make steam emit from my ears. A day filled with utterances like this: “CBS’ scoop has gotten someone killed and there will be more deaths, on both sides, as a result of this story before it becomes history.”

There will be more deaths, not because of these abuses, but because of the story about these abuses, and Berg was murdered because of CBS’ scoop. The fact he’d fallen into the hands of an unholy alliance that had beheaded an American Jew before was pure coincidence. Because if it hadn’t been for CBS, these rabid animals wouldn’t have been moved to do exactly what those like them had done before to Daniel Pearl.

It isn’t the message that’s the problem, it’s the medium by which the message arrived.

OK, that’s enough steam out of my head. All I think I can do on this topic at this point is link and quote things that stand out to me, with little commentary. As little as I can manage. All it does it raise my blood pressure, and has no impact on the situation … whatsoever. I don’t think I have the proper partisan quotient to match up in that department.

You’d be better of reading the conclusions of someone who has been there:

From 1989 to 1992 I commanded the 372nd MP Company, the Army Reserve unit from Cumberland, Md., that is at the center of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal [...] These actions were the result of huge command failures. The senior person charged thus far is Ivan L. Frederick, a staff sergeant. In an MP company, a person of his rank is normally placed in charge of a squad of 11 soldiers. I refuse to believe that no leader above Frederick was aware of or complicit in the abuses that were apparently widespread throughout the prison. While certain officers were relieved of their commands and other leaders were given letters of reprimand, the failure of unit leaders, from company to brigade, is stunning.

It is no defense for MPs to claim that they were only following orders, that they were instructed to “soften up” prisoners to enhance subsequent interrogations. While battlefield intelligence gleaned from interrogations may prove invaluable and can save American lives, no officer, no sergeant, has the authority to direct a soldier to commit an atrocity or to violate the Geneva Conventions. While soldiers in a combat environment may face split-second decisions involving difficult moral choices, such was not the case here.

James D. Villa: “Not Just Following Orders”

One of the things that made me sickest yesterday was the interview with Pvt. England, who sullenly and seemingly without a shred of remorse claims that she was just following orders. It was all staged, and she had no choice. As Mr. Villa points out, it’s my understanding that the lowliest private has an obligation, a duty, to disobey any illegal order. The other day before Congress, Gen. Smith pointed out that simply taking a photograph of a detainee is a clear violation of regulations, and the Geneva Convention. On that basis alone, Pvt. England knowingly followed illegal orders.

Oh, I know, if she had disobeyed, she would probably have been court martialed for insubordination. But guess what? She’d be smelling like a rose compared to the court martial she’ll get now. Yes, damned if you do, damned if you don’t. But in this case, doubly damned, because you played along with abuse, giving the appearance of enjoying it fully.

Mr. Villa also points out the impact on the rest of our armed forces (emphasis mine):

Those serving in Iraq, including the many reservists and National Guardsmen, deserve our respect and admiration. The men and women of our military who are serving in Iraq do so under terrible circumstances. They live each day with fear and danger, far from their families, deprived of the basic comforts of life. Their families suffer for their absence every day and each milestone missed – a child’s graduation, an anniversary, a loved one’s birthday – can never be reclaimed.

To minimize the egregious conduct of some members of the 372nd (and their superiors) dishonors those men and women who honorably serve their country. We must not, as some commentators have said, deem this to be soldiers “blowing off steam” and equate it to a fraternity initiation. To me, that sort of response dishonors those who strive each day to serve their fellow soldiers and complete their missions – and who risk their lives to do so. A failure to condemn what is wrong is also a failure to recognize what is right – and what our committed military men and women do around the world each day. Further, minimizing the conduct of these MPs by comparing it to the reckless and violent acts of the Iraqi insurgents is wholly beside the point. We must compare our actions to those of the men and women who have honorably served this country as soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen. We must look to them, and to our own standards of conduct, and not to people who would wantonly kill and terrorize innocents. If our claim is merely that we are better than the terrorists, we leave a tenuous legacy for a budding democracy in Iraq.

James D. Villa: “Not Just Following Orders”

And Richard Woodward takes a look at all this from the photographic angle:

The news reports from Iraq in the last few weeks have proven once again that, when it comes to weapons of war, nothing packs as much firepower as a camera. [...] By capturing the light of the past and embedding it into the chemical fabric of its own production, photographs offer convincing, “scientific proof” that something happened or once existed. Unless we actually see a picture of a female reservist holding a naked Iraqi man on a leash, most of us would have difficulty believing that it had taken place, and those in charge would have a far easier time denying it.

The mindless simplicity of the photographic image has always been a source of its strength. Most cameras require no expertise to operate well. A person only has to be standing in the wrong place at the wrong time and press a button to precipitate an earthquake, as George Holliday found out in 1991 when he happened to witness the L.A. police clubbing a black man on the side of the road. Abraham Zapruder produced the most valuable visual document in American history by accident. With the technology for creating photographic images advanced to the point where strangers can take snapshots of one another with cell phones, we must now assume that everyone we meet is armed and ready to take our pictures.

The story of Abu Ghraib won’t be fading anytime soon because it will be driven by images, the fuel of television. Rumsfeld promised on Friday that more and worse photographs are yet to come.

Richard Woodward: “Picture This”

And today, members of Congress reviewed the entire collection of images in private, and found Rummy was right: “‘What we saw is appalling,’ said Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), the Senate majority leader [...] Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) said, ‘What I have seen is disgusting and it is disappointing.’ [...] In answer to a reporter’s question, he said, ‘Some of the videos are more disturbing than the still photos that you’ve seen.’”

After reviewing the materials, they said it “would be withheld from the public to protect the integrity of military trials and to avoid further inflaming America’s enemies.”

I’m not going to argue with the above reasoning, as, standing on its own, it makes perfect sense. I’m merely going to point out, in a case that became radioactive when they discovered the images they thought they had “contained” had actually been given to 60 Minutes, and in a world where the Internet has become a morals-free digital copy machine, these quaint gentlemen … having already made this mistake once ... think they can keep those pictures and videos under tight lock and key.

Watch them trickle out. Over the course of months. Drip by painful drip.