Crimes in Iraq

America’s Heart of Darkness

By Jack Dalton
Freelance Writer – USA

20/05/2004 

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.”

                                     – Nietzsche

The reports of torture and murder at Abu Ghraib prison fill me with disgust and outrage. At the same time, I am not shocked. This really does not surprise me, as the abuse and torturing of those in US custody, whether in Iraq or the US prison system, is as American as apple pie. It is a matter of policy that goes back to the so-called “cold war” days and has been both covert and overt.

There is a huge amount of information in the public domain to support this, for those who care enough to look. I warn you though: it is not easy or pleasant reading – it never is when you discover that your country has become the “monster” it historically has labeled others – China, Russia, just to mention two (although who can forget Reagan rolling out the tanks in preparation for his anticipated “invasion” by Nicaragua in the early 80s). I grew up living under desks at school in the late 40s and through the 50s, because of all the hype about these people wanting to drop bombs on us for no other reason than because of who we are (sound familiar?). But I digress, so onward.

Whenever the “black ops,” like those at Abu Ghraib, are exposed, the lower ranks, the hands-on “doers,” get hung out to dry, as if what was done was totally at those individuals’ discretion. At the same time, the planners, those who formulated the policy and otherwise created the environment for this, have their escape route, more commonly known as “plausible deniability”; only this time they are busted!

Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Doug Feith, Cambone, Richard Myers – they set the tone – created the “Special Access Program” that was used at Abu Ghraib; they created the policy and sanctioned the methods used through their words, actions, and non-actions; they are the ones who stated “grab whom you must, do what you want;” they were the ones who referred to Iraq as a “swamp” that must be drained to get rid of the “snakes” in an “un-civilized” part of the world; they were the ones who kept visions of the “evil, demented, murderous haters of freedom” dancing like sugarplum fairies in people’s minds. The list of the terms used by them to create negative psychological metaphors relative to the Iraqi people is almost endless – to know how to demonize an entire nation of people in one easy lesson, just listen to anyone within the Bush cabal! “We have been called to spread freedom and democracy around the world,” Bush tells all – while Rumsfeld’s rat pack tortures and murders the very people that they profess to be “liberating.” Is there something wrong with this picture? Sure seems that way to me.

Locking people up, and then brutalizing and torturing them with a flippant: “if they hadn’t done something wrong, they wouldn’t be there (prison) in the first place; they are only getting what they deserve,” is an American national pastime. Just a cursory look at the US prison system supports this. For crying out loud, this nation locks up more of its citizens than any Western, industrialized country on planet earth on a per capita basis – over two million to date. If this country is producing this many criminals, there is something drastically wrong with the system – if it is not producing this many criminals, there is even something worse taking place within the country – which is it, or is it a combination of both (which is what I lean toward)? Either way, there is something very wrong here, as this country has fallen in love with locking people out of sight, out of mind.

What does this have to do with what is unfolding in Iraq at Abu Ghraib? Everything. More than one of those involved in the actual physical torture had been employed within the US prison system as a guard; that was their initial training – there is something real wrong and it goes well beyond just the individuals involved with this horrific event and their acts of brutality. This goes to the very core of what we profess to be our “values” as a nation, a nation that professes to protect human rights. Unfortunately the words of our mouth and the “words” our actions say are two vastly different things. We can pontificate about human rights all we want, but our actions as a nation do not support that.

Based on the brutality that runs rampant within the US prison system against US citizens, does anyone really believe that people in US custody in the middle of a shoot-em-up (bang-bang) will be treated humanely? This country loves to lock people up and then allow them to be subjected to brutality. Not being satisfied with that, we set up schools to teach others how to do the very same thing. The “School of the Americas ,” located at Ft. Benning , Ga. , is just such a place.

Everything that has been done at Abu Ghraib prison is taught to those who attend the “school,” although “School of the Assassins” is a much more appropriate name. As a matter of fact, John Negroponte, the newly-appointed Ambassadors to Iraq , counts as a close personal friend of Gen. Gustavo Alverez Martinez’s. Martinez is a “graduate” of the School of the Assassins and the head of the infamous Battalion 316 in Nicaragua during the 80s, which was responsible for hundreds, if not thousands, of murders during and under John Negroponte’s watch from 1981 to 1985. Real good man to send to Iraq , isn’t he? Negroponte used his power of office to do everything he could to cover all that up.

“Do what you want, just don’t let me know because then I would have to assume responsibility”–Rumsfeld can surround himself with as many cheerleaders as he can gather, but that will not change the fact that not only should he be fired, but he should stand trial as the war criminal that he is (along with a few others).

“The world knows that what happened at Abu Ghraib prison is not what America is about,” Rumsfeld pontificates. “The people of the world know us and understand our values,” he further states. Yes, Donald, the world does know us; they see our “values.” You can see their understanding in the tremendous rise of anti-American sentiment that has taken place over the past three years. You and the rest of the Bush Brainless Bunch have accomplished a lot in just three years.

I can remember that once upon a time I used to get really upset when I heard folks outside the US bad-mouth us – not any longer. Now I listen to what they say and then check a little closer to see if there is justification for their sentiments, instead of dismissing them like I used to. I now sadly find myself in agreement much more than disagreement, and that really bothers me – we have truly become the evil empire that we once accused others of being.

Much has been written, many speeches have been given expressing “outrage” over the torture and murder that has taken place at Abu Ghraib. The attempted

“softening” of this outrage by referring to it merely as “abuse,” and the attempts at downplaying it as an isolated incident with just a small number of individuals responsible, are outrageous to say the least. What happened at Abu Ghraib was a matter of policy, pure and simple. Rumsfeld signed off on a “Special Access Program” (SAP) that was developed in large part by the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, Carbone, over a year ago. It was first employed in Afghanistan and then employed in Iraq after the invasion started. The rules for this SAP were very simple: “Grab whom you must, do what you want.” Come on, Rummy; tell us again about American values.

These types of “programs” have been a mainstay of this country, dating back to the start of the so-called “cold war.” Operation Phoenix in Vietnam , essentially the same thing, tallied up 50,000 dead “enemies” mostly through assassinations. Mai Lai also had similarities – it’s US policy and always has been. Iran/Contra should have ended these types of covert actions, but didn’t. Instead, Iran/Contra got the US tried and found guilty of “state-sponsored terrorism” by the World Court , which only tries nations and not individuals. Bush has brought virtually all of those who were involved with Iran/Contra back into the upper levels of the body governance. Yep, the world knows our values alright, and it knows them better than we do. That is why we are now looked upon as the single greatest threat to world peace and security there is. Come on Bush, Rummy and the rest of the marvelous mob; tell us all how “good” we are again.

We are so “good.” Gen. Geoffrey Miller, the commanding officer at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , was sent to Iraq to “gitmoize” the prison system in Iraq . It just boggles the mind that, no matter how much things change, they seem to remain the same.

Watching the Senate hearings and testimony over the Abu Ghraib torture scandal, a statement by Senator James Inhofe (R-Ok) is one of the most mindless statements I’ve heard anyone make so far: “I have to say when we talk about the treatment of these prisoners that I would guess that these prisoners wake up every morning thanking Allah that Saddam Hussein is not in charge of these prisons… you know, they’re not there for traffic violations… if they’re in cell block 1A or 1B, these prisoners – they’re murderers; they’re terrorists; they’re insurgents. Many of them probably have American blood on their hands [so much for innocent till proven guilty and the ‘rule of law’]. And here we’re so concerned about the treatment of those individuals. I am also outraged that we have so many humanitarian do-gooders right now crawling around those prisons looking for human rights violations, while our troops, our heroes, are fighting and dying… We have to remember the context in which this has happened; we are in a war and need to get information to protect us.”

In those few words, Inhofe took what may or may not have been left of our national honor, ethics, integrity and so-called “values,” and killed them dead! Someone please blow taps; there is a funeral in progress… my country’s collective soul is being laid to rest… a moment of silence please. The really bad part of this is that Inhofe is not alone in those sentiments. Not in Congress, not on the streets of America … and that is the hardest thing for me to wrap my mind around… we have a lot of ruthless animals posing as humans in this country. “They do it to us,” “They’re only getting what they deserve,” “Why must we be held to higher standards than they are,” “This is war, remember,” “What about the Americans they killed,” “They wouldn’t be in there if they hadn’t done something wrong.” Words from some of my fellow “citizens.” Nope, the events at Abu Ghraib go much, much, much deeper than just a few individuals; they go to the very heart of this country’s collective soul. “Just because Billy jumped off the bridge does that mean you have to?” Anyone remember that when growing up? Anyone remember being taught as a youngster that the means never justify the end? Seems to me that something got seriously lost in the past few years here in the good old US of A.

So, Rummy’s raiders can lock up anyone and everyone they want, but that will not have any effect on the problem, which is a national head and heart problem when it comes to those that this country incarcerates. Whether in Iraq , Cuba or here, incarceration and brutalizing those incarcerated has been institutionalized by the US .

It also doesn’t seem to matter very much that the overwhelming majority of those Iraqis being held in US custody were/are guilty of nothing more than breathing. According to the International Committee of Red Cross (one of those do-gooders Inhofe’s upset with), up to 90% of those Iraqis held by the US were rounded up by US forces during general sweeps, with others being arbitrarily jerked out of their homes in the middle of the night, also during “sweeps.” There is a lot of us that were in Vietnam who are very familiar with “sweeps” and detentions… there are more similarities between Vietnam and Iraq than what most want to admit, but they are there nonetheless… but that’s for another time.

Just try to picture this: It’s the middle of the night, you’re at home in bed asleep; you wake with a start by a crash bang; you stare at the 900-pound gorilla at the foot of your bed; the next thing you know: you are in the same prison that people disappeared in under Saddam Hussein. According to Senator Inhofe, you are now supposed to be grateful that Saddam is not running the show, but you can’t seem to think of anything but the electric charge that has just made you scream as it ran across your groin. Tomorrow you won’t scream as someone just broke your jaw, because you wouldn’t shut up. In the distance you hear a radio and, on it, Bush telling the world about American values – at least that’s what you heard just before passing out. “What’s the matter with those people, don’t they know how good we are,” then lights out.

Once upon a time, this country had some semblance of “moral” high ground. Not any longer. Whatever moral high ground we may have had at one time is now gone – and we have the Bush cabal to thank for finishing it off. No way can we claim any “high ground” moral or otherwise, not with the extensive use of mercenaries, or “civilian contractors” as they are euphemistically called.

“We have been called to spread freedom and democracy around the world,” and we’ll do that by any means we choose. We’ll invade your country; we’ll mass arrest and imprison your citizens; we’ll torture whomever we please; if we get caught, we’ll apologize and punish a few individuals to show the world how “good” we are; we will “explain” how those few do not represent America or its values. And then we’ll do it some more.

As I conclude this, I have in front of me an article about Guantanamo Bay . It seems as though the abuse and torture of those being held there has also been caught on film. There is no doubt in my mind that abuse and torture of people in US custody, regardless of where this takes place, is most assuredly institutionalized. I know what I want my country to be, in fact, and that does not include being the “terror” of the planet as it has become.

This country had the potential to really be what it aspired to be and what the world was awaiting – a world leader with the rights of man first and foremost in mind and heart. A stabilizing force in the world that would have benefited all mankind and would still had room for the rich to get rich. This country really could have led the world to greatness, and from all that I’ve ever read, the world, in general, would have embraced this. Unfortunately, a succession of recent self-serving opportunistic, megalomaniacal religious zealots captured the governing body of this country and did not just squander, but finished off the chance this country had to, as the Army puts it, “be all you can be.” From Ronald Reagan to G. W. Bush… I think I’ll just end this right here and have a good cry, as it breaks my heart to see what my country has done and has become in the process: the monster it said it was fighting.

Jack Dalton is a 60-year-old service-connected, disabled veteran who spent two years in Vietnam (1965, 66, 67). Based in Portland , Oregon , he holds an MS in Labor and Political Economics. He can be reached at Jack_Dalton@ommp.org. For further information, please visit Jack Dalton’s website.

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