More Fallout From Torture Charges

Listening to the BBC and other broadcasts early this morning, you're starting to hear from Fallujah and other places the understanding of civilians regarding those reports of torture at the prison and other facilities holding Iraqis.

I suspect this is not the first time some of the Iraqis have heard it, but I'm sure it may mean more to them that the American press is finally reporting it (remember: Sy Hersh's piece said problems were known at least as early as last summer). And with this knowledge, I expect, will come more venting and frustration.

I've got two personal notes to make about this.

One, let's do something totally unheard of regarding war, and let's actually SEE how far up the chain of command these charges go. Let's not just assume it's a few rogue soldiers. All too often, the grunts bear all the danger both on the battlefield and later, when we analyze the war.

Second, whether the soldiers did this under orders or by themselves, these people (certainly not the Iraqis hurt, but right now, I'm talking about the soldiers) cannot come home the same. That may be said of any troop member in any war. But I think this is exceptionally true with what we've heard from Sy Hersh and others about this particular war.

Maybe, some could argue, these troops went to Iraq with the kind of psyches that could allow them to do this. Possible. But I don't think raping someone anally with a chemical light stick and/or broom handle speaks well for the person inflicting that abuse.

What does the military and the specific circumstances of war do to a person? Just sometime, we ought to consider that before we race into any more messy wars since these are our precious blood - our husbands and wives, sons and daughters, our neighbors and friends and co-workers - we send in to do the dirty work of the politicians.