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July 26, 2004
Glorious Achievement Responding to a Hostile Crowd of People
870th Military Police Unit, stationed in Abu Ghraib during last year, has just marked the third month of their return from Iraq. None of the soldiers has been charged with abusing prisoners but many were involved in the riot of November 2003, which resulted in three inmates being fatally shot -- but that doesn't count because according to the official Army investigation the killings were justified. That’s all the national discussion we seem to have had on the subject, in spite of a lot of stuff in the Taguba report regarding the conditions that led to the riot.
According to the full annexes of the Taguba report, which seems to have receded into dusty shelves of bureaucracy in favor of quick exonerations, here's a summary of what happened on November 24th:
The most serious riot, at Camp Vigilant, took place on the night of November 23 when guards shot and killed four detainees. "The prisoners were marching and yelling, 'Down with Bush,' and 'Bush is bad,'" another Army review said. "They became violent and started throwing rocks at the guards, both in the towers and at the rovers around the wire..." Guards feared for their lives "the sky was black with rocks," the report said, and a mass breakout appeared imminent. The review of the November riot cited the failure of guard commanders to post rules of engagement for dealing with insurrections. Soldiers were hesitant to shoot, and when they did shoot, they often didn't know whether they were using lethal or non-lethal ammunition because they had mixed the ammo in their shotguns.Another classified annex reported that the prison complex was seriously overcrowded, with detainees often held for months without ever being interrogated. Detainees walked around in knee-deep mud, "defecating and urinating all over the compounds," said Capt. James Jones, commander of the 229th MP Battalion. "I don't know how there's not rioting every day," he testified.
So, we know there is widespread torture, the nature of which we know thanks to the pornographic impulses of the torturers, and detainees walking in knee-deep mud and human waste, and officers wondering why they aren't rioting every day. When a riot does finally occur, the soldiers don't know confuse when they are shooting with live ammo with when they are not.
Those facts alone should have prompted the top brass to launch a full-scale investigation, even if they didn’t know order what was going on as they keep claiming.
They chose to walk down a different path:
Pvt. David Ruth, who killed one inmate during the riot with a shot to the head from a light machine gun, received a medal on Saturday "for glorious achievement responding to a hostile crowd of people."
Glorious achievement responding to a hostile crowd of people.
Here's another look at the riot from the Taguba report:
h. (U) 24 November 03- Riot and shooting of 12 detainees # 150216, #150894, #153096, 153165, #153169, #116361, #153399, #20257, #150348, #152616, #116146, and #152156 at Abu Ghraib... Several detainees allegedly began to riot at about 1300 in all of the compounds at the Ganci encampment. This resulted in the shooting deaths of 3 detainees, 9 wounded detainees, and 9 injured US Soldiers. A 15-6 investigation by COL Bruce Falcone (220th MP Brigade, Deputy Commander) concluded that the detainees rioted in protest of their living conditions, that the riot turned violent, the use of non-lethal force was ineffective, and, after the 320th MP Battalion CDR executed "Golden Spike," the emergency containment plan, the use of deadly force was authorized.
What's more scary? To read about awards for "glorious achievement responding to a hostile crowd," something that seems right out of the latest issue of Führer, Volk und Vaterland? Fatally shot detaines identifed by six digits? A plan for shooting to kill called the “Golden Spike”?
The fact that the November riot did not serve as a wake-up call is telling of Army's intentions. In fact, lacking guidance from leadership towards improving the conditions that led to the riot -- again, think about it, living conditions were appalling, torture was openly practiced, and as Red Cross reported, 70 to 80 percent of detainees were guilty of no more than being swept up in raids-- if furthered soldiers fear and animosity towards the prisoners. The same Capt. James Jones, commander of the 229th MP Battalion, who told Taguba that he wondered that there weren't riots every day said that it made "people aware that those prisoners in there are enemies. They are not your friends, they are not people who you will ever go out and have a beer with."
Meanwhile, another other soldier who killed two detainees that day talked about "intense memories":
Sgt. Terry Stowe, who killed two prisoners in the riot, said the memories remained intense and still filled his dreams."I'm still looking for a job, still looking for a house," he said. "Still trying to get my life together."
Maybe we can have a national debate on the subject, after all. Should Sgt. Stowe go shopping or go on a vacation? Should he take Prozac or Valium?
Posted by zeynep at July 26, 2004 02:40 AM
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