QandO

May 06, 2004

Why we're not like "them"
Posted by McQ

An important point is being ignored in all of the bruhaha over Iraqi prisoner abuse.

The point? Our system works:

For a sense of proportion, let's rehearse the timeline here. While some accusations of abuse go back to 2002 in Afghanistan, the incidents at Abu Ghraib that triggered this week's news occurred last autumn. They came to light through the chain of command in Iraq on January 13. An Army criminal probe began a day later. Two days after that, the U.S. Central Command disclosed in a press release that "an investigation has been initiated into reported incidents of detainee abuse at a Coalition Forces detention facility." By March 20, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt was able to announce in Baghdad that criminal charges had been brought against six soldiers in the probe.

In other words, as the WSJ Opinion Journal points out, it wasn't CBS news which "discovered" this, it was the Army, through its chain of command. And it acted on it immediately.

So while you're treated to the caterwhalling of the Hate America First crowd about how we're "as bad" or "worse" than Saddam, just ask them to cite the last "abuse" investigation Saddam initiated internally.

And while your watching all of this ...

Every accusation against U.S. troops is now getting front-page treatment. Like reporters at a free buffet, Members of Congress are swarming to the TV cameras to declare their outrage and demand someone's head, usually Donald Rumsfeld's. "System of abuse" and "cover-up" are being tossed about without any evidence of either. The goal seems to be less to punish the offenders than to grab one more reason to discredit the Iraq war.

... remember that the institution in which the abuses took place discovered them, initiated an investigation of them and is holding the perpetrators accountable for their actions.

That is not the action of an institution which has systemic problems. Its the action of an institution which can recognize wrong in its own ranks and has the leadership which will do the right thing.

And despite the despicable acts committed, the swift reaction of the Army shows a strength of institutional character that is being overlooked in the heated rhetoric which condemns "the system".

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