GIs Against Torture

[struggle4progress]

John Sifton

<snip> But there is a valid concern that pursuing further investigations will begin to look like a witch hunt against troops, and thus a dangerous political issue, especially for someone considering a run for the White House. (This is one reason John Kerry avoided the issue during his campaign.)

There is a way out of this trap. The solution lies with the veterans themselves. The issue of accountability for abuses could ultimately become a populist issue. Soldiers and veterans groups could complain that troops are being made into scapegoats, and that the Pentagon and CIA have sold them down the river.

Groups like Soldiers for the Truth and Veterans for Common Sense have already spoken out against higher-level impunity and are starting to ask tough questions. Why are the current investigations only focusing on lower-level troops like Charles Graner and Lynndie England? Why are the grunts paying for the crimes of the Pentagon top brass, the civilian hawks and the CIA spooks?

Some of the troops still being prosecuted for abuse are exploiting the argument further. Several Navy SEALs facing trial in California for killing an Iraqi detainee in November 2003 have made this case, and threatened to drag the CIA into court as part their legal defense. The government appears to have cut deals with some of the SEALs to keep them quiet. A similar situation is unfolding in a case at Fort Carson, Colorado. And David Passaro, the former CIA contractor on trial in North Carolina, recently invoked a "superior orders" defense. He says he is being made a patsy by the government. <snip>

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2281&ncid=742&e=5&u=/thenation/20050309/cm_thenation/20050221sifton

[democracyindanger]

1. "Following orders" is not a defense nt

[bloom]

2. that's true... but

the people who ordered it/designed it/created memos to justify it... should be held to account as well - and who better than the soldiers themselves to speak out about it.

They would know more than most of us what was going on.