Marine Rats Out Fellow Guantanamo Abusers

[Jack_Dawson]

:hi:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/10/exclusive_full_.html

[Rockstone]

1. Wow Brian Ross you are the MAN

[TahitiNut]

2. She's not one of them and she didn't "rat out" anyone.

She honored her oath. She's demonstrating what too many talk about but often drop like a hot rock when the going gets tough. She's demonstrating why it's a good idea to have both men and women in service.

[Jack_Dawson]

9. Oh Brother

You know what I mean. :eyes:

[BlooInBloo]

13. You're on the internet - that's just plain genius.

[Jack_Dawson]

14. I really am

You are astute. Here's to you Sir. :toast:

[BlooInBloo]

15. ROFL! Cheers!

[BlooInBloo]

12. I'm sorry - I missed it: What's the connection between honor and gender?

[TahitiNut]

16. I'm sorry you missed it. So sad, too bad. It's a question of diversity ...

... to some extent and breaking through the siege mentality of a closed clique/cult. To lean (too heavily) upon the obvious: She's not "one of the boys." The notion that "loyalty" (to anything, including gender) is some higher virtue than compassion, patience, respect for human rights, and all the other values and virtues that would inhibit abusive behavior and preclude reporting it in others is an evil within an authoritarian subculture. The diversification of the subculture is an imperative, imho.

Thus, it's not at all a question of one being somehow 'better' than the other ... it's a question of merely being another. Diversity.

[jokerman93]

17. nicely put

...and a clear-eyed view (i think) of the dysfunction and dangers of insularity in authoritarian subcultures - military, political, business, academic, religious - the same dynamics apply.

J

[TahitiNut]

18. Thanks. It's a relief to see someone gets it.

Over a long career in which I formed and lead teams of skilled professionals (both IT and Audit), I reveled in forming the most highly diverse teams I could. I remember one where I had a female Korean-American, a male German-American, a male African-American with a working class rust-belt upbringing, a male Sikh, a female 'Eastern' finishing school type, a male African-American with an affluent west coast upbringing, and a white male law school grad .. all on a traveling Audit team doing an analysis of billing problems. Everyone had egos. Everyone had brains. It was AWESOME. It had NOTHING to do with any gender or race or religion being 'better' ... and EVERYTHING to do with the diversity of backgrounds and perspectives. Nobody had the luxury of riding along in their sociological "comfort zone" (subcultural foxhole) ... and the slight interpersonal tensions were enough that everyone brought their "A Game." It's a case where the total is actually greater than the sum of the parts - synergy.

[jokerman93]

19. Take this synergy...

"It had NOTHING to do with any gender or race or religion being 'better' ... and EVERYTHING to do with the diversity of backgrounds and perspectives."

Yes! And take this synergy you fostered and witnessed to new levels across a broad spectrum society like the one we call the "American experiment" and you arrive at a vision of a new kind of culture and democratic ethos that's far more than the sum of its parts. But ideas like this are only workable when they don't default to mere forced regulations that settle for favoring the "forms" of diversity over real understanding of the principles that recommend it.

imo - This is why we keep having the same silly debates about (for example) whether men or women would do better in X or Y situation. We Americans tend to fall easily into this kind of binary thinking. It shows lack of understanding of the more complex (and fascinating) reasons that you've pointed out why diversity is so important.

J

[dubykc]

3. Congratulations to her

we need more service members like her. BRAVA!!

[wtmusic]

4. Well now...does smashing one's head involve "serious" or "severe" pain

it might have been perfectly legal, now that our reps have given the nod :eyes:

[WinkyDink]

5. "[R]ats out"?? IOW, she did something nefarious?

[radwriter0555]

6. It's called being a Whistle Blower. It's not dishonorable to disclose

torture and wrong-doing.

[Jack_Dawson]

10. Duh!

C'mon now. "Nice" headlines don't attract smart readers like you. The point is she did the right thing, even if some in the military would consider it "ratting out".

[merh]

7. She describes the sick mentality that is so prevalent in our society today

We good guys, they bad guys, they don't deserve to be treated humanely.

:cry: Not.In.My.Name. :cry:

[MadMaddie]

8. Well her short career is pretty much over because

the * cabal will drum her out one way or another...they will make her life miserable in the boys club.....Just like the Senior military lawyer they are forcing to retire....

[slaveplanet]

11. Rat?

Sounds like it's the rats who got real quiet when they found out they were talking to the cat!

When asked why, she claims a guard named Steven told her it's "because he hates the detainees and that they are bad people. He stated that he doesn't like having to take care of them or be nice to them," she says in the affidavit.

Sgt. Cerveny says the guards told her they worked at Camps 5 and 6. When she asked one of the guards about the consequences of their actions, "He said nothing. Everyone in the group was laughing."

They stopped laughing when they found out she worked for a marine defense lawyer.

and...Some of the Freep comments at Brian's blog are just indescribable:

Miss Prissy probably came from a privileged background, the indignation from ABC is hollow.