Remembering US Soldier Who Killed Herself--After Refusing to Take Part in Torture

[bigtree]

With each new revelation on U.S. torture in Iraq, Afghanistan and Gitmo, I am reminded of the chilling story of Alyssa Peterson.

By Greg Mitchell

(April 23, 2009) -- With each new revelation on U.S. torture in Iraq, Afghanistan and Gitmo (and who, knows, probably elsewhere), I am reminded of the chilling story of Alyssa Peterson, who I have written about numerous times in the past three years but now with especially sad relevance. Appalled when ordered to take part in interrogations that, no doubt, involved what we would call torture, she refused, then killed herself a few days later, in September 2003.

Of course, we now know from the torture memos and the U.S. Senate committee probe and various new press reports, that the "Gitmo-izing" of Iraq was happening just at the time Alyssa got swept up in it.

Alyssa Peterson was one of the first female soldiers killed in Iraq. A cover-up, naturally, followed . . .

Here's what the Flagstaff public radio station, KNAU reported:

"Peterson objected to the interrogation techniques used on prisoners. She refused to participate after only two nights working in the unit known as the cage. Army spokespersons for her unit have refused to describe the interrogation techniques Alyssa objected to. They say all records of those techniques have now been destroyed."


read more: http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/columns/pressingissues_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003965876

[omega minimo]

1. May she rest in Peace. Remembering Alyssa.

[Bluerthanblue]

2. wow... she deserves to be honored -

wow...

thank you for posting this.


peace~

[Supersedeas]

4. courage and integrity should always be honored - another thanks

[tridim]

3. She was murdered by BushCo. nt

[Echo In Light]

13. Shades of Nick Berg and his father?

[lonestarnot]

5. They killed her!

[merh]

11. did you catch the end of the article?

In other words: Like the press and the public, even the parents had been kept in the dark.

Tomorrow I will write about Kayla Williams, a woman who served with Alyssa, talked to her about her problems shortly before she killed herself, and also took part in torture interrogations. She also opted out, but survived, and is haunted years later.

Here's what Williams told Soledad O'Brien of CNN : "I was asked to assist. And what I saw was that individuals who were doing interrogations had slipped over a line and were really doing things that were inappropriate. There were prisoners that were burned with lit cigarettes."

[bigtree]

21. right

stay tuned

[merh]

27. yup, the story is evolving

there are too many murders that have been overlooked

[merh]

6. My heart goes out to her family

this "news" must be making them feel the lose all over again - god bless her - may she be at peace

[dgibby]

7. I've said it before and I'll say it again.

WHY and HOW would one use a rifle to commit suicide when a pistol would be so much easier?

She was on guard duty. Normally, military personnel on guard duty wear sidearms, in addition to whatever other arms they may be carrying. The length of the rifle alone would prohibit most women from being able to use it for suicide, unless I'm missing something here. Also,using a gun is not the preferred suicide method for women.

I smell a rat, the same rat I smelled when Pat Tillman was killed.

[Sabriel]

8. But unlike Tillman, this soldier doesn't have a family to push for justice.

I find it unlikely she shot herself with a rifle, as others have pointed out, but her family probably doesn't have the name and pull to initiate a search for justice.

[Joe Chi Minh]

42. Like Kelly's death in the UK, and so many others in the US, it was meant to send a message.

Professional killers are just that. Consummately professional. If it seems an improbable/impossible suicide, it was meant to. End of story.

[14thColony]

44. One small point

The M4 carbine is appreciably shorter than the M16 rifle, and would be much easier to maneuver into place to self-inflict with. Dunno if she had a pistol, although everyone in Afghanistan at least did when I was there, as did I. I would assume same for Iraq, but that is merely an assumption.

[JDPriestly]

47. When we ask service personnel to torture, we inflict severe damage

to their personalities, to their images of themselves and to our country. Shame on anyone who tries to rationalize these despicable acts. It is inexcusable for a guard to torture a prisoner.

[14thColony]

48. Did you perhaps intend to reply to someone else?

[G_j]

9. omg

and the real hero commits suicide.
:cry:

[peacetalksforall]

10. Since she was a female, a person can kind of conjecture what the

torment-torture would be about. Could our people step that low? We've heard they use females - where do they come from.

I hurt all the time. I think of the torture that IS STILL GOING ON! Renditions, also, must be still going on.

It seems they have to shift people to run from Amnesty Intl and future lawsuits,

So when do we face our own mlitary and Pentagon and beg them?

[Echo In Light]

12. "Conform or be cast out"

[ColbertWatcher]

14. k+r, n/t

[hootinholler]

15. This needs to be our top story today! n/t

[malaise]

16. Bravo Alyssa

We should try to find her family and send them flowers.

[myrna minx]

17. K&R n/t

[pacalo]

18. There's no doubt in my mind that Alyssa enlisted for the purpose of doing "good".

I'm struck by her high ethics & good character. She & Pat Tillman are cut from the same cloth.

[genna]

19. Highlights

1. A notebook detailed the woman's thoughts.

2. A suicide note

3. Possible reports detailing her objections.

4. Written reprimands for woman's emotions during the course of these interrogations.



"...
"Peterson objected to the interrogation techniques used on prisoners. She refused to participate after only two nights working in the unit known as the cage. Army spokespersons for her unit have refused to describe the interrogation techniques Alyssa objected to. They say all records of those techniques have now been destroyed."

According to the official report on her death released the following year, she had earlier been "reprimanded" for showing "empathy" for the prisoners. One of the most moving parts of that report is: "She said that she did not know how to be two people; she ... could not be one person in the cage and another outside the wire."

-snip-

A notebook she had been writing was found next to her body. Its contents were redacted in the official report.

The Army talked to some of Peterson's colleagues. Asked to summarize their comments, Elston told me: "The reactions to the suicide were that she was having a difficult time separating her personal feelings from her professional duties. That was the consistent point in the testimonies, that she objected to the interrogation techniques, without describing what those techniques were."

Elston said that the documents also refer to a suicide note found on her body, which suggested that she found it ironic that suicide prevention training had taught her how to commit suicide. He filed another FOIA request for a copy of the actual note.

-snip-

Tomorrow I will write about Kayla Williams, a woman who served with Alyssa, and talked to her about her problems shortly before she killed herself, and also took part in torture interrogations. She observed the punching of detainees and was forced to take part in one particular tactic: prisoners were stripped naked, and when they took off their blindfolds the first thing they saw was Kayla. She opted out, but survived, and is haunted years later.

Here's what Williams told Soledad O'Brien of CNN : "I was asked to assist. And what I saw was that individuals who were doing interrogations had slipped over a line and were really doing things that were inappropriate. There were prisoners that were burned with lit cigarettes.""

[McCamy Taylor]

20. This is just the worst! Rummie and the others need to go to jail.

[sabrina 1]

22. I am so glad you posted this. I was thinking of her

yesterday. She deserves to be remembered. I don't remember ever seeing this story on the MSM. But now might be a good time for them to try to make up for their own complicity in these crimes and honor those who, like Alyssa, refused to participate in war crimes.

RIP Allysa. She really was a hero.

[Union Yes]

23. knr. I wonder if her family will ever be able to sue?

[Supersedeas]

24. Remember the death threats against the soldier who blew the whistle

[Mister Ed]

33. And all he did was report the wrongdoing to his immediate superior, as was his duty

For following regulations, he was subjected to death threats from the "Support the Troops" crowd when re returned home.

Go figure.

[me b zola]

25. K&R

:(

[SalmonChantedEvening]

26. A much needed reminder.

Thank you bigtree.

RIP Alyssa. :cry: :patriot:

[Oldtimeralso]

28. K & R and proud to help find the truth.

RIP Alyssa

[Solly Mack]

29. K&R

[Control-Z]

30. KnR

There is nothing I can say that would even come close to describing how horrifying I find this story.

Alyssa Peterson was as much a prisoner as the detainees, as tortured.

[Imagevision]

31. I remember, she went out and killed herself the next day, image link below:

Alyssa Peterson her picture link
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Alyssa+Peterson&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2&aq=f&oq=

[MasonJar]

32. I doubt she committed suicide; that is just another too convenient death

of those who object to or repel Bush policies.

[catrose]

34. For all the imaginary information

that Cheney claims is worth it...Was it worth Alyssa's life? And the eternal suffering of Kayla? And the unnamed others?

I was thinking of Alyssa recently. Thanks for reminding us.

RIP, Alyssa.

[Bluenorthwest]

35. this breaks me to bits

[DesertDiamond]

36. She is a hero.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

37. According to the Arizona Sun

http://www.azdailysun.com/articles/2006/11/02/news/20061102_news_30.txt

after she refused to commit torture:
"She was subsequently assigned to monitoring Iraqi guards at the base gate and was sent to suicide prevention training, stated the KNAU report. And on Sept. 15, Army investigators concluded she shot and killed herself with her service rifle, according to KNAU."

I'm thinking she needed a body guard a lot more than suicide prevention training.

[DFW]

40. I'm thinking the same thing.

September, 2003--right around the time when Rumsfeld, Cheney and Wolfowitz were realizing that the Iraq
invasion would last many years, and not "maybe six days, maybe six weeks, certainly not six months," as
Rumsfeld put it at the beginning of the invasion.

The last thing they needed was a scandal big enough to dampen Congress' will to continue to close their
eyes and blindly fund the mess to Cheney's (and Halliburton's) delight.

[Bette Noir]

38. I hope her family sues for wrongful death.

Oops-- I forgot. Soldiers are supposed to die.

I hope she's drinking pina coladas in paradise. She's a shining star.

And I hope the slugs who gave her the orders to torture spend the rest of their lives in prison.

[calimary]

49. That goes double for me. Especially your last sentence.

RIP Alyssa.

:patriot:

[Norrin Radd]

39. k

[democracy1st]

41. K & R

[Hubert Flottz]

43. K&R

[redqueen]

45. "They say all records of those techniques have now been destroyed."

How convenient.

So many tragically sad stories like this... will it ever end?

[riverdeep]

46. Every day we wait, is another day more and more records get destroyed.

Just like with 9/11, they went and destroyed the metal from the buildings, evidence, as soon as they could. Regardless of what you believe happened, destroying evidence is a crime itself.

This story and many many others are out there, and a thorough investigation could uncover and piece together the gruesome narrative of when the mafia took over the world's most powerful country.