Tac’s making a fairly powerful suggestion for one punishment (among others) for the outrages at Abu Ghraib:
The third and final act that is within the Army’s power is to disband the 372nd Military Police Company. Dissolve it entirely; never resurrect the unit designation; strip it of its citations; bury the guidon in disgrace in front of all its soldiers and an Iraqi delegation in Iraq; scatter its alumni to the four corners of the Army. Cruel? Yes. Harsh? You bet. Salutary? Absolutely. The Army is a closed society that treasures its hierarchy and its heritage: institutional oblivion is therefore among its most dreaded fates. This ought to be the fate of the 372nd, with all the public humiliation and display that can be mustered. To the soldiers, it will say that there will be little mercy and no mitigation for crimes in America’s service; to Iraqis, it will say that we have excised our cancer and are moving decisively forward. To Americans, it will say that we have the courage to be the best, not by comparison, but as an end in itself.
This is not something that I would have thought of on my own – shoot, it’s something that I would have hesitated to suggest, even if I had thought of it – but I think that I understand the symbolism involved in this action, and I also think that it’s a necessary action. Among others.
Much obliged
Moe, looks like you forgot a > or something…
God, I love temporal loops, don’t you? 🙂
An uninformed comment – Hersh says one of the worst aspects of our efforts in Iraq is great tension between the Marines and the Army – he says it’s the worst in his career. I find that worrisome and wonder how the action Tac proposes would play into that.
Well, it is kind of interesting that the Army was allowed to ignore Fallujah for months while the insurgents armed, organized, and fortified sniper positions…. and then the Marines are called in to clean up the mess.
If I was one of those Marines, I know I would be a little ticked off. Not quite sure who I would be mad at, though. Besides the Army.
We will be waiting in vain for swift and effective response by Bush and Co. He is, after all, Commander-in-Chief. Why can’t he just relieve a slew of folks, officers as well as grunts, from duty. Now. Kick them right out and then let courts marshals figure out the details. Officers are supposed to be held directly responsible for the actions of their subordinates… oops, I mentioned responsibility, something clearly verboten in Bushland, what with an election coming up and all. Better just to mindlessly recite the magic words – “stay the course…stay the course” – ignore everything else (reading the whole 50-some-odd pages of the Taguba report would clearly strain on W’s mental capacities), and hope that Karl can make it all better in November. Bitter – hell yes I am!
The scary part is, if you read the report, it isn’t just that company, it’s basically the entire 320th Battalion (and the lax discipline, poor training, and non-existent leadership, though not the complicity in torture, went all the way up to the _brigade_ level).
What concerns me is that the situation may be scapegoated at a junior level – as Mark points out, just according to the Taguda report, the problem runs all the way up to the Brigade command level. Amnesty International says the problem is widespread: it’s calling for a full independent inquiry for the whole of Iraq.
(I got into a discussion about the issue of collective punishment on Kevin Drum’s blog, and was convinced by a double-dose of military expertise that it’s actually appropriate military tradition.)
Plus the issue, as von points out, that the Secretary of Defense says didn’t bother to read the report on torture in US detention centers in Iraq, and that the “civilian contractors” responsible for the torture have been left in their jobs – I think scapegoating at a junior level is a big issue here.
Not that I’m saying the soldiers directly responsible for torture shouldn’t be court-martialed: they should. Nor am I saying that the disbanding and disgrace Tac recommends shouldn’t happen.
I’m concerned about where the military appear to be focussing the blame.