One of Ours

...This is a big story and it is deserves much of the attention. The US Army has stepped up and openly shared what it knows about what went on. But now we have to take the opportunity to turn a completely despicable act into an example for the Iraqi people of how a democracy handles crises and scandal. The Iraqis I work with have already said that they are surprised at how forthright the US has been about admitting to what happened.

An open and transparent investigation is the first step. MG Taguba's Article 15-6 investigation is thorough and pulls no punches. The next step is a trial and punishment for those responsible. We'll have to wait to see what happens there. The 15-6 recommends General Officer Memorandums of Reprimand (GOMOR) for most of the officers in charge at the facility. But, even though it will end an officer's career, a GOMOR is an administrative action and is not considered "punishment." If the criminal investigations find sufficient evidence then the officers may also face courts-martial.

But the bigger step is repairing our relationship with the Iraqi people. We suffered a great blow, much to the delight of our enemies in Iraq, and it may take a long time to win back the confidence of many Iraqis who are now comparing the US with Saddam. I think we're already moving ahead with repairing some of the damage. We invited local delegations of influential Iraqis to our regional confinement facilities to show them what conditions are like there and provide them guarantees that the detainees are treated well and are not abused. In each case they have come away with positive impressions of how we are running the facilities. Taking steps like this can show the Iraqis that we can accept responsibility for what went wrong and then take steps to fix it and make sure it never happens again. It will hopefully prove to them what I'm already convinced of, that this is not an example of a systemic pattern of abuse and degradation of detainees, but rather a failure of moral courage on the part of the soldiers and a leadership failure on the part of the chain of command.