Spring Break
Shame and Honor
Sociology professer says Abu Ghraib trial is a 'complex human story'
By: Travis Robinson
Issue date: 9/11/07 Section: News
However, those who did speak up we're told to shut up and watch out for their careers. The common response from superiors was, "You didn't see shit," Mestrovic said. This is where he believes the problem originated.
"There was no oversight. No one knew who was in charge, seriously. Command Responsibility was not followed," he said. Command Responsibility is a doctrine used for war crimes that states a commander is responsible for the actions of those he is commanding. Command Responsibility, developed in the early 1900s, has been used in World Wars I and II, the Vietnam War and countless other incidents, but not Abu Ghraib.
"When this was brought up in the trials, the judge simply wouldn't allow it," Mestrovic said. A military court marshal is very different from a civilian trial and the judge has the greatest power. "Instead, they said unlawful orders should be recognized by the low ranking soldiers. It just didn't make any sense," he said.
Neither Gen. Janice Karpinski, head of the prison system in Iraq, nor Col. Thomas Pappas, head of military personnal at Abu Ghraib, were held responsible for the actions of their subordinates. In fact, there was no higher authority telling the low ranking soldiers that what they were doing was wrong but there were orders coming from officers such as Pappas, to "soften up" the prisoners before interrogation, Mestrovic said.
"The word torture gives the idea of the soldiers getting up in the morning and saying, 'Who are we going to torture today?' Instead it was superior officers telling the soldiers that if they didn't do their jobs, that if they didn't get the information they needed, more Americans we're going to die."
The media painted an inaccurate and misconstrued picture of the whole scandal, Mestrovic said. "The media was obsessed with torture. The word torture was never even used in the trials. The reporters would come for an hour or two, leave before lunch, and sensationalize the whole story." A lot was missed, he said.
"There was no oversight. No one knew who was in charge, seriously. Command Responsibility was not followed," he said. Command Responsibility is a doctrine used for war crimes that states a commander is responsible for the actions of those he is commanding. Command Responsibility, developed in the early 1900s, has been used in World Wars I and II, the Vietnam War and countless other incidents, but not Abu Ghraib.
"When this was brought up in the trials, the judge simply wouldn't allow it," Mestrovic said. A military court marshal is very different from a civilian trial and the judge has the greatest power. "Instead, they said unlawful orders should be recognized by the low ranking soldiers. It just didn't make any sense," he said.
Neither Gen. Janice Karpinski, head of the prison system in Iraq, nor Col. Thomas Pappas, head of military personnal at Abu Ghraib, were held responsible for the actions of their subordinates. In fact, there was no higher authority telling the low ranking soldiers that what they were doing was wrong but there were orders coming from officers such as Pappas, to "soften up" the prisoners before interrogation, Mestrovic said.
"The word torture gives the idea of the soldiers getting up in the morning and saying, 'Who are we going to torture today?' Instead it was superior officers telling the soldiers that if they didn't do their jobs, that if they didn't get the information they needed, more Americans we're going to die."
The media painted an inaccurate and misconstrued picture of the whole scandal, Mestrovic said. "The media was obsessed with torture. The word torture was never even used in the trials. The reporters would come for an hour or two, leave before lunch, and sensationalize the whole story." A lot was missed, he said.
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