The United States' great shame

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Caught in the crossfire: a father carries his wounded daughter to a medevac helicopter in Afghanistan. Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty Images

The first book, The Untold War , is written by Nancy Sherman, professor of ethics at Georgetown University. The book draws on the works of philosophers such as Aristotle, Seneca, Shakespeare, Kant and Aquinas in order to submit such issues as the global war on terror – as a just war – along with the interrogation and torture of detainees and the killing of combatants and civilians alike to rigorous ethical audit.

www.irishtimes.com...

JOSHUA PHILLIP’S book, None of Us Were Like This Before , confirms this apparent institutionalisation of cruelty and torture. The book explodes the myth of US troops as “noble warriors” on the battlefield. Phillips, a New York-based journalist, spent three years investigating the deaths and apparent suicides of a number of soldiers from Battalion 1-68 of the US 4th Infantry Division – one of the first army units to invade Iraq. In interviews with soldiers from this unit, Phillips became aware that US troops routinely interned tens of thousands of Iraqi and Afghan civilians in rudimentary holding centres at remote forward operating bases (FOBs) during constant cordon and sweep operations.

www.irishtimes.com...

Despite the fact that official US figures show that between 75 and 90 per cent of those interned and detained were perfectly innocent, up to 98 per cent of those arrested were forwarded for interrogation to infamous prisons, such as Abu Ghraib, in Iraq, and Bagram Airbase, in Afghanistan.

www.irishtimes.com...

Nothing of any intelligence value was gained from the culture of torture that Phillips describes. Indeed, Admiral Alberto Mora, the US navy’s senior legal counsel, reported to the US Senate defence committee hearings of June 2008 that the widespread “torture and cruelty” by US troops in the field was “contrary to US interests”.

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We have already forgotten about the innocent people that were tortured, we are that arrogantly and shameless.

Phillips concludes that the torturers themselves suffered PTSD as a result of the abuse they inflicted on their innocent victims

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To end the article, the Irishtimes brings a quote:

As one such soldier wrote: “What up Dawg – We tortured the # out of some prisoners . . . burned them with cigarettes and . . . mind f**ked them.”

www.irishtimes.com...

Has anyone noticed how we have forgotten?

Are we that naive to think that the diversion of attention don't work?

We have fallen again, and we didn't even know it/

Do we think these cases of cruelty, murder, torture, massacre are not important, that they are the past and doesn't happen anymore therefore no accountability is required?

We have forgotten about accountability, as long as we forget, this will continue.

Originally posted by oozyism
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Caught in the crossfire: a father carries his wounded daughter to a medevac helicopter in Afghanistan. Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty Images

Yep.
"Caught in the crossfire: a father carries his wounded daughter to a medevac helicopter in Afghanistan ...

... Escorted/Protected by a Coalition soldier.

No contextual aside Nor circumstantial elaboration ... just The United States' great shame opening and Title based on what? - a random photo. (?)

Now, that's not to say that atrocities of war do not occur.

It's just to mention that what Some, such as your apparent and/or incessant self, either perceive or wishfully desire to be truth be told .... isn't always the case - neither theatre Nor involvement-wide.

As for the Many quotes used to support said claims, unstated or unmentioned baseless assertions .... there's a plethora of such which more accurately demonstrate a direct opposition to the same.

Factual reporting is One thing ... Resorting to the same or similar baseless, irrelevant, and without foundation assertions as the mainstream media? ...

only works for the 6 o'clock SnewZe crowd.

I would think our great shame was being taken over by liberal, apologist, enablers.
People die in war, it's a fact of life, on both sides.
Yet another star and flag fest ani American thread.........come on, come up with something origional, we got it aleady, America bad, the rest of the world good.

the peak of our civilized world,technology and intelligence.

reply to post by oozyism

Do we think these cases of cruelty, murder, torture, massacre are not important, that they are the past and doesn't happen anymore therefore no accountability is required?

No, but has this 12 year old kid who violently cut the head off an adult thought about that?



Remember there are two sides. Looking through your posts shows me you see otherwise. Yes war sucks. Yes, I don't agree with it. But to put the blame on one country which you obviously continually do, is just silly. Just like this thread!

Nope, they be fighting for our freedoms!

*sarcasm*

I think the US readers have been angered by the title of the thread and not looked at the links, they are a depressing bunch of reads and do indeed reveal a great shame, many many by the US's own admission have been killed and tortured for myths and lies to no real ends.

As an aside I have watched a few documentaries on the BBC recently and A HUGE ISSUE is the total CRAPPNESS of the interpreters who go out with the troops on patrol, bordering on criminal fraud perpetrated by the companies the US army pays for the service.

In one example a village headman told the troops everything about the enemy they wanted to know, he was no Taliban supporter, the interpreter who couldn't speak the local lingo, as was proved by the BBC interpreter, said " he claims there are no Talibs around here", The US troop leader turned away disgusted by the head mans apparent two faced lying and said I" I hate these f****** liars.

This is a MAJOR scandal and the cause of huge numbers of civi deaths and a Huge contributory factor in the attitudes of the troops who naively trust the words of their HIGHLY paid interpreters.