It seems Joe Galloway has made his comment on Abu Ghraib. We all know at least a little bit about him from the movie We were soldiers.

For those who do not read articles, I will summarize. Last week, an Army Captain's story on detainee abuse came to light. This Captain made numerous attempts to get clarification on the Geneva Convention and the abuse of Iraqi prisoners. It seems no one gave a damn.

Galloway blames the higherups for the abuse and gives them hell for punnishing the lower ranks while leaving the upper echlon alone. I will quote the last part of his column because it's pretty good

There have been 17 separate investigations of Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and other prisoner abuse scandals. All have gone straight to the bottom of every case. All have consistently claimed that no one higher up the chain of command, including the civilian leadership in the Pentagon, bears any responsibility for any of this.

Hogwash. BS. Nonsense.

If the lowest private fails, then others have failed in training, leading and directing that private. The chain runs from sergeant to lieutenant to captain to lieutenant colonel to colonel to one, two, three and four stars, on to the longest serving, most arrogant secretary of defense in our history, Donald H. Rumsfeld, and beyond him to the commander in chief, President Bush.

It's long past time for responsibility to begin flowing uphill in this administration. It's time for our leaders to take responsibility for what's being done in all our names and under our proud flag. It's time for Congress to do its job if the administration won't do its job.

Here is a link to the rest for those who take the time to read

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/12764664.htm

Well, I personally agree with Mr. Galloway's statements about who is responsible, and Knight Ridder is a fairly respectable news source.

I agree with what I read in your post. I am a USMC NCO. I am held responsible for my troops actions due to lack of leadership or instruction to them from me.


Today is a good example. They were told to be at the gym for PT at 0600. I did not see any of them until 0610. I failed to be specific in saying that I wanted to see each and every face by or before 0600. This will now change of course as I plan to hold a formation before we secure to the gym just to prevent this from happening again. But the point remains that they were given vague instruction. So although I would have been within my rights to counsel them, it still would have been a bit unfair because I did not give them specific instruction.

This also is a good spot to point out that when given a simple freedom such as self responsibility, and interpreting the spirit of the instruction, some people will stretch the limits to an almost breaking point.

Not all the higher ups escaped. Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski lost her star and was demoted to Colonel. Her career is effectively over and she's been disgraced. She was in charge. Ultimately the responsibility lies with her.

http://www.military.com/NewsContent/...l?ESRC=army.nl

we have 8 soldiers who have been Court-Marshalled and one General demoted.

What about the Platoon Sergeant, the First Sergeant, the Platoon Leader, the Company Commander, the Battalion Commander...?

It does seem a bit odd that no one else has faced severe punishment. I mean a letter of reprimand is not fitting for the types of crap that has gone on.

Far be it from me to suggest that General Karpinski was the perfect scapegoat for busting a higher up AND someone who everyone would simply shake their heads over and move on, . . . but, hey, I just did.