SFTT Role in Uncovering Abu Ghraib Abuses

[MORTARDUDE]

http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/c...=viewone&id=12

05-12-2004

SFTT Role in Uncovering Abu Ghraib Abuses



The past few weeks we were all very astounded and disgusted by the pictures and tales of abuse coming out of Iraq with regard to our U.S. forces and the treatment of Iraqi prisoners. On Friday, May 7th, the Secretary of Defense and Commander of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were hauled before two congressional committees to answer questions of accountability in this sordid scandal. On Tuesday, May 11th, General Antonio Taguba was testifying before congress regarding his report ? the ?15-6 Report? ? and his findings.

Now for the real bombshell; SFTT's website provided the conduit for the key contact when William Lawson, the uncle of one on the MP's facing charges, and a retired USAF Master Sergeant, contacted Roger Charles who was working as a consultant with 60 Minutes II. Roger had placed a request for information about the involuntary discharge of four Reservists from the 320th MP Battalion on the SFTT web site. An automatic response link went straight to Charles.

Information provided by Lawson and follow-up contacts allowed the CBS production team to develop additional information about the 372nd MP Company, the 320th MP Battalion and the 800th MP Brigade. The subsequent intensive investigation produced the 60 Minutes II program seen on April 28 that exposed the abuses at Abu Ghraib, including the now historical photographs.

It should be noted that 60 Minutes II had been working on this story for over a month prior to Lawson's initial contact via the SFTT web site. CBS had received a tip from a source in Kuwait in February, but the information was too general for quick exploitation. Two 60 Minutes II producers traveled to Kuwait in March and obtained more details from this source, but the CBS investigation remained stalled until Lawson turned to David Hackworth's SFTT website and made contact with Charles and the 60 Minutes II team.

We have had access to certain of the documentation the Fredericks and Mr. Lawson used to communicate their concerns for their son and nephew. No fewer than fifteen government officials were contacted earlier in the year seeking help in finding out the status of SSgt. Ivan F. Frederick, USA. The letters themselves are pleas for intervention in finding out what their son is potentially being charged with and directly alerts the reader to the point that SSgt. Frederick was concerned, early on in his assignment at the prison, that there were no written instructions or directives for his unit. Those contacted by the Frederick family are:

Jack Reed (D) RI
Robert Byrd (D) WV
Evan Bayh (D) IN
Edward Kennedy (D) MA
Hillary Clinton (D) NY
Daniel Akaka (D) HI
Paul Sarbanes (D) MD
Gov. Mark Warner (D) VA Mark Dayton (D) MN
William Nelson (D) FL
Mark Pryor (D) AR
Benjamin Nelson (D) NE
Joseph Lieberman (D) CT
Roscoe Bartlett (R) MD
John ?Jay? D. Rockefeller (D) WV

On April 25, 1996 former Navy Secretary James Webb gave a speech at the Naval Academy on the occasion of the Naval Institute?s Annual Conference. He received a standing ovation from the midshipmen in attendance. I offer this ending excerpt as words of inspiration for the U.S. Army and what we, at SFTT, see as a crisis in leadership:

?If the Navy is to regain its soul and its respect, the answer lies in the right kind of leaders, at every level of command. Leaders who understand that the seemingly arcane concepts of tradition, loyalty, discipline and moral courage have carried the Navy through cyclical turbulence in peace and war; leaders who are imbued with a solemn duty to preserve sacrosanct ideals and pass them on to succeeding generations; leaders who know that this obligation transcends their own importance, and must outlast their individual careers; leaders with the courage to articulate the inviability of these ideals to the political process; leaders who will never allow a weakening of these ideals in exchange for self-preservation.

It is time to give the Navy back to such leaders. There can be no more important task over the next few years. Without officers who will defend the Navy?s culture and take decisive action when it is needed, there will be nothing but continuing chaos. With them, as they have shown throughout the Navy?s history, no challenge is too great, and anything is possible.?

James Webb

SFTT is dedicated to the leadership ideals Mr. Webb expresses here so eloquently, but apparently the U.S. Army is not. A quote from New Yorker columnist Sy Hersh?s latest column reads as follows:

Ryder may have protected himself, but Taguba did not. ?He?s not regarded as a hero in some circles in the Pentagon,? a retired Army major general said of Taguba. ?He?s the guy who blew the whistle, and the Army will pay the price for his integrity. The leadership does not like to have people make bad news public.?

In our view the Army has a very big problem if integrity is viewed as a threat.

Robert L. McMahon
President
Soldiers For The Truth
http://www.sftt.org