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Abuse Raises Hard Questions

Recently, we've seen further details of the torture of Iraqi detainees by both British and American soldiers. That these people were tortured seems undeniable, and there seems little reason to doubt that the soldiers held responsible were involved. However, there are hard questions that are not being asked on either side of the Atlantic. Even if you don't believe there was a policy of using torture, the chain of command exists not just to relay orders to the lowest ranks, but also to ensure that those orders are obeyed.

The chain of command needs to be investigated here. Even the levels of abuse that have been exposed cannot possibly have occurred without others knowing of it. The direct superior of the soldiers currently on trial had a responsibility to know. The question is what was known and when? What action was taken? If ignorance is claimed, how is that possible? Are the answers credible?

A soldier who does not follow orders - including standing orders and regulations - is a danger to himself and those around him. The chain of command exists to enforce that very discipline. Those in Iraq are professional soldiers serving in a volunteer army, not draftees. They are used to that discipline. The level of disobedience currently being documented cannot occur without the failure of the chain of command. At what level did the chain of command fail? And was that failure willful or incompetent? When those questions have been asked, maybe then we'll see the people truly responsible for these attrocities on trial.

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