The military scandal of Abu Ghraib, Iraq in 2004 was a huge disgrace for the United States Military in particular and the United States in general. What happened here was a complete breakdown of military command. Many US citizens responded with outrage; rightly so, however, the blame game went crazy and schizophrenic.
To understand what happened you must understand the psychology of what happens to men at war. These men could be your brother, husband or co-worker who was the nicest guy you ever met. Let me recount a little of my experience as a Vietnam Army veteran. I arrived in Vietnam on 6 May 1968, just after the Tet Offensive. After a week of temporary duty loading ammo at the Tan Son Nhut Airport in Saigon, I was assigned to the I Field Force headquartered in Nha Trang, on the Central coast of South Vietnam. I recall that the first thing I saw upon disembarking was a sign that read "Although I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for I am the evilest son of a bitch in the valley." This was an offensive perversion of Psalm 23 in the Bible. This saying was later discovered on Zippo cigarette lighters. Click here for a story in the NY Times. I looked at that sign and thought that I had just stepped into a very different world than what I had just left in the states.
After a few months in country I could see that some of my fellow soldiers acted like they were a law into themselves. An example. One night, after having a few drinks at a military club, a group of us were walking back to our barracks to pack it in for the night. Along the way one of the guys decided he wanted to grab a person riding along the road in his motorcycle and throw him off the bike. I challenged him and told him he was doing no such thing. I could not help but think that this type of mentality was scary. Who was to say that this person could not turn on anyone, including fellow soldiers? Many men at war act like the moral compass they grew up with did not apply to them in a war zone. Indeed, a few months prior to my arrival in Vietnam, the My Lai Massacre had occurred. Again, men at war who had lost their moral compass, and in this case, it included their commander, 2nd. Lt. William Calley. A second lieutenant is the lowest officer ranking. This commander, probably, had no, or very little, experience in war, or completely lost it. It was his responsibility to control his men; he failed. Understand, that it is difficult to assign blame here. No one knows what these men were reacting to. When you see your fellow soldier blown-up in front of you, or your best friend killed, you can snap and take out your rage on anyone. No one can understand this if they have not experienced it. War is hell, literally. Sometimes men snap, and some men snap at smaller things.
To understand what happened in Abu Ghraib, you have to understand that, in my opinion, it was a complete breakdown of military leadership and command. I'm referring to the commander of the prison. When you're in the military, your commander is in total charge. If you mess up, you will pay big, such as military disciple, which can include non-judicial punishment (Article 15) or judicial punishment. The commander is the king, dictator, overlord and whatever you want to call him. Military officers must keep a tight rein on everyone because if anyone screws up under their command, they pay the price also. Whatever happens in a military unit, the commander must answer to it. In some cases the commander can lose his command and his career is ruined.
What happened in Abu Ghraib was the responsibility of the commander, Brigadier General Janis Karpinski. The commander either failed to train her troops on what was expected of them or failed to monitor them; simple as that.
Before going to Vietnam, we were taught military tactics but no ethics, culture sensitivity, nothing. We had no idea of what to expect or how to act. This was a failure of the military itself. You cannot just send men into a war zone without training in ethics and culture sensitivity. Without this training everyone is on their own. I don't know if today's military does any culture or ethics training; my guess is that they do not, in light of Abu Ghraib.
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