Abu Ghraib

Soldiers Magazine, April, 2005 by Thomas P. Murt

HEIKE Hasenauer's November article on Abu Ghraib Prison and the abuses that took place there was excellent!

The Soldiers who were tried and convicted deserve their sentences, since they committed serious crimes. These Soldiers do not, however, deserve to be made into scapegoats for failed policies, poor leadership, appalling prison management and ineffective policy makers. By laying blame for this scandal on some unfortunate and ill-trained enlisted Soldiers, the Army and the Pentagon successfully protect those higher up in the chain of command who should have stopped what was happening at Abu Ghraib, who ordered the abuses, who never properly trained the Soldiers serving as guards, or who were not aware of what was occurring in that prison, but should have been.

There is no possible way that prisoner abuses of this magnitude could possibly have taken place without the acquiescence of higher headquarters, or the dereliction of duty by senior leaders who did not notice what was happening in Abu Ghraib.

SSG Thomas P. Murt via e-mail