America gone Awry

Anyone who has picked up a newspaper, seen the news on TV, or listened to the radio is well aware of the big story in the media these days - Torture and abuse inflicted upon our declared enemies during the past 7 years by either civilian, or military citizens of the United States of America.

When photos were made public of the abuses suffered by prisoners at Abu Ghraib at the hands of a few of our soldiers, the world - including a majority of Americans - were shocked and repulsed that this type of treatment would take place. After the firestorm that initially transpired however, a few lower ranking NCO's were assigned all the blame and received punishment for their hand in these inhumane acts. No one in the upper ranks of the military nor the civilians above them so much as received an admonition. Instead, "The Brass" were able to slough off the blame to a few rogue soldiers, acting on their own. Such is the way of life too often in our world. The guys in the upper echelon get away with murder, while the poor everyday saps do the time.

As a boy, I was taught certain things. Play by the rules. Obey your elders. Do as you're told. And, America is different from the rest of the countries in the world. We (America) operate from a higher set of standards. That, in a nutshell, is what separated us from the rest. It was continually driven home to us - even in the movies, or TV shows we watched as youngsters. The TV Show, "Superman" even spouted words like "Truth, Justice, and The American Way". And we knew for certain that while the evil Japanese Empire that John Wayne was fighting might torture our servicemen, neither the Duke, nor any American would ever stoop so low.

When I grew older and became a member of the U.S. Marine Corps, this was reinforced to me during training at Boot Camp, and later during Infantry Training - which ALL Marines must complete, regardless of what their Individual Military Occupational Specialty might be. As time went on, and the "conflict" in Viet Nam continued for years, we found out that, just like the Japanese and North Koreans before them, the Viet Cong employed torture to our brave troops. Yet America refused to succumb to these methods of psychological and physical intimidation. Neither our Military, nor our civilian leaders would ever sanction this type of behavior. It was simply not the American way.

In fact, during World War II, we prosecuted both Japanese and American troops for the use of today's soup du jour - Waterboarding. It is a mystery to me why some people now are claiming that it is not torture, when for hundreds of years it has indeed been considered so. It was a war crime then, but not now? When we participated in - and were, in fact, a major player, in the establishment of the Geneva Convention rules which, of course, prohibit the use of such extraordinary methods - a few temporary elected office holders simply decide they can ignore those same rules?

I don't know whether it's right to go after - prosecute - high ranking officials (or the legal beagles who wrote the complicit memos to please their bosses) of the former administration or not. My gut instinct tells me not, as it will further divide our country into the partisan mess it's gone deeply into over the past 20 years. But, who knew what, who authorized, and, who did what should be known if for no other reason than to prevent these travesties from happening again.

America needs to become the country it used to be. One that did operate with a higher standard. One that everyone looked up to. One that didn't attempt to justify the means by an end whose results are skeptical. One that young boys can again say, with pride, "My country is Different. My Country doesn't torture", and, most importantly, know that when they say it, it is true.

Old Fart Mike