Abu Ghraib: Bigger than a Mere Scandal

Voice of the Grunt - Systemic Problems

Buried in the 53-page report, and obscured by the news media’s fascination with the gruesome photographs of MPs assaulting and humiliating Iraqi males, are a number of findings that portray the U.S. military in Iraq and Army support commands back in the United States as clearly derelict in their duty to ensure that soldiers abide by the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the Geneva Conventions and the Law of Land Warfare.

There was no clear delineation of responsibility between commands, little coordination at the command level, and no integration of the two functions. Coordination occurred at the lowest possible levels with little oversight by commanders.

That’s probably how the CIA managed to stash their infamous “ghost detainees” – prisoners whose whereabouts were unlogged and identities cloaked – inside a U.S. Army facility.

This appalling incident does more than undercut the progress of our mission in Iraq. For years, people familiar with the U.S. military have decried the gap between actual capabilities and the unceasing mission overstretch battering a force slashed by 40 percent after the end of the Cold War. For years, compliant military commanders have covered up the worsening situation with adjectives and adverbs.

What Tagabu’s report shows us in unrelenting candor is that the critics were right: the U.S. military is in danger of coming apart at the seams. A scandal such as Abu Ghraib is merely how it plays out.

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el - While the US military budget is becoming unbelievably large, the number of troops and support for those troops keep shrinking. Troops don't make those political contributions like the military contractors.