The Chris Moeller Archives

Working for peace

It is now officially open season on U.S. Prisoners of War and American soldiers serving in conflict. Our Commander-in-Chief and other high-ranking military personnel have unconscionably failed to deliver swift and decisive punishment against the American terrorists of Abu Ghraib, and thus sent the message to the world that torture is American military policy.

On April 22, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the former top U.S. commander in Iraq, and three other senior officers, were completely exonerated by the military brass for their roles in the prison abuse case. Defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, despite widespread reports of detainee abuse from Iraq to Afghanistan to Guantanamo Bay, and the fact that he's being sued in international court for abandoning the U.S.'s "deep-rooted prohibition against torture," still sits comfortably in his position.

Even the scapegoats are getting off. Today, Brigadier General Janis Karpinski escaped with a demotion in rank from President Bush, despite having commandeered the Military Police brigade that wiped their ass with the articles of the Geneva Convention and the U.S. Constitution at Abu Ghraib.
No prison sentence. No dishonorable discharge. Karpinski will now have to go through life as a United States army reserve colonel, rather than a one-star reserve general.
The army also claims to have taken disciplinary action against 22 other officers, but refused to identify them or the specific punishments. Five officers, none ranked higher than captain, faced unspecified criminal charges, but most of this discipline was administrative punishment, such as a formal letter of reprimand or a general discharge from service.

Strangely, the best news of the day for human-rights-loving Americans may have come by way of a surprising mistrial in the high profile prosecution of the leash-fetished buck private, Lynndie England. The mistrial does not mean England can go free. The judge rejected her guilty plea and acknowledged other notorious evidence in the case. Legal experts say the ruling could undermine Rumsfeld's assertion that the prison scandal was solely the fault of a small group of enlisted soldiers.
Meanwhile, 80 more Iraqis are dead in insurgent attacks since Wednesday, more than 200 this week.

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The election in Britain should provide some comfort for Ralph Nader supporters in the U.S., who have advocated, above all, an independent political voice outside the two-headed pro-war duopoly in Washington. Though only half a million Americans voted against the pro-war Republicans and Democrats last November, peace-loving Britons sent a strong anti-war message Thursday. Though they weren't able to evict the warmongers from power, they reduced Tony Blair's majority in the 646-seat parliament by almost 100 seats. Conservatives gained 44 seats, but the Liberal Democratic party gained a handful, to rise past 50 seats in the chamber.
Progressives can take solace in the fact that somewhere, someone is doing things right. Prime Minister Blair, it would appear, was made to answer for the legal advice and false pretense by which he took his country to war. Some observers believe he may be so politically hobbled that he will have to resign before finishing his term. Whereas, the U.S. opposition party offered up a mirrored image of the incumbent, and now has no moral principle in Iraq on which to stand.

posted by CM @ 11:01 PM