The American Military's Cult of Cruelty (Robert Fisk)

[laststeamtrain]

The American Military's Cult of Cruelty

By ROBERT FISK

In the week that George Bush took to fantasising that his blood-soaked "war on terror" would lead the 21st century into a "shining age of human liberty" I went through my mail bag to find a frightening letter addressed to me by an American veteran whose son is serving as a lieutenant colonel and medical doctor with US forces in Baghdad. Put simply, my American friend believes the change of military creed under the Bush administration--from that of "soldier" to that of "warrior"--is encouraging American troops to commit atrocities.

From Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo to Bagram, to the battlefields of Iraq and to the "black" prisons of the CIA, humiliation and beatings, rape, anal rape and murder have now become so commonplace that each new outrage is creeping into the inside pages of our newspapers. My reporting notebooks are full of Afghan and Iraqi complaints of torture and beatings from August 2002, and then from 2003 to the present point. How, I keep asking myself, did this happen? Obviously, the trail leads to the top. But where did this cult of cruelty begin?

So first, here's the official US Army "Soldier's Creed", originally drawn up to prevent anymore Vietnam atrocities:

"I am an American soldier.

I am a member of the United States Army--a protector of the greatest nation on earth. Because I am proud of the uniform I wear, I will always act in ways creditable to the military service and the nation that it is sworn to guard ...

No matter what situation I am in, I will never do anything for pleasure, profit or personal safety, which will disgrace my uniform, my unit or my country.

I will use every means I have, even beyond the line of duty, to restrain my Army comrades from actions, disgraceful to themselves and the uniform.

I am proud of my country and it's flag.

I will try to make the people of this nation proud of the service I represent for I am an American soldier."

Now here's the new version of what is called the "Warrior Ethos":

I am an American soldier.

I am a warrior and a member of a team. I serve the people of the Unites States and live the Army values.

I will always place the mission first.

I will never accept defeat.

I will never quit.

I will never leave a fallen comrade.

I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills. I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.

I am an expert and I am a professional. I stand ready to deploy, engage and destroy the enemies of the United States of America in close combat. I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.

I am an American soldier.

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http://www.counterpunch.org/fisk09162006.html

[Monkeyman]

1. When they lowered the standards

When the Chain of Command broke down. We Soldiers lived and died by that creed. Our military under dubba is no longer the same as our fathers and mine. It broke down after My Lie and keep going after that. Now there are good men and women in the service but the bad make it look like they are all bad.
We most been to bring them home and fix the military now. Mission protect the homeland and not ever go back into a war based on lies. I as a soldier wish for no more wars. But that just a dream

[indepat]

2. Soldiers have little choice but to follow the orders of their commanders,

even their wishes.

[unhappycamper]

3. Not true.

From The Manual for Courts-Martial, 2005 Edition, page 158:

(d) Obedience to orders. It is a defense to any offense
that the accused was acting pursuant to orders
unless the accused knew the orders to be unlawful or
a person of ordinary sense and understanding would
have known the orders to be unlawful.

Discussion

Ordinarily the lawfulness of an order is finally decided by the
military judge. See R.C.M. 801(e). An exception might exist
when the sole issue is whether the person who gave the order in
fact occupied a certain position at the time.
An act performed pursuant to a lawful order is justified. See
subsection (c) of this rule. An act performed pursuant to an
unlawful order is excused unless the accused knew it to be unlawful
or a person of ordinary sense and understanding would have
known it to be unlawful.

[Monkeyman]

4. Sir I refuse that order it is Unlawful Sir

Remember to say Sir at the front and back. The let the Military sort it out. But it can be done

[indepat]

5. Is this what happens in the real world? Are there that many bad eggs

of their own volition?