POLITICAL JUSTICE IN POW CASE :Soldier serves as scapegoat

[jbfam4]

POLITICAL JUSTICE IN POW CASE
Soldier serves as scapegoat in Iraq prison scandal while higher-ups duck responsibility

BY PETER MAGUIRE
Peter Maguire, author of "Law and War: An American Story," has taught at Columbia University and Bard College. He was the historical adviser for the documentary, "Nuremberg: A Courtroom Drama."

January 13, 2005

http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vpmag134112751jan13,0,6477635.story?coll=ny-viewpoints-headlines

While the accused Abu Ghraib ringleader, Army Spc. Charles Graner Jr., provides a tempting scapegoat for the widening American POW abuse scandal, no legitimate investigation can stop short of the White House and the Pentagon.

The Graner case looks certain to test the limits of the "Nuremberg defense" of superior orders. It is time for the civilian policy-makers in the White House and Pentagon, those who ordered American soldiers to flout the Geneva Conventions, to be held accountable.

Unlike the Nuremberg trials that moved up the chain of command to try policy-makers and leaders, the cases of Graner and six other defendants charged separately in the Abu Ghraib affair represent little more than primitive political justice. Graner's lawyer, Guy Womack, has said he will attempt "to hold the order givers to higher standards" by invoking the "Nuremberg" defense: "Our entire case will resolve around obedience to orders." But it is unlikely that the "superior-orders defense" will fare any better in this Army court martial than it did at Nuremberg.

The Bush administration deserves full blame for the prisoner abuses and ensuing public-relations fiasco. Throughout the "war on terror," the FBI, the CIA and professional soldiers have both privately and publicly raised objections about the American treatment of prisoners. The Bush administration ignored those they did not mock as "soft" on terror.

[Sandpiper]

1. I dislike the term "scapegoat"

As it implies innocence on the part of the person who is taking the blame.

Pawn is a better description, as it describes a willing but not very powerful participant.

[Spinzonner]

2. When it comes to Officers - especially senior - and the UCMJ

It's like Animal Farm:

All animals are created equal but some are more equal than others.

They protect their own and screw the enlisted.