The US Soldier Who Committed Suicide After She Refused To Take Part in Torture

[BridgeTheGap]

With each revelation, or court decision, on US torture in Iraq, Afghanistan and Gitmo -- or the airing this month of The Tillman Story and Lawrence Wright's My Trip to Al-Qaeda -- I am reminded of the chilling story of Alyssa Peterson, who died seven years ago this week. Appalled when ordered to take part in interrogations that, no doubt, involved what most would call torture, she refused, then killed herself a few days later, on September 15, 2003.

Of course, we now know from the torture memos and the US Senate committee probe and various press reports, that the "Gitmo-izing" of Iraq was happening just at the time Alyssa got swept up in it.

Spc. Alyssa Peterson was one of the first female soldiers who died in Iraq. Her death under these circumstances should have drawn wide attention. It's not exactly the Tillman case, but a cover-up, naturally, followed.

Peterson, 27, a Flagstaff, Ariz., native, served with C Company, 311th Military Intelligence BN, 101st Airborne. She was a valuable Arabic-speaking interrogator assigned to the prison at our air base in troubled Tal Afar in northwestern Iraq. According to official records, she died on Sept. 15, 2003, from a "non-hostile weapons discharge."

http://readersupportednews.org/off-site-news-section/122-122/3303-a-soldiers-choice-death-before-torture

[jgraz]

1. Just appalling how those who allegedly "support our troops" care so little for individual

service members -- especially when their own asses are on the line. :grr:

[stray cat]

2. Not participating in touter makes one mentally Ill?

That's the level of science correlation of single variables so popular on du....

It can be used to support unfavorable speculations as well

[jgraz]

3. No, but not supporting the party line in Iraq makes you likely to turn up dead.

Just ask Pat Tillman.

[formercia]

4. Suicide or Liquidation

Can't have any loose ends, can we?

[BridgeTheGap]

6. Say what? Who said this was a scientific study? n.t

[zeemike]

5. Criminals don't take kindly to whistle blowers.

So the question is whether they are criminals if they torture people....clearly they are and so if capable of one crime against people then eliminating a problem is easy for them.