Maybe front lines are here, not in Baghdad

[bobbieinok]

http://www.joebageant.com/joe/2006/04/maybe_front_lin.html

Maybe front lines are here, not in Baghdad
Hi Joe,

I am going to tell you my story, but I am going to do so in context of one of your essays -- the one on Lynndie England, "The Girl with the Leash". I grew up in Cumberland, Maryland, home of the Military Police unit at Abu Ghraib. My first job 30 years ago was as a civilian clerk at the Air Force recruiter signing up our young men and women.

Going in the Armed Forces was a way for the boys to have a safe transition from childhood to adulthood all under the watchful eyes of their sergeant. The military was very much seen as in loco parentis -- the father figure -- stern but, someone who still watched out for you. A way to get out and see the world. A way to better yourself, if not college, at least, getting a trade under your belt -- worth something back in the days when this country actually made stuff. I don't know what transferable skill the military is gonna teach now that the big employer is Wal-Mart. Somehow, friendly greeting and marksmanship don't have a ready connection.

....

Soldiers from Cumberland are no stranger to Muslims. During the Bosnian War, we took in a number of folks from that war-torn region to be fitted with prosthetics at our hospital. Our local Red Cross visited these folks, gave them gifts and help them keep in contact with their families and worked through channels with other hospitals in Bosnia. That MP unit was deployed to Bosnia at a town that was the focal point of ethnic cleansing. So our boys know what horrible and perverted sexual torments the two sides inflicted on each other. Their job was to stop it. The MP unit's particular job in Bosnia was manning checkpoints and searching people as they crossed. They managed to do this without offending men or women. In fact, if you look in one of the military magazines that covered the unit, there are quotes stating how important showing respect to the civilians was and that included respect for Muslims. The MPs deployed to Baghdad six months after their tour in Bosnia.

The largest employer in Cumberland is the state prison. Many of the MPs worked at the state prison. They knew how to run a jail decently.

There is no excuse for what happened. What I think happened is this: Someone told them to treat the prisoners harshly because it would "Save American Lives". So some of the troops believed what they were told. They were protecting the rest of us. This administration preyed on the patriotism of our young people and made them forget who they were and what they stood for.

Although it cannot compare with the pain and suffering of the Iraqis who were tortured and their families, what happened at Abu Ghraib impacts my home town. These boys and girls are coming home some day and will be someone's son/daughter, mother/father, husband/wife. What kind of people do you think they have turned into? Can you really go from doing all these horrible things and then be a normal member of society? I don't think so. The rates of mental illness, family breakdown, abuse, alcoholism and drug addiction will go up. Unfortunately, it is not just the ex-soldiers who will suffer, but their families, friends, coworkers and employers. The problems of the nearest and dearest of these soldiers will spill onto other innocents as well. There is a certain percentage of Cumberland that is closing ranks around our soldiers excusing their actions. Where evil is not acknowledged and truths are not spoken or rationalized, there evil will continue.

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Given the cuts in spending by the Veterans Administration, there will be no one to pick up the pieces. This is not a wealthy area so a lot of the working people have no health insurance. We just dont have the resources to deal with the fall out from Abu Ghraib.

more....

[Erika]

1. The hidden costs of war

It amazes me that W brags about increasing VA benefits by 4 to 5% each year. It amazes me that he's not questioned as to the need now with his wars of much more than 4 to 5%. Instead, he wishes to claim credit for such a paltry "increase".