Red, 311,

I would have somewhat agreed with you at the time, at least about Abu Ghraib. I was bothered at the time that the senior NCO and the company CO were on the scene for some of the Action. The CC, Capt. Brinson, wrote him a counseling slip telling him "you are doing a fine job .... helping us succeed at our mission." Medics were there, treating the prisoners when things went too far. Lawyers from the JAG Corps visited the cellblock and witnessed what was going on.

There was a chain of command and it didn't go through Graner's unit CO, General Karpinski. According to Karpinski, Garner's wing of the prison was under the control of military intelligence. MI was reporting direct somewhere else.

Well when I was in the service they used to say "**** rolls downhill." It sure did in that case. I Just don't like to see it happen.

But here's the thing that really bothers me: You tell me why all those men and women couldn't figure out they were doing something wrong, and why they wouldn't just refuse to be a part of it. Maybe there were troops that DID refuse and got sent off to some unit where they had to do foot patrols in Anwar province. Who knows?

jn