August 28, 2023
“Integrity First” is the fundamental core value of the U.S. Air
Force. Two other core values speak to “service before self” and “excellence in
all we do.” But integrity remains the wellspring, and it’s the U.S. military’s
stunning lack of integrity that has cost the American people and indeed the
world so dearly over the last half-century.
Tonkin Gulf. My Lai. The Pentagon Papers. WMD in Iraq. Abu
Ghraib. The Afghan War Papers. So many instances of “official” lies and
distortions. So many lost wars where no senior officers were ever held
accountable. Put up, shut up, fuck up, cover up, move up, seems to be the
operating manual for success.
Last September, I wrote an article for TomDispatch: “Something
is rotten in the U.S. military.” I suggested that integrity was now optional in
that military, that lies and dishonor plagued America’s war machine. Evidently,
those lies, that dishonor, is working just fine for the Pentagon as its budget
continues to soar.
These thoughts occurred to me yet again as I read Seymour
Hersh’s retrospective account of Major General Antonio (Tony) Taguba’s
withering investigation of torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib in Iraq. Taguba,
a man of integrity, conducted an official – and honest – investigation of
torture and mistreatment at Abu Ghraib; his reward for his honesty, his
service, his excellence was not a commendation and promotion but threats,
ostracism, and the death of his career as an Army officer.
Sy Hersh’s article captures the rot at the core of the Pentagon
and the U.S. government. Here Hersh speaks recently to Taguba:
[Taguba] “I was not a whistleblower. I knew I was in trouble
when I was given the assignment [to investigate abuse at Abu Ghraib], but when
you see those photos what can you do? I was a dead man walking.
“The kids were trained as traffic cops and then were told to
transport [Iraqi] detainees. That’s how they got to Abu Ghraib. They weren’t
trained for that but they had vehicles and rifles, just undisciplined kids with
incompetent leadership and they were on the list to go home. They had all their
equipment packed in Kuwait and ready to be shipped. And then they were told to
stay behind.”
I [Hersh] asked: Would he do it again? “Sure,” Tony [Taguba]
said, “I was hamstrung by the thirty days I had to investigate. I do not think
I fulfilled my mission. [Secretary of Defense Donald] Rumsfeld was blaming the
soldiers, but underneath they had no operational plan” for dealing with the
prisoners.
“In hindsight, there was nothing I did to compromise my
integrity. But integrity in the military and elsewhere is a bumper sticker.
There is no reward for telling the truth.” [Emphasis added]
“There is no reward for telling the truth” in the U.S. military.
That statement by retired General Taguba should move all Americans to take
action against a military that has so clearly and tragically lost its way.
One suggestion: Cut the Pentagon budget in half and insist that
it must pass a financial audit else forfeit all taxpayer funding. That might
wake up a few generals and admirals.
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