Abu Ghraib

According to this article from Reuters, six officers involved in the atrocities at Abu Ghraib prison have been given written reprimands, and a seventh got a less serious written admonishment for their abuses. According to the same article, six regular soldiers are the subject of criminal investigations that will likely result in courts-martial.

I do not understand why the regular soldiers are subject to courts-martial, but the officers are not. This appears to be selective prosecution, trying to make it appear as though the abuses are not systemic, but rather the work of a few deranged, sick individuals. I do not deny that that is the case, but I do not think these are just isolated events. It does not do to conceal what has happened in Abu Ghraib. There should be a full-blown, public investigation, with no rock left unturned. I realize that this seems fairly obvious, but the Bush administration does not think so. They want to just blame the grunts, quietly dismiss the officers, and move on. (The reprimands will probably result in the termination of the offending officers careers, but without the public humiliation that the regular soldiers are going to receive.) I am not saying this because I do not think the regular soldiers derserve to be court-martialed; they should be. Rather, I say this because I think that the officers deserve to be court-martialed as well. If the officers ordered or tolerated the abuse of prisoners, then they are just as responsible as those who actually committed the abuse.

Robert