the ghosts of abu ghraib

71 Pages·2007·1.78 MB·English

INSIDE: RIFLEMEN AND RESCUERS (cid:2) WHERE LIES
BECOME TRUE (cid:2) AUSTRALIA:51st STATE (cid:2) A PLAGUE
OF LAWYERS (cid:2) MARCHING TO NOWHERE (cid:2) & MORE
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W R I T I N G W O R T H R E A D I N G (cid:2) I S S U E 1 3 (cid:2) A P R I L 2 0 0 7
THE
GHOSTS
OF ABU
GHRAIB
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3. COVERSTORY– THEGHOSTSOFABUGHRAIB
BySamProvance
9. RIFLEMENANDRESCUERS
ByRebeccaSolnit
16 ADATEMRBLAIRSHOULDLOOKUP
ByRobertFisk
18. AWORLDWHERELIESBECOMETRUE
ByChrisHedges
22. WRONGQUESTION
ISSUE13|APRIL2007 ByYonatanMendel
Editor: 31. UNGRATEFULVICIOUSIRAQIS
TonySutton ByBarryLando
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35. MARCHINGTONOWHERE
Forafreesubscription ByDavidRubinson
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38. AUSTRALIA:THE51stSTATE
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45. WHATYOUDIDN’TKNOWABOUTTHECOLDWAR
ByWilliamBlum
52. PRINCEHARRYINBLUNDERLAND
ByFelicityArbuthnot
56. WHERE’SIRAQGOINGNOW?
ByTonyKaron
62. KANGAROOCOURTFINDSFIRSTVICTIM
ByAmyGoodman
64. BRINKMANSHIPINTHEGULF
ByVeteranIntelligenceProfessionalsforSanity
67. TWOFACESOFTHEWARONTERROR
ByBillVanAuken
2TheREADER|March2007
WITNESS TO TORTURE
THE GHOSTS
OF ABU GHRAIB
BY SAM PROVANCE
FormerArmySgt.SamProvancewasa For those of you who have not Ihadthe
herooftheAbuGhraibscandal,theonly heard of me, I am Sam Prov- misfortune
uniformedmilitaryintelligenceofficer ance.MycareerasanArmyser- ofbeingon
attheIraqiprisontotestifyaboutabuses geantcametoaprematureend thenightshift,
duringtheinternalArmyinvestigation. atage32aftereightyearsofdecorated sawdetainees
WhenherecognizedthatthePentagon service, because I refused to remain draggedinfor
wasscapegoatinglow-levelpersonnel, silentaboutAbuGhraib,whereIserved interrogation,
healsogaveaninterviewtoABCNews. forfivemonthsin2004attheheightof heardthe
Forrefusingtoplayalongwiththe theabuses. screams,
cover-up,Provancewaspunishedand Anoncommissionedofficerspecializ- andsaw
pushedoutoftheU.S.military.The ing in intelligence analysis, my job at manyofthem
Pentagonwentforwardwithitsplanto AbuGhraibwassystemsadministrator draggedout
pintheblameforthesadistictreatment (“the computer guy”). But I had the
ofIraqidetaineesonahandfulofpoorly misfortune of being on the night shift,
trainedMPs,notonthehigher-upswho sawdetaineesdraggedinforinterroga-
broughtthelessonsof“alternative tion,heardthescreams,andsawmany
interrogationtechniques”fromthe ofthemdraggedout.Iwassentbackto
GuatanamoBayprisontoAbuGhraib. myparentunitinGermanyshortlyaf-
TheCongress,thencontrolledbythe tertheArmybeganthefirstofitsmany
Republicans,promisedafuller self-investigations.
investigation.Provancesubmitteda InGermany,Ihadthesurrealexpe-
swornstatement.ButCongressnever rience of being interrogated by one of
followedthrough,leavingProvance the Army-General-Grand-Inquisitors,
hangingouttodry.Then,inFebruary Major General George Fay, who
2007,hewenttoaspecialscreeningof showedhimselfsingularlyuninterested
thedocumentary,“GhostsofAbu inwhatwentonatAbuGhraib.
Ghraib,”andlearnedmorethanhe I had to insist that he listen to my
expectedaboutwhythescandaldied eyewitness account, whereupon he
April2007|TheREADER3
WITNESS TO TORTURE
Imadeit threatenedpunitiveactionsagainstme then-DefenseSecretaryDonaldRums-
throughthe fornotcomingforwardsoonerandeven feld to produce the requested docu-
nexttwoand triedtoholdmepersonallyresponsible ments by July 14.I heard nothing fur-
ahalfyearsof forthescandalitself. ther.Iguessheforgot.IguessCongress
professional The Army then demoted me, sus- forgot,too.
limbo,applying pended my Top Secret clearance, and Thanks largely to a keen sense of
mycomputer threatenedmewithtenyearsinamil- justice and a good dose of courage on
skillstopicking itary prison if I asked for a court mar- thepartofprobonolawyersandcon-
uptrashand tial. I was even given a gag order,the gressionalaides,Imadeitthroughthe
performing onlyoneIknowtohavebeenissuedto next two and a half years of profes-
guardduty thosewhomGen.Fayinterviewed. sional limbo, applying my computer
But the fact that most Americans skillstopickinguptrashandperform-
know nothing of what I saw at Abu ingguardduty.Insteadofaprisonsen-
Ghraib,andthatmycareerbecamecol- tence, I was honorably discharged on
lateraldamage,sotospeak,hasnothing Oct.13,2006andbeganmystill-contin-
todowiththegagorder,whichturned uingsearchforaplacebackinthecivil-
out to be the straw that broke this ianworld.
sergeant’sback. ProducersforRoryKennedy’sdocu-
After seeing first-hand that the in- mentary Ghosts of Abu Ghraib were
vestigation wasn’t going to go any- amongthejournalistswhointerviewed
whereandthatnooneelseIknewfrom me–discreetly–inGermany.OnFeb.
the intelligence community was being 12,2007 I attended a screening of that
candid, I allowed myself to be inter- documentary. What happened there
viewedbyAmericanandGermanjour- bearstelling.
nalists. Sadly,you would have had to
Surreal Event
know German to learn the details of
whatIhadtosayatthattimeaboutthe Walking into the fancy government
abusesatAbuGhraib. buildingtoseethedocumentaryproved
Later, Republican Congressman to be a bizarre experience. Hardly in
ChristopherShays,whowasthenchair thedoor,Isawaoneoftheguestsshak-
of the House Subcommittee on Na- ing his head,saying in some wonder-
tional Security,Emerging Threats,and ment,“Theyoungwomanatthefront
International Relations, invited me to deskgreetedmewithacheerfulsmile;
testifyonFeb.14,2006,somysworntes- Abu Ghraib? she said.Right this way,
timony is on the public record. [See: please.”
www.humanrightsfirst.info/pdf/06214- Theatmospheredidseemmoreap-
usls-provance-statment.pdf] propriateforanartshowthanadocu-
On June 30, 2006, dissatisfied with mentaryontorture.Peopleweredres-
the Pentagon’s non-responsiveness to sedtothenines,heartilylaughing,and
requests for information on my situa- serverswithwhitegloveswerewalking
tion, the Committee on Government aboutwithwineandhorsd’oeuvres.
Reform issued a subpoena requiring Imanagedtofindoneotherperson
4TheREADER|April2007
WITNESS TO TORTURE
who was also in the film,former Gen. worriedImightnotmakeitthroughthe Sen.Graham
Janis Karpinski, with whom I shared screening, that I would break down begansaying
thedistinctionofhavingbeenreduced rightthere. thingsthat
inrankbecausewerefusedto“goalong Ironically, it was my anger at their Icouldn’tbelieve
togetalong.” plight that kept me composed.Every- Iwashearing.
Ihadwantedtotalktohereversince thinginthefilmwasalltoofamiliarto Hemadea
theabusesatAbuGhraibcametolight. me.The soldiers explaining they were complete
We’vebeenonthesamepagefromthe justfollowingtheordersoftheirsuper- 180-degreeturn
beginning.She seemed happy to meet visors;thehigher-upsvigorouslyshift- ontheissue
measwell,butsomanyotherswanted ing blame from themselves onto sol- oftorturefrom
herattentionthatseriousconversation diers of lesser rank – the whole nine whenIhad
wasdifficult. yards. spokentohim
Everyone shuffled into the theater AndtoseethoseIraqifacesagain– onthephone
andGen.Karpinski’sandmypresence thebrokenheartsandruinedlivesofin- notlongafter
therewasannouncedbrieflyduringthe nocentIraqicitizensdetained,abused, theAbuGhraib
introductions. I was pleasantly sur- tortured.Andthesystematiccover-up, scandalwas
prisedtohearthattheshowingwasto withtheArmyinvestigatingitselfover exposed
befollowedbyadiscussionledbySen. andoveragain,givingtheappearanceof
EdwardKennedy(whowastherefrom a“thorough”investigation.
the start) and Sen. Lindsey Graham Afterthefilm,SenatorsKennedyand
(who arrived only after the introduc- Grahamtookseatsonthestagetobe-
tions). gin their discussion.I was shocked to
Itwaslargelybecauseoftheinterest seeitdescendintoheateddebate.
that Sen.Kennedy took in the Army’s Sen. Graham began saying things
retaliation against me that I escaped that I couldn’t believe I was hearing.
the Army’s full wrath for truth telling. Hemadeacomplete180-degreeturnon
And Sen. Graham initially had ap- the issue of torture from when I had
proachedmewhenheheardofmysit- spoken to him on the phone not long
uation, not even realizing at the time after the Abu Ghraib scandal was ex-
that I was from South Carolina. So I posed.
waslookingforwardtowhatIexpected NowhewasportrayingAbuGhraib
would be an unusual bipartisan chal- asaplacewhereonlyahandfulofsol-
lengetothepracticeoftorture. diersresided(you’veheardofthem,the
so-called “rotten apples).” I felt be-
Flashback
trayed.
Whenthelightsdimmedandthedoc- Worsestill,theonlyofficerGraham
umentarystarted,Ibegantobeaffected saw fit to criticize (he assumed in ab-
moreemotionallythanIhadexpected. sentia)wasGen.Karpinski.Andhelaid
Itwasthewordsoftheothersoldiers itonthick,assertingforcefullythatshe
thattouchedmemostdeeply,because should have been court-martialed be-
I could relate to them; I knew those cause she was the reason things went
soldiers on one level or another.I got awry.
April2007 |TheREADER5
WITNESS TO TORTURE
Hedropped The senator argued that Karpinski professionally tortures somebody,and
abombshell (whowasresponsibleforoverseeing17 whatkindofmentalitywouldapprove
whenhebegan prisons with military police, most of of it? (I found myself almost wishing
defending whom had not been trained in deten- such people could hear the screams –
thepractice tion operations) should have driven almost,becauseIwouldnotwishthat
oftortureitself, from her headquarters to Abu Ghraib onmyworstenemy.)
usingthetorture forrandommiddle-of-the-nightchecks. The obvious answer is: Sadists.
ofKhalidSheikh Hethensawfittocontrastherbehav- Which is what the administration
Mohammed ior with what Graham described the called the military police in the infa-
asanexample duediligenceheexercisednightlyasan mousphotographs.Andwhatwasseen
Army lawyer in checking the “dormi- in them was small stuff compared to
tory.”(sic) whatelsehappened–andcontinuedto
Anyone who knows much about happen even after the abuses at Abu
Abu Ghraib knows that all kinds of Ghraibwereexposed.
Armybrasslivedandworkedthere,and Benjamin Thompson,a former U.S.
thatitwashosttovisitsbyformerDe- ArmyspecialistatAbuGhraib,hastold
fense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, his Reuters that exposure of the scandal
deputyPaulWolfowitz,U.S.pro-consul “basicallydivertedeveryone’sattention
Paul Bremer, Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, away from anything that was not in
Gen. Geoffrey Miller (in charge of thephotographs...aslongaswedidn’t
“Gitmo-izing Abu Ghraib), Gen. Bar- stack people and make pyramids, we
bara Fast,and even National Security weredoingagreatjob.”
CouncilfunctionaryFrancesTownsend. Thisremindsmeofmywonderment
They were all there. I don’t know at President George W. Bush’s public
how many,if any,saw fit to check the advocacylastfallofthe“alternative”in-
“dormitory.” terrogationproceduresinwhatclearly
isoneofhisfavoriteCIAprograms.Per-
Torture works?
haps better than others I can imagine
During the discussion/debate, Sen. whathasbeentuckedundertherubric
Grahamseemedtobespeakinginsup- of“alternative”techniques,thealleged
portofvirtuallyeverythingthatweop- successofwhichthePresidenthasad-
posed–andthathadbeenexposedin vertisedandhasbeenpickedupinthe
the documentary – throwing all rea- captivecorporatemedia.
son out the window. He dropped a AtonepointSen.Grahamaskedthe
bombshell when he began defending audience who among us considered
the practice of torture itself,using the ArmyspecialistJoeDarbyahero.Darby
tortureofKhalidSheikhMohammedas wastheonewhoinitiallygavetheAbu
an example.He cited the “good stuff” Ghraib photos to Army investigators.
gleanedfromtreatinghimthatway,as Pausing a few seconds, Graham used
iftosay,“itworks!” themomentarysilenceasacuetocon-
Thisraisedagainthequestioninmy tinuetalkingabouthowtheAmerican
mind about just what kind of person people really don’t care about torture.
6TheREADER|April2007
WITNESS TO TORTURE
Forme,theworstpartisthatIhave ableasmostoftherestofusatwhatwe Iwassickened
found this to be generally true. It is had just witnessed,and he spoke in a towatcha
moreconvenientforpeoplenottocare. straightforward way against what is seniorsenator
By and large, they are far more pre- justplainwrong. andlawyer
pared to accept official explanations For me, his comments came in the flippantly
than to take the trouble to find out nickoftime.Iwasbeginningtofeelnot dismisswhat
what is really going on. For, if they only betrayed, but a little crazy. Was happenedatAbu
found out,their consciences might re- this really happening? Later, I was Ghraib,andact
quirethemtodosomethingaboutit. happy to be able to shake Sen. asthoughhe
Sen.Graham’sdemeanorwasdown- Kennedy’s hand as he left the theater. knewmore
righteerieinthewayhechosetorelate Attheend,producerRoryKennedy aboutthe
tothecrowd…beamingwithakindof broughtaportablemicrophonetoGen. abusesthanthe
delight and mocking the outrage that Karpinskiwhereshesatintheaudience people,likeme,
hemusthaveseenbuilding. and,directingherattentionbacktothe whowerethere
Thisremindedmeofmyexperience stage, explained to Sen. Graham that
inIraq,whereIwouldhearsoldiersdis- Karpinski was present and that it
cussingtheirabuseofdetainees.Itwas seemedonlyfairtogiveherachanceto
always cast as a humorous thing,and commentonhisremarksabouther.
each recounting won the expected – Sheroseand,inquietbutnouncer-
sometimesforced–laugh. tain terms, accused Graham and the
But now I am in Washington, I generalofficersinvolvedinAbuGhraib
thought:Has everyone been bitten by of“cowardice.”Thenshenotedthatas
the torture bug? I was sickened to a South Carolinian she intended to
watchaseniorsenatorandlawyerflip- workveryhardtoensurethathewould
pantlydismisswhathappenedatAbu notbetheseniorsenatorbeyondJanu-
Ghraib, and act as though he knew ary2009.
moreabouttheabusesthanthepeople, As to the merits of his charges
likeme,whowerethere. against her, Gen. Karpinski revealed
Sadly,Grahamisnotthefirstelected thatshehadactuallypressedhardtobe
official who has become part of the court-martialedandtoappearbeforea
problemratherthanthesolution. juryofherpeers,togetthewholetruth
up and out. She explained that the
Audience unrest
Armyrefusedherrequest,presumably
Unrestwasspreadingintheaudienceto becauseacourtmartialmightjeopard-
thepointwheresomewerethreatened ize the Pentagon’s attempt to restrict
with ejection. People were yelling at blametothe“fewbadapples.”
Sen.Grahamfromalloverthetheater Graham was initially taken some-
and for a moment I thought a riot what aback,but he recovered quickly.
mightensue. He offered no apology. Rather, he at-
ButSen.Kennedy’sresponsepierced temptedtotrivializewhathadjusthap-
thedarknesswiththewhite-hotlightof pened with the jovial remark,“Well,I
truth.Clearly,hewasjustasuncomfort- guessIlostyourvote!”Smirk.Smirk.
April2007 |TheREADER7
WITNESS TO TORTURE
Nowthedust Makethattwovotes. I ended up hanging out with Janis
hadsettledfora Afterwards,itwasbacktohigh-soci- Karpinskiandlaterwalkinghertothe
moment;itwas etysmalltalkandwine,whileIlooked Metrostation.Igaveherabighugand
encouragingto forsomeonetoreallytalkto.Areporter toldherI’dalwaysbehersoldier.Then,
knowthetruth who has been covering the issue from as she went down the escalator I
canstillstand the start sought me out and told me salutedher,andshereturnedmysalute.
tall something that made me want to cry. “Thank you,” she said. “Anytime,
“You know we’ve talked over the General!”Ireplied.“Anytime.” CT
years and I have followed your case,
but I just want to tell you that I have FormerArmySgt.SamProvancewasa
foundeverythingyou’vesaidtomeall herooftheAbuGhraibscandal,theonly
alongtobetrue.” uniformedmilitaryintelligenceofficer
Forsolongpeoplehavetriedsohard attheIraqiprisontotestifyaboutabuses
todiscrediteithermeormytestimony. duringtheinternalArmyinvestigation
Now the dust had settled for a mo-
ment;itwasencouragingtoknowthe Originallypublishedat
truthcanstillstandtall. consortiumnews.com
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8TheREADER|April2007
AFTER KATRINA
RIFLEMEN
AND RESCUERS
BY REBECCA SOLNIT
On March 5, Hillary Clinton plies and rescuers kept out of the city, Thespectacleof
and Barack Obama went but many who could have rescued thesuffering
south to compete for the themselvesorreachedoutsiderescueef- andsqualorof
limelight on the 42nd an- fortswereforciblykeptin.Thespectacle crowdstrapped
niversaryof“BloodySunday,”thedayin of the suffering and squalor of crowds withoutfood,
March1965whenAlabamalawenforce- trapped without food,water,or sanita- water,or
ment drove Civil Rights demonstrators tioninswelteringheatthatsotransfixed sanitation
offtheEdmundPettusBridgeandback thenationwasnotjusttheresultofin- insweltering
intoSelma.Somehow,thefarlargerand competence, but of malice. While the heatthatso
more desperate attempt of a largely media often tended to portray the vic- transfixedthe
African-American population to march timsaslargelycriminals,governmentof- nationwas
acrossabridgelessthantwoyearsago, ficials shifted the focus from rescue to notjustthe
duringthedaysafterHurricaneKatrina, theprotectionofpropertyandthepolic- resultof
andtheevenmoreviciousresponse,has ingofthepublic.There’snowaytocount incompetence,
never quite entered the mainstream howmanydiedasaresultofallthis. butofmalice
imagination.FewoutsideNewOrleans, The Mississippi-straddling Crescent
therefore,understand that the city be- City Connection Bridge was closed to
cameaprisoninthedaysafter80%ofit pedestrians by law enforcement from
wasflooded(norhasitfullysunkinthat Gretna, the mostly white community
thecitywasfloodednotbyahurricane across the river. They fired their guns
butbythefailureofleveesinadequately over the heads of women and children
built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engi- seekingtofleethedireconditionsofthe
neers). Superdome and Convention Center,as
Accordingtoalittle-notedLosAnge- wellastheheatandthirstofthedevas-
lesTimesreportfromthatmoment,“Au- tated city, driving back thousands at-
thorities in St. Bernard Parish, to the tempting to escape their captivity in
east,stackedcarstosealroadsfromthe squalor. There have been no conse-
CrescentCity.”Notonlywerereliefsup- quencesfromanyoftheseacts,though
April2007 |TheREADER9
AFTER KATRINA
Ex-BlackPanther Congressional Representatives Cynthia as well that many racial divides were
MalikRahim McKinney and John Conyers have de- crossedthatweekandafter–bypeople
saysthathe nouncedthemashatecrimesandcalled who found common cause inside the
witnesseda for investigations, and the Reverend city–by,forinstance,the“CajunNavy”
racewar LennoxYearwoodsaid,“Canyouimag- of white boat-owners who got into
beginningin ineduring9/11,thethousandswhofled floodedareastorescuescoresofpeople.
Algiers(next onfoottotheBrooklynBridge,notbe- Ex-Black Panther Malik Rahim says
toGretna) cause they wanted to go to Brooklyn, thathewitnessedaracewarbeginning
wherehelived but because it was their only option? in Algiers (next to Gretna) where he
andthatitwas What if they had been met by six or lived and that it was defused by the
defusedbythe eightpolicecarsblockingthebridge,and young,white bicycle medics who came
young,white cops fired warning shots to turn them to minister to both communities;since
bicyclemedics back?” then the organization Rahim co-
whocameto Duringmytripstothestillhalf-ruined founded,Common Ground Collective,
ministertoboth city,someinhabitantshavetoldmethat has funneled more than 11,000 volun-
communities they, in turn, were told by white vigi- teers,mostlywhite,intoNewOrleans.
lantes of widespread murders of black
Paradesandpatrols
meninthechaosofthestormandflood.
Onelocaljournalistassuredmethathe NewOrleansmayhavealwaysbeenfull
tried to investigate the story,but found ofcontradictions,butpost-Katrinathey
itimpossibletocrack.Reporters,hesaid, standinhighrelief.ForweeksinFebru-
were not allowed to inspect recovered ary,paradeswoundpastrowdycrowds
bodies before they were disposed of. in the uptown area as part of the long
These accounts suggest that,someday, carnival season that leads up to Mardi
an intrepid investigative journalist may Gras.SinceJune,camouflage-clad,heav-
standonitsheadthemediahysteriaof ily armed National Guardsmen have
the time (later quietly recanted) about beenpatrollingotherpartsoftheflood-
African-American violence and menace ravagedcityinmilitaryvehicles,making
in flooded New Orleans.Certainly,the theplacefeelasmuchlikeawarzoneas
mostbrutalresponsetothecatastrophe adisasterzone–andperhapsitis.(On
wasonthepartofinstitutionalauthor- March8,forinstance,aGuardsmanre-
ity at almost every level down to the peatedlyshotinthechesta53-year-old
mostlocal. African-American with mental prob-
Thesestoriesareimportant,ifonlyto lems.HehadbrandishedaBBgunata
understandwhatNewOrleansisrecov- patrol near his home,in which he had
ering from – not just physical devasta- riddenoutKatrina,intheUpperNinth
tion, but social fissures and racial Ward.) New Orleans’ poverty was,and
wounds in a situation that started as a is,constantlyreferencedinthenational
somewhatnaturaldisasterandbecame media;andthecitydid,anddoes,havea
a socially constructed catastrophe. lotofpeoplewithoutalotofmoney,re-
Nothing quite like it has happened in sources,healthcare,education,andop-
Americanhistory.It’simportanttonote portunity. But its people are peculiarly
10TheREADER|April2007