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This Soldier's Iraq Diary
by tricky dick
Wed Jun 22nd, 2005 at 16:33:25 PDT

You know that Marvin Gaye song "What's going on"? Of course you do. I ask myself that question quite often. Much of what happens in country I never see. In many ways I am as in the dark as everyone else. But, for what it's worth, today I will throw in my two cents. Perhaps by adding the small part of the picture I see, it will put into sharper focus all of the reports you read every day. I don't really see myself as a Soldier blogger such as Soonergrunt or Nameless Soldier. I would much rather have pie flame wars than discuss what I do for a living. But I have decided that there are some things you should know...

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This is a diary about torture. Torture and cruelty. It's been in the news quite a bit lately, so I have decided to tell you what I know about torture and cruelty in Iraq.

Many of the Iraq War apologists are quick to point out how much better off Iraq is today with Saddam Hussein in prison. They cite the closing of Saddam's torture chambers as a central justification of the Iraq campaign. Well, there's a problem with that theory. The torture hasn't stopped. It continues to this day, under new management.

What I have seen, specifically, is the torture and brutal beating of Iraqis by members of the Iraqi Army (IA). Much of it is conducted by Shia and Kurds against the Sunnis, payback for decades of Sunni brutality. I also suspect that many of the thugs who previously served Hussein have now signed up with the new Iraqi Government. The bottom line is that these guys are largely a bunch of thugs, and that their victims are largely unarmed civilians. They might be Sunni civilians as opposed to Kurdish or Shia, but they are every bit as helpless regardless of their ethnicity.

We have actually received guidelines as to how to deal with abusive IA officers. We cannot admonish them in front of their men, lest they lose face. We have been instructed to correct them in private, if possible. It is a bullshit policy. In fact, our leadership openly acknowledges that the problem is "difficult to control". They pretty much tell us that the best course of action is to stay out of it. We have no control over these guys.

To me, this situation speaks to the problem of nation building. It is simply very difficult to change the way an entire nation operates. It isn't as if every one in Iraq was good and decent, but Saddam made them do all these awful things. He had alot of help. In a way, Saddam was a product of his environment. Iraq is a tough place to grow up, cruelty is a way of life here. Torture is much more accepted here than in the US.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/6/22/193325/756