Sunday, May 02, 2004

They Just Didn't Care   Another famous MST3k line (part of a stinging indictment of the people who made Attack of the The Eye Creatures).  And it seems like it might be applicable to our senior military officials, in regard to the results of an investigation into reports of U.S. soliders abusing prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison. From the NY Times (emphasis added): An internal Army investigation found a virtual collapse of the command structure in a prison outside Baghdad where American enlisted personnel are accused of committing acts of abuse and humiliation against Iraqi detainees. A report on the investigation said midlevel military intelligence officers were allowed to skirt the normal chain of command to issue questionable orders to enlisted personnel from the reserve military police unit handling guard duty there. [...] The scandal appeared to have caught senior Pentagon officials and some top officers off guard on Sunday, despite President Bush's condemnation of the abuses on Friday. Appearing on three Sunday talk shows, Gen. Richard B. Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, gave conflicting answers when asked if the problems at Abu Ghraib were systemic throughout detention centers in Iraq. At first, General Myers insisted that the instances of mistreatment was not widespread and were the actions of "just a handful" of soldiers who had unfairly tainted all American forces in Iraq. But when pressed, he acknowledged that he had not yet read a classified, 53-page Army report completed in February by Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba, first reported in the May 10 edition of the New Yorker, that chronicled the worst of the abuses at Abu Ghraib. General Myers left open the possibility the abuses could be broader, saying "We don't know that yet." A spokesman for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said that the secretary had not been briefed on General Taguba's report either, but had been kept abreast of the investigative process. General Myers also acknowledged that he had asked the CBS News program "60 Minutes II" to delay broadcasting photographs of the abuses taken by guards inside the prison to avoid worsening tensions in Iraq at a time when attacks against American forces are on the rise and one soldier is being held hostage by insurgents. "I thought it would be particularly inflammatory at that time," General Myers said on the ABC News program "This Week." Per "60 Minutes," he asked them that over two weeks ago.  Wouldn't you think that knowing that the story was going to be reported by the major media in the near future, he would find the time to read the report of the investigation of the incidents?  And why does the firestorm of criticism seem to have taken the Pentagon off guard?  Couldn't they anticipate this?  If not, either they are spectacularly incompetent for not realizing how the world would view these photos, or morally bankrupt for thinking that since these abuses were part of a war to save American lives, nobody would really care (you know, since they didn't).  This does not give me a give feeling (not that I had one before) about the future of this whole Iraqi endeavor.  The report on General Taguba's investigation identified two military intelligence officers and two civilian contractors for the Army as key figures in the abuse cases at Abu Ghraib. In his internal report on his findings in the investigation, General Taguba said he suspected that the four were "either directly or indirectly responsible for the abuses at Abu Ghraib and strongly recommended disciplinary action." The Taguba report found that they were never properly trained or supervised. It found that in effect, the military police were told to soften up the prisoners so they would talk more freely in interrogations conducted by intelligence officials. The Taguba report states that "military intelligence interrogators and other U.S. Government Agency interrogators actively requested that M.P. guards set physical and mental conditions for favorable interrogation of witnesses." It noted that one civilian interrogator, a contractor from a company called CACI International Inc., based in Arlington, Va., and attached to the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade, "clearly knew his instructions" to the military police equated to physical abuse. The Taguba report's sharpest criticism was for officers in charge of the military police and military intelligence units in the prison. [...] The report identifies Col. Thomas M. Pappas, commander of the 205th military intelligence brigade, Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan, the former director of the Joint Interrogation and Debriefing Center and Liaison Officer to the 205th Military intelligence Brigade, Steven Stephanowicz, an Army contract employee from CACI, and John Israel, a contractor and civilian interpreter with CACI, as the people suspected of being "either directly or indirectly responsible for the abuses at Abu Ghraib." The report concluded that Mr. Stephanowicz made a false statement to the investigation team regarding the "locations of his interrogations, the activities during his interrogations, and his knowledge of abuses." It recommended that he be dismissed. Mr. Israel, the report found, "denied ever having seen interrogation processes in violation" of Army standards, "which is contrary to several witness statements." Colonel Pappas was recommended for a reprimand for, among other things, failing to supervise his soldiers properly, and failing to ensure that soldiers under his direct command knew, understood and followed the Geneva Conventions for the treatment of prisoners of war. Billmon, of Whiskey Bar, who is doing a stellar job of blogging this story, has reported on an internet diary which indicates that a "Steve Stefanowicz," a translator at Abu Ghraib, was still working there (and playing golf) in April 2004.  If he is Steven Stephanowicz, CACI employee, then it would mean that no action at been taken on Taguba's recomendation regarding Stephanowicz for at least two months.  And since Stephanowicz is a contract employee (presumably still, because CACI has indicated, per a Wash Post story, that they have "received no indication from the Army that any CACI employee was involved in any alleged improper conduct with Iraqi prisoners") it's not like there's any cumbersome personnel regulations that would delay getting rid of him -- somebody from the "customer" just calls CACI and says that Stephanowicz is no longer wanted on the job due to security concerns, and he's on the next plane out.  But if nobody read Taguba's report, I guess it would make taking action on it difficult. Here's my own bit of investigative journalism: the results of a Google search on Col. Thomas M. Pappas: 205th MI Cmdr BRIGADE COMMANDER. COLONEL THOMAS M. PAPPAS. Colonel Thomas M. Pappas assumes command of the 205 th Military Intelligence Brigade ... www.205mi.wiesbaden.army.mil/205th%20MI%20Cmdr.htm - 7k - Cached - Similar pages 205th Military Intelligence Brigade ... Commander: COL Thomas M. Pappas. CSM: Bruce E. Brown. Check out The New Photos. ... www.205mi.wiesbaden.army.mil/ - 21k - Cached The first link gives you Pappas's bio -- he's career military intelligence, although his area of expertise seems to be signal intelligence.  I would speculate that despiteserving in Bosnia, he'd never been in charge of interrogation of prisoners before. The second link is the website for the 205th Military Intelligence Brigage, based in Wiesbaden, Germany (it hasn't been updated since last year).  When you click it, you get a scary DOD warning, but as yet nobody has broken down my door and taken me to Gitmo, so it's probably safe to read.  Of interest is the colonel's philosophy, which includes the following: My vision or goal for the 205th MI Brigade is to sustain a battle-ready MI team founded on tactically and technically proficient soldiers and leaders.  I want to develop a winning team that continually strives for excellence in all that we do.  As your commander, it is my responsibility to provide the direction and get everyone “rowing” on the right azimuth.   The following are the highlights of my command philosophy on TRAINING, MAINTAINING, LEADING and CARING: This is the LEADING section: Leadership by example is the most important attribute for our unit’s success. Focused on training:  a shared value.  We will train to standard – everything else supports. Power down.  We sill foster a command climate that is marked by decentralized execution.  NCOs are the primary leaders of soldiers in our Army today. Strong unit identity.  Leaders instill pride, esprit, confidence, and trust – these are indispensable requirements for the success of any unit. Caring with a capital “C”.  This includes every member and family in the 205th MI BDE!  We must “walk the walk” and not just “talk the talk.” High standards and discipline.  Doing things right must be a central organizational value. Teamwork is a way of life.  This is from the most junior soldier right up to the most senior commander. Values required of every leader and soldier in the Brigade:  Integrity, Honesty, Personal Responsibility, and Selfless Service. That's a nice philosphy, but apparently it didn't get implemented by everybody in the 205th. Anyway, I can only hope that the colonel's leaders show some of that caring, and start taking the mistreatement of prisoners seriously now.  I volunteer to read the Taguba report to them, if they're strapped for time or something. 11:29:45 PM     comment [] trackback []   Marriage For Dummies   Remember the President's proposal to spend $1.5 billion to strengthen marriage?  Yeah, it was a while ago.  But you might vaguely recall that the plan was to use federal and state welfare money to fund the efforts of community and faith-based organizations to promote marriage.  The groups would teach marriage skills to lower class couples, offer them marriage mentoring, and conduct shot-gun weddings in an effort to reduce out-of-wedlock births.  The federal money could also be used for advertising campaigns promoting the value of marriage ("Got Marriage?" and "Just 'I Do' It" would be my slogan suggestions).  Oh, and we were going to build a space station on the moon, and send people to Mars, to strengthen the marriages of people who just need a break from their kids.  Anyway, in the spirit of conservatism, I'm advocating that this plan be turned over to the private sector -- specifically, Hollywood movies.  Yes, I'm tired and can't think of anything to blog today, so here's the first part of a chapter about strengthening marriages, taken from the best-selling, nearly completed faith-based book, Subliminal Cinema: Life Lessons from Lousy Movies. MARITAL SUCCESS AND THINNER THIGHS THE HOLLYWOOD WAY Today, marriage is enjoying a resurgence of popularity, and yet the institution itself is in serious disrepair. While weddings on a per capita basis are up, more than half of all marriages end--either bitterly, in divorce, or embarrassingly, in a "Jerry Springer" booking. The modern husband and/or wife faces a plethora of perplexing problems. Can I have both a family and a career? Are Razzles candy or gum? And where can one find the secret to an enduring union of souls? Many turn to experts like John Gray, who posits that the opposite sex comes from a different planet than you, and so can’t be expected to know the customs of YOUR world. Good advice, especially when you consider that, whenever discord arises, your first impulse is to talk, while your husband’s initial urge is to bombard you with a deadly proton beam from high geo-synchronous orbit. But for many people, that guidance just isn’t enough, especially people with brain cells. So, we are going to share a formula for wedded bliss that you can’t get from any book (except this one). We are ready to reveal the rock-solid precepts that have made the marriages of people such as Julia Roberts, Elizabeth Taylor, and Mickey Rooney so enduring—the powerful marriage secrets contained in Hollywood movies! Let’s go to that mystical font of connubial wisdom known as the video store, and take a look at a trio of movies made by two of Tinsel Town’s happiest couples: Demi Moore & Bruce Willis, and Nicole Kidman & Tom Cruise. We’re sure that by applying the precepts taught in these films, your marriage can be as happy as theirs are. INDECENT PROPOSAL (1993) Directed by Adrian Lyne Written by Amy Holden Jones; based on the novel by Jack Engelhard He pimped his wife to a millionaire. She told her husband the sex was pretty darned good. Can this marriage be saved? We meet husband Woody Harrelson at the pier, where he is gazing at the water and thinking moody, over-dubbed thoughts about his lost love, Demi Moore. Demi, who is riding a bus in her prom gown, intones, "If you ever want something badly, let it go. If it comes back to you, then it's yours forever. If it doesn't, then it was never yours to begin with." So, we know we are in for a deeply philosophical movie about the nature of love, loss, and Hallmark Cards. We then flashback to Woody and Demi’s life together. She was a realtor. He was an architect. After Woody came up with the unified field theory of architecture, he began building his Santa Monica Dream House (not to be confused with Barbie’s Malibu Beach Dream House, since Barbie’s had a better designer and higher quality materials). But then the recession hit, the couple got a month behind on the mortgage payments, and they stood to lose everything. (Don’t you hate it when bad things happen to vapid people?) Woody and Demi thought about getting jobs in an effort to dig themselves out, but then decided the more sensible course would be to borrow money and head for Vegas. Because when you’re attractive and in love, the laws of probability are suspended in your favor Once they’re installed in a high-class casino, Woody heads for the gambling tables. Demi does her part by sneaking into a boutique and stealing their chocolates. This impresses billionaire Robert Redford, who offers to buy her the tarty Cher gown she was mooning over. She indignantly retorts, "The dress is for sale. I’m not!" Attention everybody: incoming plot point! Alas, while Demi was setting up the movie’s premise, Woody lost all their money. The couple’s expressive faces indicate that they are sad. Robert notes their distress and offers Woody a million dollars for a night with his wife. Apparently, Vegas is experiencing a big hooker shortage, and so it’s a sellers’ market. At first Woody and Demi are outraged—what kind of a girl does Robert think Demi is! But after talking it over, the couple decides to accept Robert’s offer: because they could really use the money, and because Demi actually is kind of slutty. The deed done and the couple one million dollars richer, they drive back to L.A. to redeem the Dream House. But then the bottom falls out of their world! It turns out that on the very day they were Vegas, earning money through gambling and prostitution, the bank foreclosed and somebody else bought their property! What kind of God would allow something like this to happen? And even more tragically tragic for the couple, their relationship starts to deteriorate. Woody becomes jealous and suspicious, and finally demands to know, once and for all, if Robert was good in bed. Demi admits that he was, but avers that she did it all--the moaning, the screaming, the multiple orgasms--for Woody. Woody visibly experiences some sort of emotion, and runs away from home. Demi weeps, because men are just so unappreciative, and because an off-camera stagehand is helpfully waving ammonia crystals under her nose. However, Demi isn’t alone for long, for it seems that Robert’s dream woman is a demure, old-fashioned girl who will sell herself for large sums of money. So, he begins courting Demi. He is boyishly charming. She is cold and hostile. It’s perfect! She finally agrees to a relationship, apparently giving him the Frequent Buyers’ sex rate. Things don’t go as well for Woody. He and the dog live in a tool shed that Woody has plastered, in true psychopathic stalker fashion, with photos of Demi. Eventually he gets a job teaching bitter architecture, and imparts bits o’ wisdom such as, "Even a common brick wants to be something better than it is." The students are spellbound by these insights into the secret life of bricks, but Demi still wants a divorce. She informs him that he can keep the million dollars as a lovely parting gift. Robert takes Demi to a zoo benefit where the crowd is wowed by a feckless stranger who bids $1,000,000 to sponsor a hippo. Yes, that idiot is Woody, who threw away the million just to impress Demi with how rock stupid he really is. They look at each other longingly, then Woody signs the divorce papers and walks away, probably to spend his million-dollar night with the hippo. On the ride home, Robert tells Demi that she was the best of the "Million Dollar Club." It seems that he has done this kind of thing a couple dozen times before. This announcement causes Demi to jump out of the car and into a bus that happens along. We comprehend that Robert mentioned the Club in order to end the affair, because "She never would have looked at me like she looked at Woody." We’re impressed by his generosity of spirit, letting her go back to the man she loves. But we’re more impressed by the fact that Robert has spent 24 million dollars on sex! Jeez, this guy really needs to comparison shop! The bus Demi boarded just happens to be going to the pier where the movie started; Woody is there being gloomy. Maybe being attractive and in love is enough to cause the universe to suspend the laws of probability! Anyway, she confides that she still loves him, and always will. He loves her too. Tremulous smiles. Fade out. The end. So, what did this movie teach us about making marriage work? First, that open, consistent communication is of vital importance. The flame of marriage begins to flicker when not fed with the fuel of conversation, and then the wieners of romance can no longer be roasted at love’s fire pit, if you know what we mean. So, let your partner know that he or she is appreciated and loved. Hop on a bus in your prom dress and tell your mate that you still love him or her. Discuss your work with her—let her know what the bricks told you today about their hopes and fears. And if sex with another man was really good, let your husband know just how good, with helpful details like a comparison of penis sizes. Secondly, we learned that working as a team makes a marriage strong. For example, if you lose all your money (through no fault of your own except stupidity), find a project you can do together to recoup your fortunes. If you decide to emulate our movie role models and work as a joint pimp/ho team, incorporate togetherness in all aspects of the operation. Let her help you shop for your full-length fur coat, gold chains, and foppish headgear. Have him help you pick your street name, even if he does vote for something classless like "Peaches LaTarte" or "Christina Aguillara." And if you don’t feel qualified for work in today’s modern prostitution and gambling industry, try drug trafficking, extortion, or contract killing. Remember, experts say that couples who slay together, stay together. And lastly, we saw how even a couple who truly love each other can drift apart. Perhaps she is too busy to hang out with him, due her demanding career as a courtesan; and he just isn’t around much because he’s living in a tool shed with the dog. To combat this emotional estrangement, look for little ways to put the romance back in your relationship. Perhaps you could try something new and adventuresome, like quitting your 9-to-5 jobs and developing a trapeze act for Barnum & Bailey—and then you could let her go from the high wire, to see if she is yours forever. 5:39:06 AM     comment [] trackback []   Giving Conmen a Bad Name   From Newsweek: U.S. intelligence agencies have recently raised concerns that Chalabi has become too close to Iran's theocratic rulers. NEWSWEEK has learned that top Bush administration officials have been briefed on intelligence indicating that Chalabi and some of his top aides have supplied Iran with "sensitive" information on the American occupation in Iraq. U.S. officials say that electronic intercepts of discussions between Iranian leaders indicate that Chalabi and his entourage told Iranian contacts about American political plans in Iraq. There are also indications that Chalabi has provided details of U.S. security operations. According to one U.S. government source, some of the information Chalabi turned over to Iran could "get people killed." (A Chalabi aide calls the allegations "absolutely false.") Why would Chalabi risk his cozy ties to Washington by cuddling up to Iran's fundamentalist rulers? Administration officials say Chalabi may be working both sides in an effort to solidify his own power and block the advancement of rival Iraqis. A U.S. official familiar with information presented to policymakers said that White House advisers were concerned that Chalabi was "playing footsie" with the Iranians. Yet Chalabi still has loyal defenders among some neoconservatives in the Pentagon. They say Chalabi has provided information that saved American lives. "Rushing to judgment and cutting off this relationship could have unintended consequences," says one Pentagon official, who did not respond to questions about Chalabi's dealings with Tehran. Each month the Pentagon still pays his group a $340,000 stipend, drawn from secret intelligence funds, for "information collection." And just who leaked it to Newsweek that top Bush administration officials have been briefed about electronic intercepts which indicate that Chalabi and friends are selling us out to the Iranians?  Is the White House getting its revenge for those "you'll be met with sweets and flowers" promises from Chalabi, or is the CIA getting its revenge on Feith and the Office of Special Plans?  4:53:33 AM     comment [] trackback []   Mystery Quote   From a student paper report of a recent speech given on campus: She frequently called Liberals elitist and, because of their public schooling, inherently unintelligent. "Liberals are being let down in their education," she said. "Liberals do not understand the concept of logic."   Can you guess who said this?  (Hint -- keep in mind the old adage, "It takes one to know know one.")  4:20:07 AM     comment [] trackback []

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