just following orders?

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-28-2003
just following orders?
8
Mon, 05-10-2004 - 9:52am
Can you believe this excuse? This whole situation with the prisoner abuse is very upsetting to me. Even more upsetting is the response from the accused that they were just "doing what they were told". How many of you would do such a thing just because someone told you to? My guess is not too many. What ever happened to personal responsibilty? We are supposed to teach our kids to do what is right and stand up for their beliefs. What happened in that prison is inhumane. What is scary is that throughout our society more and more people buy into the "gang mentallity". So many in our society are losing their sense of what is right and wrong and their sense of human decency; others are to weak to take a stand for anything. Kudos to the soldier who reported this situation regardless of what his peers would think.

I personally do not think that the leaders of our militry told the soldiers to abuse the prisoners. However I do think Immediate supervisors may have turned a blind eye, thus giving the impression that these acts were acceptable.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-05-2003
Mon, 05-10-2004 - 11:40am

Actually they have done a great many studies that most people will do what they are told by an authoritive figure regardless of what they think they are supposed to do.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 05-10-2004 - 11:56am

<<>>


Not only is it EXPECTED, but it's REQUIRED.

________________________________________________

"If you don't stand up for something, you'll lie down for anything." -- B

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Mon, 05-10-2004 - 12:05pm

Here's an example from the 60 Minutes' program

 


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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Mon, 05-10-2004 - 2:55pm

I still remember the news reports of what happened at My Lai...


I have the feeling that Abu Ghraib will be another indelible memory.


As for 'following orders', that's why I resisted all the 'enticements' the recruiting officer used on me when I was graduating from high school.


iVillage Member
Registered: 05-28-2003
Mon, 05-10-2004 - 3:18pm
So are you accepting the story that the gaurds were ordered to do these horrible things? And do you accept that our soldiers are expected to blindly follow orders? As was mentioned in another post soldiers are only expected to follow lawful orders. They are expected to report unlawful ones. As odd as it may seem, there are rules to WAR, and the soldiers are taught these rules. As I mentioned earlier what about personal responsibility? We are all ultimately responsible for our own actions. I feel the soldiers that commited these crimes are trying to get out of this situation by claiming to be following orders.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Mon, 05-10-2004 - 5:25pm

No, you misunderstood.


Avatar for yvonnec_45
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 05-10-2004 - 6:54pm
I am not defending the actions of those who mistreated the prisoners. I think war affects people's mentality adversely. People do "strange" things under duress to protect themselves. I read in the Washington Post that Senator John McCain said information extracted by torture are useless because the tortured will say anything the interrogator wants to hear.

I am terribly disturbed by a letter to the editor of Los Angeles Times, May 11, 2004. Pasted below is his letter:

"I feel that if the Iraqi prisoners were humiliated as a prelude to the gathering of useful intelligence that saved the lives of any Americans, then those acts were justified. I have viewed all of the images. I fail to see anything that can be considered horrific, unless you are an Islamic extremist who can't handle a woman being in a place of authority, much less mocking you.

If you want to know about true torture and inhumane treatment, read "Bravo Two Zero" by Andy McNab, a sergeant in the British SAS during the 1991 Gulf War. His teeth were pulled out and he was forced to eat his own feces at the hands of the Iraqis during his time as a POW.

David Walton, Whittier"


Sign me 'saddened'


iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Tue, 05-11-2004 - 8:47am

>"Senator John McCain said information extracted by torture are useless because the tortured will say anything the interrogator wants to hear."<


Agreed!


Yes that letter is most disturbing.


Welcome to the "In the News" board.

cl-Libraone~

 


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