Over 2000 US soldiers - and 199 other soldiers from it´s vassal states - have now died in Iraq. Also almost 300 non-Iraqi "contractors" working for the occupiers have died in the war - many of them former US, British etc soldiers turned mercenaries who have died doing duties normally reserved for army soldiers.
Some articles on the subject:
Death toll an awkward yardstick on Iraq
US media react to Iraq toll
2000 Too Many
US death toll hits 2,000—grim milestone in a criminal war
Casualties of a war a world away
But these are people who chose to go to war. They could have - at worst scenario - chosen prison instead. These people, on the other hand, had no choice.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
The possibility of future attack by the combined forces of fundamentalist US, Israel - a mice on steroids - and the feeble UK against Iran is higher than usually believed.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Salman Rushdie writes about Orhan Pamuk´s problems with the Turkish authorities: How can a country that victimises its greatest living writer also join the EU?
Friday, October 14, 2005
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Another white, European male wins the Nobel prize for literature.
75-year old Harold Pinter became the 11th playwright to win the prize. The greatest living British playwright, aknowledged, but there has been eras when that kind of praise meant more than it does today. Seriously, how many modern, living British playwrights you can name? More, more and more.
75-year old Harold Pinter became the 11th playwright to win the prize. The greatest living British playwright, aknowledged, but there has been eras when that kind of praise meant more than it does today. Seriously, how many modern, living British playwrights you can name? More, more and more.
Swedish language interview with the Syrian poet Adonis, who almost certainly will not win a Nobel prize today when the winner will be announced.
Most likely the winner will be somebody that most of us haven´t even remotely considered as a winner, but hopefully at least the winner will be someone who is relatively well known. I´m all for the rescuing of good, but little known authors from obscurity, but not every year. There have been some bad choices recently - like Naipaul - and the Swedish Academy probably should play it safe for a couple of years and give prizes to well known and deserving writers. More.
Most likely the winner will be somebody that most of us haven´t even remotely considered as a winner, but hopefully at least the winner will be someone who is relatively well known. I´m all for the rescuing of good, but little known authors from obscurity, but not every year. There have been some bad choices recently - like Naipaul - and the Swedish Academy probably should play it safe for a couple of years and give prizes to well known and deserving writers. More.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Bush 'confident' as Iraq violence kills 46
Government issues arrest warrants for 23 defense Ministry officials
Quote:
At least 46 people were killed in attacks in Iraq, including a suicide car bombing in a crowded market, but U.S. President George W. Bush maintained an optimistic tone saying he was confident Iraqis would vote despite the bloodshed. In the bloodiest strike, 30 people were killed and 45 others wounded in the car bombing in the market of Tal Afar in restive northwestern Iraq, claimed by the Al-Qaeda group headed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Another 16 people were killed in a rash of bombings and shootings, starkly underlining the battle facing Iraqi forces in their efforts to secure the country for Saturday's referendum on the constitution.
Government issues arrest warrants for 23 defense Ministry officials
Quote:
At least 46 people were killed in attacks in Iraq, including a suicide car bombing in a crowded market, but U.S. President George W. Bush maintained an optimistic tone saying he was confident Iraqis would vote despite the bloodshed. In the bloodiest strike, 30 people were killed and 45 others wounded in the car bombing in the market of Tal Afar in restive northwestern Iraq, claimed by the Al-Qaeda group headed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Another 16 people were killed in a rash of bombings and shootings, starkly underlining the battle facing Iraqi forces in their efforts to secure the country for Saturday's referendum on the constitution.
Gaza Last? The British Government's U-turn on Palestine
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As calls to hold the Israeli government to account grow louder, the British government whispers ever more softly in Sharon's ear. Responding to a legal letter from War on Want and The Dove and The Dolphin Charity this month, the Foreign Office, in a highly censored set of documents, revealed just how little they have really done over the last year to uphold their obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention, spelt our in the International Court of Justice's decision on the Separation Wall. The Foreign Office admits quite openly that their strategy of close engagement with Israel has failed; hardly surprising given that the 'strategy' seemed to consist of mentioning the issue at a handful of meetings. Despite this, they have no other strategy apart from even closer engagement through 'European Neighbourhood Policy' (ENP) Action Plans. These plans provide for closer ties with Europe's neighbours, including Israel, to go "beyond co-operation, to involve a significant measure of economic integration and a deepening of political co-operation" in which Israel and the EU will "intensify political, security, economic, scientific and cultural relations". In other words, the opposite of suspending currently existing economic preferences for Israel, which the Palestinians have called for, and which the EU is actually legally bound, but unwilling, to do. So between encouraging Israel to flout international law in the Jerusalem Post; tripling arms sales to Israel in the first three months of 2005; and encouraging the EU to make even closer ties with Israel, British Foreign policy appears to be taking a turn for the even worse. Howells even suggests in the Jerusalem Post that Palestinian aid is on the line, if they refuse to play the game our way - Britain needs "a signal that it [the PA] is capable of good governance. This is not a bottomless pit that this money is coming from."
Quote:
As calls to hold the Israeli government to account grow louder, the British government whispers ever more softly in Sharon's ear. Responding to a legal letter from War on Want and The Dove and The Dolphin Charity this month, the Foreign Office, in a highly censored set of documents, revealed just how little they have really done over the last year to uphold their obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention, spelt our in the International Court of Justice's decision on the Separation Wall. The Foreign Office admits quite openly that their strategy of close engagement with Israel has failed; hardly surprising given that the 'strategy' seemed to consist of mentioning the issue at a handful of meetings. Despite this, they have no other strategy apart from even closer engagement through 'European Neighbourhood Policy' (ENP) Action Plans. These plans provide for closer ties with Europe's neighbours, including Israel, to go "beyond co-operation, to involve a significant measure of economic integration and a deepening of political co-operation" in which Israel and the EU will "intensify political, security, economic, scientific and cultural relations". In other words, the opposite of suspending currently existing economic preferences for Israel, which the Palestinians have called for, and which the EU is actually legally bound, but unwilling, to do. So between encouraging Israel to flout international law in the Jerusalem Post; tripling arms sales to Israel in the first three months of 2005; and encouraging the EU to make even closer ties with Israel, British Foreign policy appears to be taking a turn for the even worse. Howells even suggests in the Jerusalem Post that Palestinian aid is on the line, if they refuse to play the game our way - Britain needs "a signal that it [the PA] is capable of good governance. This is not a bottomless pit that this money is coming from."
Setting up Abbas
Quote:
Today almost a half million Israelis live across the 1967 border. With financial backing of the Clinton Administration, a system of twenty-nine highways was constructed in the Occupied Territories to incorporate the settlements into Israel proper. In the meantime 96% of the Palestinians were locked into what Sharon calls ”cantons,” dozens of tiny enclaves, deprived of the right to move freely and now being literally imprisoned behind concrete walls twice as high as the Berlin Wall and electrified fences. Although comprising half the population of the country between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River, the Palestinians - including those with Israeli citizenship - are confined to just 15% of the country... Still, Israel needs a Palestinian state. Although the annexation of the settlement blocs gives Israel complete control over the entire country between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River, it needs to “get rid of” the almost four million Palestinian residents of the Occupied Territories to which it can neither give citizenship nor keep in a state of permanent bondage. What Sharon seeks, and what Bush has agreed to, is a truncated Palestinian mini-state, a Bantustan, a prison-state on 10-15% of the country that relieves Israel of the Palestinian population while leaving it firmly in control of the country and its resources. Whether or not we like the term, this amounts to full-blown apartheid, the permanent and institutionalized domination of one people over another... Sharon, in short, is priming Abbas for a set up, another “generous offer.” It worked well for Barak, why not try it again, this time for the whole pot? What would Abbas say if Sharon offered Gaza, 70-80% of the West Bank and a symbolic presence in East Jerusalem? True, it is not a just or viable solution. The Palestinians would be confined to five or six cantons on 15% of the entire country or less, with no control of their borders, their water, even their airspace. Jerusalem, now encased in a massive Israeli “Greater Jerusalem,” would be denied them, thereby removing the political, cultural, religious and economic heart of any Palestinian state. Israel would retain its settlement blocs and 80% of its settlers. But Sharon's “generous offer” would look good on the map and, he believes, viability is simply too complicated a concept for most people, including decision-makers, to grasp. But for Abbas it sets up a no-win situation. Say “yes” and you will be the quisling leader Israel has been looking for all these years, the one who agreed to a non-viable mini-state, to apartheid. Say “no” and Sharon will pounce: “See?! The Palestinians have refused yet another Generous Offer! They obviously do not want peace!” And Israel, off the hook, will be free to expand its control of the Occupied Territories for years to come, protected from criticism by American-backed annexation of the settlement blocs. Israeli unilateralism means only one thing: it has nothing to offer the Palestinians, nothing worth negotiating over. The Road Map asserts that only a true end of the Occupation and the establishment of a viable Palestinian state will finally see the end of this conflict with its global implications. A genuine two-state solution may already be dead, the victim of Israeli expansionism. A two-state “solution” based on apartheid cannot be an alternative accepted by any of us. Yet apartheid is upon us once again. Sharon must act fast to complete his life's work before his term of office expires within the next year. This is the crunch. We cannot afford to have our attention deflected by any other issue, important as it may be. It is either a just and viable solution now or apartheid now. We may well be facing the prospect of another full-fledged anti-apartheid struggle just a decade and a half after the fall of apartheid in South Africa.
This article is also to be found in here.
Quote:
Today almost a half million Israelis live across the 1967 border. With financial backing of the Clinton Administration, a system of twenty-nine highways was constructed in the Occupied Territories to incorporate the settlements into Israel proper. In the meantime 96% of the Palestinians were locked into what Sharon calls ”cantons,” dozens of tiny enclaves, deprived of the right to move freely and now being literally imprisoned behind concrete walls twice as high as the Berlin Wall and electrified fences. Although comprising half the population of the country between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River, the Palestinians - including those with Israeli citizenship - are confined to just 15% of the country... Still, Israel needs a Palestinian state. Although the annexation of the settlement blocs gives Israel complete control over the entire country between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River, it needs to “get rid of” the almost four million Palestinian residents of the Occupied Territories to which it can neither give citizenship nor keep in a state of permanent bondage. What Sharon seeks, and what Bush has agreed to, is a truncated Palestinian mini-state, a Bantustan, a prison-state on 10-15% of the country that relieves Israel of the Palestinian population while leaving it firmly in control of the country and its resources. Whether or not we like the term, this amounts to full-blown apartheid, the permanent and institutionalized domination of one people over another... Sharon, in short, is priming Abbas for a set up, another “generous offer.” It worked well for Barak, why not try it again, this time for the whole pot? What would Abbas say if Sharon offered Gaza, 70-80% of the West Bank and a symbolic presence in East Jerusalem? True, it is not a just or viable solution. The Palestinians would be confined to five or six cantons on 15% of the entire country or less, with no control of their borders, their water, even their airspace. Jerusalem, now encased in a massive Israeli “Greater Jerusalem,” would be denied them, thereby removing the political, cultural, religious and economic heart of any Palestinian state. Israel would retain its settlement blocs and 80% of its settlers. But Sharon's “generous offer” would look good on the map and, he believes, viability is simply too complicated a concept for most people, including decision-makers, to grasp. But for Abbas it sets up a no-win situation. Say “yes” and you will be the quisling leader Israel has been looking for all these years, the one who agreed to a non-viable mini-state, to apartheid. Say “no” and Sharon will pounce: “See?! The Palestinians have refused yet another Generous Offer! They obviously do not want peace!” And Israel, off the hook, will be free to expand its control of the Occupied Territories for years to come, protected from criticism by American-backed annexation of the settlement blocs. Israeli unilateralism means only one thing: it has nothing to offer the Palestinians, nothing worth negotiating over. The Road Map asserts that only a true end of the Occupation and the establishment of a viable Palestinian state will finally see the end of this conflict with its global implications. A genuine two-state solution may already be dead, the victim of Israeli expansionism. A two-state “solution” based on apartheid cannot be an alternative accepted by any of us. Yet apartheid is upon us once again. Sharon must act fast to complete his life's work before his term of office expires within the next year. This is the crunch. We cannot afford to have our attention deflected by any other issue, important as it may be. It is either a just and viable solution now or apartheid now. We may well be facing the prospect of another full-fledged anti-apartheid struggle just a decade and a half after the fall of apartheid in South Africa.
This article is also to be found in here.
New Homo floresiensis remains have been found, making the claim of microcephaly even more unlikely than before. But the new species may not be part of the genus Homo; it´s more likely a remnant of the Australopithecines. More.
The Australopithecine hominid lineage rose at least 4,2 million years ago, most likely from the Ardipithecus lineage. About 3 million years ago it split into two branches, the first leading most likely to the genus Homo around 2,3 million years ago, the second leading to the genus Paranthropus, which is though to have become extinct 1,1-1,2 million years ago. The new hominid species from the island of Flores is then a descendant of either the Paranthropus lineage or some earlier Australopithecine species.
The Australopithecine hominid lineage rose at least 4,2 million years ago, most likely from the Ardipithecus lineage. About 3 million years ago it split into two branches, the first leading most likely to the genus Homo around 2,3 million years ago, the second leading to the genus Paranthropus, which is though to have become extinct 1,1-1,2 million years ago. The new hominid species from the island of Flores is then a descendant of either the Paranthropus lineage or some earlier Australopithecine species.
At least 23 000, but possibly up to 40 000 dead in Pakistan alone in the South Asia earthquake. The town of Balakot has been completely destroyed. More.
Sunday, October 09, 2005
Yesterday´s earthquake in South Asia killed in Pakistan alone 18 000 people and injured 40 000. Hundreds, probably thousands more have perished in Afghanistan and India.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
The US military can say whatever it wants about the situation in Iraq, but destroying 8 bridges that cross the river Euphrates is a clear sign of desperation. This not the action of a side that thinks it´s winning.
Israel bans use of human shields
Quote:
Israel's supreme court has banned the use of Palestinian human shields in arrest raids, saying the practice violates international law. The court issued a temporary injunction against the practice in 2002 after a teenager was killed when troops made him negotiate with a wanted militant. Human rights groups who brought the case say the Israeli army has repeatedly violated the temporary ban. The army cannot use civilians for its purposes, Israel's chief justice said. "You cannot exploit the civilian population for the army's military needs, and you cannot force them to collaborate with the army," Aharon Barak said.
Quote:
Israel's supreme court has banned the use of Palestinian human shields in arrest raids, saying the practice violates international law. The court issued a temporary injunction against the practice in 2002 after a teenager was killed when troops made him negotiate with a wanted militant. Human rights groups who brought the case say the Israeli army has repeatedly violated the temporary ban. The army cannot use civilians for its purposes, Israel's chief justice said. "You cannot exploit the civilian population for the army's military needs, and you cannot force them to collaborate with the army," Aharon Barak said.
More Israeli Jews favor transfer of Palestinians, Israeli Arabs - poll finds
Some 46 percent of Israel's Jewish citizens favor transferring Palestinians out of the territories, while 31 percent favor transferring Israeli Arabs out of the country, according to the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies' annual national security public opinion poll... sraeli-Arabs pose a threat to Israel's security, according to 61 percent of the Jewish population, while around 80 percent are opposed to Israeli-Arabs being involved in important decisions, such as delineating the country's borders, up from 75 percent last year and 67 percent in 2000. Some 72 percent of Jewish Israelis are opposed to Arab parties being part of a coalition government, compared to 67 percent last year and 50 percent in 1999. This overall shift to the right has been coupled by a significant fall in support for the Oslo process; down from 58 percent last year, to 35 percent this year. Support for the establishment of a Palestinian state has also dropped from 57 percent last year to 49 percent this year... Only 40 percent of Jewish Israelis support transfering control of Arab areas of East Jerusalem to the Palestinians as part of a peace agreement, compared with 51 percent last year. There has also been a fall in the number of people willing to leave the settlements as part of an agreement with the Palestinians: 49 percent are in favor of Israel leaving the settlements, apart from large blocs, under a permanent status agreement, compared to 55 percent last year.
So more peaceful time has brought out the worst in Israeli Jews, making them more rasistic and increasing the support for crimes like ethnic cleansing. "The Righteous Among the Nations" indeed! They should accept the facts and change it to "The Rasistic Among the Nations".
And "transfer"! What a nice Orwellian way of saying "ethnic cleansing"!
Some 46 percent of Israel's Jewish citizens favor transferring Palestinians out of the territories, while 31 percent favor transferring Israeli Arabs out of the country, according to the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies' annual national security public opinion poll... sraeli-Arabs pose a threat to Israel's security, according to 61 percent of the Jewish population, while around 80 percent are opposed to Israeli-Arabs being involved in important decisions, such as delineating the country's borders, up from 75 percent last year and 67 percent in 2000. Some 72 percent of Jewish Israelis are opposed to Arab parties being part of a coalition government, compared to 67 percent last year and 50 percent in 1999. This overall shift to the right has been coupled by a significant fall in support for the Oslo process; down from 58 percent last year, to 35 percent this year. Support for the establishment of a Palestinian state has also dropped from 57 percent last year to 49 percent this year... Only 40 percent of Jewish Israelis support transfering control of Arab areas of East Jerusalem to the Palestinians as part of a peace agreement, compared with 51 percent last year. There has also been a fall in the number of people willing to leave the settlements as part of an agreement with the Palestinians: 49 percent are in favor of Israel leaving the settlements, apart from large blocs, under a permanent status agreement, compared to 55 percent last year.
So more peaceful time has brought out the worst in Israeli Jews, making them more rasistic and increasing the support for crimes like ethnic cleansing. "The Righteous Among the Nations" indeed! They should accept the facts and change it to "The Rasistic Among the Nations".
And "transfer"! What a nice Orwellian way of saying "ethnic cleansing"!
Israeli offensive in Gaza targets Hamas
Quote:
A massive military offensive, coupled with political assassinations and arrests of more than 400 Hamas candidates and activists, has been mounted barely two weeks after the withdrawal of the last Israeli soldier from Gaza. These events have exposed the fraud of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s so-called “disengagement” from Gaza. Far from being a first step towards alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people—normalising relations between Israel and Palestine, and creating an independent Palestinian state, as the Western powers have claimed—the pullout has been a preliminary to a sustained military and political offensive against the Palestinians. The largest offensive since the assault on Jenin in April 2002, its purpose is to terrorise and intimidate the Palestinian people and cripple Hamas, the largest Islamist party, as a political force.
Quote:
A massive military offensive, coupled with political assassinations and arrests of more than 400 Hamas candidates and activists, has been mounted barely two weeks after the withdrawal of the last Israeli soldier from Gaza. These events have exposed the fraud of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s so-called “disengagement” from Gaza. Far from being a first step towards alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people—normalising relations between Israel and Palestine, and creating an independent Palestinian state, as the Western powers have claimed—the pullout has been a preliminary to a sustained military and political offensive against the Palestinians. The largest offensive since the assault on Jenin in April 2002, its purpose is to terrorise and intimidate the Palestinian people and cripple Hamas, the largest Islamist party, as a political force.
Progress means withdrawal
Quote:
While before August 2005 the settlers and their supporters could dream that the facts on the ground were too solid to change, after the disengagement it became clear that everything is reversible. Even if they find a way to continue building the illegal outposts, even if the local authorities pay for this construction, everyone already knows that this is no guarantee of continued territorial possession. After all, the synagogue in Kfar Darom was dedicated only four months before it was abandoned.
The evacuation of the illegal outposts is a done deal between Israel and the United States, and only the timing is still undecided. Thus the "enormous progress" that Sharon promises for this year must also include isolated settlements and not only illegal outposts. There is no point in continuing to spend money and mental energy on these places, there is no point in deceiving those who live there, and there is certainly no reason to endanger soldiers by sending them to guard Yitzhar and Itamar. Evacuating the settlements does not need to be a reward for good behavior on the part of the Palestinians, but rather a clear Israeli interest.
Quote:
While before August 2005 the settlers and their supporters could dream that the facts on the ground were too solid to change, after the disengagement it became clear that everything is reversible. Even if they find a way to continue building the illegal outposts, even if the local authorities pay for this construction, everyone already knows that this is no guarantee of continued territorial possession. After all, the synagogue in Kfar Darom was dedicated only four months before it was abandoned.
The evacuation of the illegal outposts is a done deal between Israel and the United States, and only the timing is still undecided. Thus the "enormous progress" that Sharon promises for this year must also include isolated settlements and not only illegal outposts. There is no point in continuing to spend money and mental energy on these places, there is no point in deceiving those who live there, and there is certainly no reason to endanger soldiers by sending them to guard Yitzhar and Itamar. Evacuating the settlements does not need to be a reward for good behavior on the part of the Palestinians, but rather a clear Israeli interest.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Poetry, memory and the smell of coffee in Madrid
Spanish play debates dramatic and idealistic image of Palestinian and Israeli life
Quote:
MADRID: For many years the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish has repeatedly claimed to be "absent, but present" in Palestine. During two performances of the play "El Olor del CafŽ" ("The Smell of Coffee") at the Circulo de Bellas Artes in Madrid at the end of last month, the "poet laureate of Palestine" and contender of the Nobel Prize for Literature was "present, but absent."
One thing why Darwish won´t win the Nobel Prize is that awarding him would instantly be claimed to be a political act - the same would be claimed by reactionary forces, but not as aloud, if Amos Oz would win. In fact, giving (or not giving) the Prize has been used as a political act in the past, like during II World War. F.E. Sillanpää won it because of the war and Herman Hesse was denied it until 1946 because even as he was a Swiss citizen, he was born German. And of course, Winston Churchill would have never won it for literary reasons alone.
Another reason why Darwish or Adonis won´t win the Nobel Prize for Literature is the language they write their works. I doubt that there are many members of the Swedish Academy who can read Arabic and it´s a hard thing to go giving prizes for people when you don´t know how good their works are on in the original language. There are exceptions, even when it comes to Nobel Prizes, but the fact is that for an author like Darwish or Adonis, they have to be translated in large numbers to several major western languages - and Swedish - to have a chance to win the prize. This is one of the reasons why so few past winners wrote their works in other languages than in English, French, German, Russian, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese or Swedish.
Spanish play debates dramatic and idealistic image of Palestinian and Israeli life
Quote:
MADRID: For many years the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish has repeatedly claimed to be "absent, but present" in Palestine. During two performances of the play "El Olor del CafŽ" ("The Smell of Coffee") at the Circulo de Bellas Artes in Madrid at the end of last month, the "poet laureate of Palestine" and contender of the Nobel Prize for Literature was "present, but absent."
One thing why Darwish won´t win the Nobel Prize is that awarding him would instantly be claimed to be a political act - the same would be claimed by reactionary forces, but not as aloud, if Amos Oz would win. In fact, giving (or not giving) the Prize has been used as a political act in the past, like during II World War. F.E. Sillanpää won it because of the war and Herman Hesse was denied it until 1946 because even as he was a Swiss citizen, he was born German. And of course, Winston Churchill would have never won it for literary reasons alone.
Another reason why Darwish or Adonis won´t win the Nobel Prize for Literature is the language they write their works. I doubt that there are many members of the Swedish Academy who can read Arabic and it´s a hard thing to go giving prizes for people when you don´t know how good their works are on in the original language. There are exceptions, even when it comes to Nobel Prizes, but the fact is that for an author like Darwish or Adonis, they have to be translated in large numbers to several major western languages - and Swedish - to have a chance to win the prize. This is one of the reasons why so few past winners wrote their works in other languages than in English, French, German, Russian, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese or Swedish.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Pentagon dismisses new report on US military torture in Iraq
Quote:
Quote:
A report from Human Rights Watch (HRW) provides chilling new details of the torture of Iraqi detainees by US forces. The report, issued September 24—“Leadership Failure: Firsthand Accounts of Torture of Iraqi Detainees by the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division”—is based on interviews with a US Army captain and two sergeants. It details abuse carried out at Forward Operating Base Mercury (FOB Mercury), near Fallajuh in Central Iraq, from 2003 through 2004. The Pentagon has denounced the report as a politically motivated smear. Defense Department spokesman Lt. Col. John Skinner criticized it as an effort “to advance an agenda through the use of distortions and efforts in fact.” He made the remarkable claim that the military has “looked at all aspects of detention operations under a microscope.” ... According to the HRW report, in the case of the 82nd Airborne abuse of detainees, Captain Fishback and the two sergeants came forward “because of what they described as deep frustration with the military chain of command’s failure to view the abuses as symptomatic of broader failures of leadership.” Fishback said he tried for 17 months to bring it to the attention of his commanding officers, to clarify what was and was not acceptable behavior in the treatment of detainees. He told HRW, “My company commander said... ‘remember the honor of the unit is at stake’ or something to that effect and ‘Don’t expect me to go to bat for you on this issue if you take this up.’” When Fishback approached the Judge Advocate General’s office (JAG) he was told by one of his superiors, “Well, the Geneva Conventions are a gray area.” When he raised the issue of the abusive practices at the army’s Inspector General’s office, an official told him, “You obviously feel very upset about this, but—I don’t think you’re going to accomplish anything because things don’t stick to people inside the Beltway [Washington DC].”
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