Isn't the Geneva Convention excuse in regards to prisoner photos BS?

[wndycty]

I am not sure how someone can hide behind the excuse that the prison guards did not have a good understanding the Geneva Convention. C'mon common human decency dictates that you do not humilate by forcing them to strip naked and participate in sexually explicit photos. Lets not even talk the high standards that we Americans are supposed to aspire to as it relates to human rights.

If our soldiers need the Geneva Convention to tell them that we are in a sorry, sorry state.

[wtmusic]

1. They didn't have a good understanding

and it's not only a bad excuse, it's further proof that in matters of ethics our soldiers receive inferior instruction compared to virtually any other military in the world.

[mike_c]

2. that is exactly the state we're in....

We've illegally invaded a country that posed no threat to us or its neighbors. We've murdered thousands of innocent people in the process, with such arrogance that we've not the least interest in even counting the dead, let alone accounting for them. We've subjected its citizens to a brutal occupation. Where, in all of this, do "standards of conduct" apply? Sounds like "honor among thieves" to me!

[Bandit]

3. Yes you have hit upon another violation of Geneva Convention

It is against the Geneva Convention to take photos of Prisoners in a humiliating manner. So not only did they torture these human beings against our own "Code of Conduct" and the Geneva Convention but they violated the Convention by the photos alone.

[acmavm]

4. I don't care about the Geneva Convention excuse, what I want to know

is whether these 'people' understand the difference between RIGHT and WRONG. That is all that matters here.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

6. One guy was a prison guard

from VA or WV-sorry, forget which-and I KNOW he knew better.

[wtmusic]

7. Trusting prison guards to adhere to moral standards

sounds risky...

[Bjornsdotter]

13. Exactly!

Hi,

I can't believe that these, and I use the term very loosely,...these ADULTS didn't know that their behavior was wrong! NO, NO, NO! I will not accept this.:mad:

They should be punished to the full extent for the crimes they have committed...they have gone from being soldiers to being criminals.

Cheers,
Kim

[unblock]

5. every soldier should have a good understanding of the geneva convention

how else can the geneva convention be enforced? it isn't enough for some general to know about it anyone who might ever be in a position to hold a prisoner -- i.e., any soldier in a combat area -- should know it, or at the very least, be trained to check with someone who does in any situation where they're not 100% sure.

the geneva convention doesn't work otherwise.

[wndycty]

8. But does the soldier need the Geneva Convetion . . .

. . .to know what happened at the prison is just plain wrong.

[jmowreader]

9. Geneva Convention training in the military almost uniformly sucks

We got two hours of Geneva Conventions/Hague Conventions training in basic. I got an hour or so of it at the 8th Army Replacement Depot in Seoul, because the North Koreans were coming over the Military Demarcation Line any minute now.

Everyone was about half asleep for the class in basic training, and we'd just come from the plane when we got it in Seoul, so naturally none of it sank in.

Ask any officer what Field Manual 27-10 (http://www.adtdl.army.mil/cgi-bin/atdl.dll/fm/27-10/toc.htm) is and they usually won't be able to tell you. Its title is "The Law of Land Warfare."

[Tatiana]

10. Then why are their ID cards "Geneva Conventions" cards?

Army News Service

Due to the extension of Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve soldiers on active duty in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, the Army estimates as many as 55,000 soldiers will need new identification cards.

Limited access to system connectivity in these countries and a widely dispersed population that needs replacement identification cards make it necessary to expedite issuance of these cards, which convey benefits and privileges and will act as the soldiers' Geneva Conventions card.

http://www.armymedicine.army.mil/news/mercury/04-02/idcards.cfm

These principles are taught in BT. Lamest. Excuse. Ever.

[wndycty]

11. Again I ask . . .

. . .does one need the Geneva Convention to know what they were doing in the Iraq prison (sexual humiliation) was wrong?

[Tatiana]

12. They knew it was wrong. They knew it was wrong and did it anyway.

From Hersh's article in the New Yorker:

Taguba’s report, however, amounts to an unsparing study of collective wrongdoing and the failure of Army leadership at the highest levels. The picture he draws of Abu Ghraib is one in which Army regulations and the Geneva conventions were routinely violated, and in which much of the day-to-day management of the prisoners was abdicated to Army military-intelligence units and civilian contract employees. Interrogating prisoners and getting intelligence, including by intimidation and torture, was the priority.

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?040510fa_fact

Our soldiers were taking orders from CIVILIAN CONTRACT EMPLOYEES. Are these civilian contractors bound by Army regulations? No. That's exactly why they were employed and given day-to-day management over the Abu Ghraib prison. The military knew this would happen, they wanted it to happen, they sanctioned it. They are making these soldiers the "fall guys," plain and simple. However, the soldiers WERE bound by their oath, their training, and the regulations they swore to uphold. So they deserve to get theirs. I only hope they point their fingers to the men and women above them because this entire corrupt operation needs to be exposed.