Army Captain Ian Fishback: The John Kerry of 2005

[beachmom]

I am giving a hat tip to Andrew Sullivan for all his extensive commentary and links about how the * administration let torture not just happen under their watch but be the norm. However, the whole reason why John McCain wrote that amendment to stop torture was because he received a letter from Ian Fishback, a whistleblower of impeccable moral character. Here are some excerpts from Andrew Sullivan's article:

http://www.andrewsullivan.com/main_article.php?artnum=20051002

Meet an American hero. He's Army Captain Ian Fishback, a decorated graduate of West Point, and in training to become a member of the elite Special Forces. He has served two combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is described by friends as a devout Christian who prays before every meal and carries a copy of the U.S. Constitution in his pocket. And while serving at Camp Mercury near the Syrian border in Iraq, he observed horrifying abuse of prisoners, in testimony that was released last week by Human Rights Watch. He has testified to habitual beatings to the face and body before interrogation, the pouring of burning chemicals on prisoners' faces, routine shackling in positions that led to physical collapse, forced exercizes that led prisoners to lose consciousness, and stacking prisoners in pyramids in the same mode as Abu Ghraib. These abuses occurred before, during and after the Abu Ghraib scandal broke. Fishback testified that commanders directed and condoned the abuse. "I would be told, 'These guys were IED trigger men last week.' So we would f--- them up. F--- them up bad ... But you gotta understand, this was the norm. Everyone would just sweep it under the rug." Prisoners were apparently called "PUCs", for "Persons Under Control." Another sergeant testified: "Everyone in camp knew if you wanted to work out your frustration you show up at the PUC tent. In a way it was sport. One day shows up and tells a PUC to grab a pole. He told him to bend over and broke the guy's leg with a mini-Louisville Slugger, a metal bat. As long as no PUCs came up dead, it happened. We kept it to broken arms and legs."

Fishback finally decided to take a stand when he saw Donald Rumsfeld testify to the Senate on television that the Iraq war was subject to the Geneva Conventions. So he went to his superiors and told them he believed that what was going on was a clear, continuing violation. They ignored him and told him his career would suffer if he persisted in his complaints. But Fishback's conscience propelled him forward. He went all the way to the Secretary of the Army. He tried to stop the abuse and get clear guidelines on prisoner treatment for a full seventeen months and was told again and again that he was betraying his unit, and aiding the enemy with his dogged inquiries. He even went to Senate aides. Finally, one man responded: Senator McCain, another war-hero who endured five years of being tortured by the Viet Cong. Fishback's full letter to McCain is a poignant illustration of what has happened to America these past three years.

Fishback made the following arguments: "Some argue that since our actions are not as horrifying as Al Qaeda's, we should not be concerned. When did Al Qaeda become any type of standard by which we measure the morality of the United States? We are America, and our actions should be held to a higher standard, the ideals expressed in documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Others argue that clear standards will limit the President's ability to wage the War on Terror. Since clear standards only limit interrogation techniques, it is reasonable for me to assume that supporters of this argument desire to use coercion to acquire information from detainees. This is morally inconsistent with the Constitution and justice in war. It is unacceptable."

Unlike Kerry, though, Fishback is still an active member in the Army so there have been consequences to his patriotic actions:

Fishback is now sequestered at Fort Bragg being interrogated by military officials. His fellow whistle-blowers have been identified and they are being interrogated as well. From all we know of Fishback, he will not crack under pressure. He wrote something in his letter to McCain that still rings in my ears: "If we abandon our ideals in the face of adversity and aggression, then those ideals were never really in our possession. I would rather die fighting than give up even the smallest part of the idea that is 'America.'"

Here in this Newsweek article, others have joined Fishback in talking about this horrible breakdown in American core values. Something about this man's statement reminds me of Kerry's testimony to the Senate in 1971 when he said that he had committed atrocities, too.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9865301/site/newsweek/

Fishback's courage in taking a lonely stand may be paying off. Inspired by his example, "a growing critical mass of soldiers is coming forward with allegations of abuse," says Marc Garlasco of Human Rights Watch, the New York-based activist group that first revealed Fishback's story. One of them is Anthony Lagouranis, a Chicago-based Army specialist who recently left the military. He supports Fishback's contention that abuses in Iraq were systematic—and were authorized by officers in an effort to pressure detainees into talking. "I think our policies required abuse," says Lagouranis. "There were freaking horrible things people were doing. I saw who had feet smashed with hammers. One detainee told me he had been forced by Marines to sit on an exhaust pipe, and he had a softball-sized blister to prove it. The stuff I did was mainly torture lite: sleep deprivation, isolation, stress positions, hypothermia. We used dogs."

I think it's important we know this story and keep it in our hearts. Unlike in 1971, I feel like this never became the big story that Kerry's testimony did, and that is most unfortunate. Because I agree with Andrew Sullivan that this guy is a real American hero, and by simply reading his words, his speaking truth to power, it will be worth the huge sacrifices he has made to do the right thing. And I will continue to give a big kudos to John McCain to fighting hard for that amendment and showing incredible strength against Cheney and the other bullies in the administration. Perhaps this is why John Kerry has decided to forgive McCain for his betrayal last year, for only McCain could have had such success getting this amendment passed.