Rules of War

By Bob Belcher

November 07, 2007 03:02 pm

— Let me be clear. I never served in the military. Came close in the 70’s when we had draft cards and numbers. Would have gone had I been called, but I was not.
Having laid that “disclaimer” right out in front, I still have to ask the question — Why are we debating what constitutes “torture” and what doesn’t?
I thought we had that all worked out several decades ago. Apparently, I missed something, given recent dialogue and diatribes of our leaders in D.C. over things like “waterboarding” and such.
It should be as simple as this — you either torture people or you don’t.
Bill Clinton’s statement from the “Lewinsky-Gate” days — “It depends on what your definition of ‘is’ is,” — comes to mind. Either he did, or he didn’t. We all know how that one turned out.
I have no first-hand knowledge of what happens in battle, in a war zone, in a prison camp or an interrogation room. I have heard stories from those who do have such knowledge, and I wonder if I’d be able to sleep at night, knowing some of the things they have seen and endured. These people are heroes, plain and simple.
But heroes who are soldiers are typically very good soldiers, and good soldiers follow orders, and that is where things get a little muddy for me.
As was brought to light in the horrors of the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, the furor over Guantanamo, and the demonstrations of “waterboarding” of late, someone in the chain of command has authorized the actions, based on some yet-to-be determined interpretation of what does or doesn’t constitute torture. And those that did authorize anything less than the treatment we ourselves expect for our war prisoners to receive have got to be out of their tree, so to speak.
In my opinion, It all comes down to leadership. Or maybe lack of leadership, or lack of oversight. Whatever the case, the American military — or the American military command to be more correct — is in serious need of some change, when there are those who allow such treatment of prisoners to occur.
Maybe the “machine” has gotten too big and complex for any one person to oversee. Maybe this same thing has been happening, war after war after war, and we’re just now getting the “nitty gritty” on it all. Or, maybe we’ve just got a bunch of “bad apples” somewhere down the chain of command who just don’t care.
None of it makes any sense to me.
What I do believe is that all of the debate and uproar over the “fallout of war” has done nothing to help with the goal of the military — to protect America from terrorists. At least I think that is what we were told we were fighting for this time.
The actions that have been allowed to take place, and apparently still taking place, have only blackened the eye of some true American heroes who don’t deserve to be belittled for what they do — serve our country with courage, honor and sense of duty.
It’s time we “kick some brass,” so to speak, and go to the root of the problem — the military leaders and commanders behind the desks half a world away from the real war and play games with peoples lives.
God bless our fighting men and women — they deserve far more out of their leadership than they are getting.
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Bob Belcher is Managing Editor of the Daily Sun. His column appears Wednesdays and Sundays. He may be reached by e-mail at belcher@corsicanadailysun.com.

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