Weekly Top 10 List - Ten Reasons the Real Fallout from the Newsweek Story Is Just Beginning Posted by Suzanne Nossel

A vast amount of time and energy has gone into analysis and recriminations over the botched Newsweek story reporting that interrogators at Guantanamo Bay flushed a Koran down a toilet.  Newsweek's recantation, its new policy limiting the use of unsubstantiated sources, and its finding that the reporters in question followed established procedures and relied on a trustworthy source ought to put that matter mostly to bed. But here's what should keep us up at night:

1.  That similar stories that have been corroborated by credible sources. There are a number of serious reports of abuse at Guantanamo that have come to light in recent months, before and after the Newsweek report.  60 Minutes reported on female interrogators using sexual manipulation and fake menstrual blood to intimidate and discomfort Muslim detainees.  The ICRC has brought numerous instances of Koran desecration at Guantanamo to the Pentagon's attention.  This page details the concerns the ICRC has about conditions and treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo.  Now that we are on notice about what such practices can trigger, we'd better find out what's really going on and fast. 

2.  The underlying level of anti-American sentiment that allowed a single news report to trigger deadly riots throughout the Muslim world. This point is gradually being acknowledged in quarters that might have preferred to blame it all on Newsweek. The comments in response to Dan Drezner's post on the subject are illustrative. These riots are the most vivid, though hardly the only, evidence of just how precarious the U.S.'s standing is in the Muslim world.  Though aimed to counter anti-Americanism, Laura Bush's visit to the region triggered more protests last weekend. The sources of these attitudes ought to be a primary matter of U.S. concern.

3.   The related revelations of detainee abuse in Afghanistan that came to light this week. The religious insults that the ICRC documented at Guantanamo pale alongside the allegations of actual torture -- brutal beatings, chaining people to cell ceilings for days -- and homicide at the Bagram detention camp in Afghanistan reported by the New York Times this week.  Yet this shocking report got far less play than the Newsweek story.

4.  The military culture and policies that have allowed these abuses to happen. This is the larger issue at stake, and one that has not yet been thoroughly aired.  It seems clear that at least some of the detainees who have been victimized were not particularly valuable from an intelligence perspective.  Israel has for years been grappling with questions such as this: 

Suppose a bomb has been placed in a crowded building, and the state has custody of one who knows where it is. The bomb is set to go off in two hours. It is impossible to get the people out. What do I do in such a case?

No one has suggested so far that the U.S. soldiers involved in these cases faced anything close to such a dilemma. So what factors did give rise to torture and other forms of mistreatment? We'd better find out.

5.  The Pentagon's unwillingness to come to grips with the larger implications of the story. From what I can tell, the Pentagon's response to the riots two weeks ago was to fix the blame exclusively on Newsweek.   I haven't yet seen any Pentagon response quoted to the horrific revelations last week on Bagram. The Pentagon still seems to maintain that the scandals at Abu Ghraib were isolated incidents by relatively junior personnel run amok.  None of these problems will be corrected as long as a culture of denial continues to prevail.

6.  The White House's apparent imperviousness the what these revelations mean for top U.S. foreign policy priorities. The White House has repeatedly rejected calls for senior-level resignations over Abu Ghraib and seems to be taking a similar line with respect to the latest allegations at Bagram, that only low-level individuals ought be held to account. Given the damage these revelations are doing, the president should be taking broader action -- holding accountable top army brass, sponsoring civilian investigations of the abuses, and demanding swift, verifiable reform of detention procedures. The denial comes from the top.

7.  The absence of any clear steps to ensure that such abuses do not recur. With both the Pentagon and the White House minimizing the seriousness of the revelations, it's no surprise that the remedial measures underway may be inadequate. The army has rewritten its interrogation manual, and has barred the practice of harboring "ghost detainees" whose whereabouts are kept completely secret. But we don't know enough about these policies to judge how far they go.  Until the American public and the world understand what has been done to prevent future abuses, most people will assume the answer is "not enough."

8.  The abject failure of efforts to date to improve the U.S.'s image in the eyes of the Muslim world. I have just read an unpublished paper that reviews the "public diplomacy" commissions, committees, reports, and recommendations that have come out since 9/11.  More than 15 major studies seem to have culminated in precious little tangible action,  and a noticeable absence of desired effects. The Muslim world is consistently identified as the prime target for these efforts.

9.  The absence of any strategy to retool the public diplomacy effort and make it more effective. The White House's primary public diplomacy coordinating body, the Office of Global Communications, was disbanded in March,  2005.  It was to be replaced by a Deputy National Security Adviser post, but that job has never been filled. Karen Hughes, incoming head of public diplomacy at State, is still not on the job and has said nothing about how she plans to reinvigorate this vital effort. Not only have we not gotten public diplomacy right, we've barely got it off the ground.

10.  The long-term damage being done to U.S. interests. Afghanistan, a country that until recently was pro-U.S. and looking to deepen its alliance with us, is now furious and demanding control of all detainees held in country. Extremists across the Arab world seem to be having a field day, using the U.S.'s missteps to try to support the kind of anti-American venom they've spread all along.

Comments

[Stygius]

Why does everything here have to have 10 reasons? Four or five will do nicely.

[J.]

I take offense from your suggestion that a "military culture and policies" were the underlying climate in which the abuses have happened. The military culture and the policies tend to stress the need to follow the rules of war; from what I've seen, there was a tendency for individuals to stray from the norm, perhaps because their units didn't train as well on these topics or because of the increased familiarity of the people within the unit. If you want to look into the "factors" that gave rise to torture and mistreatments, hey, it's not the military culture, it's the American culture. These soldiers were acclimized to 9/11 just like the rest of us, they're in a poor country with a strange culture and language, they're scared of being killed every day, and they lash out. Just like you or anyone in America that didn't have the right training or fortitude for the military norm.

Re: the "Pentagon's unwillingness" to come to grips with this issue. I would observe that you fail to differentiate the civilian leadership from the military leadership when you use the term "the Pentagon." I would suggest that there is a big difference between the official OSD position and what the Army's doing internally to correct the situation. The Army leadership knows they screwed up, and they're addressing the problem. The NY Times noted Sunday:

"Citing "investigative shortfalls," senior Army investigators took the Bagram inquiry away from agents in Afghanistan in August 2003, assigning it to a task force based at the agency's headquarters in Virginia. In October 2004, the task force found probable cause to charge 27 of the military police guards and military intelligence interrogators with crimes ranging from involuntary manslaughter to lying to investigators. Those 27 included the 7 who have actually been charged."

Yes it's taking too long, and yes, you're not going to see public admissions from the top leadership that there was an issue here, but it is being dealt with. Just not in the "Dr. Phil" kinda way that you might like.

[Barry]

J:
"I take offense from your suggestion that a "military culture and policies" were the underlying climate in which the abuses have happened. The military culture and the policies tend to stress the need to follow the rules of war; from what I've seen, there was a tendency for individuals to stray from the norm, perhaps because their units didn't train as well on these topics or because of the increased familiarity of the people within the unit."

I take great offense that you are still using the 'a few bad apples' story, months after it has become clear that that's simply not true. The methods started at Gitmo and Afghanistan, and migrated to Iraq. Miller, at the least, brought those methods from Gitmo to Iraq. This would be General 'not court-martialed' Miller.

"Re: the "Pentagon's unwillingness" to come to grips with this issue. I would observe that you fail to differentiate the civilian leadership from the military leadership when you use the term "the Pentagon." I would suggest that there is a big difference between the official OSD position and what the Army's doing internally to correct the situation."

And I would strongly suggest that there's not much difference. Miller is still a general (wasn't one promoted?).

"The Army leadership knows they screwed up, and they're addressing the problem. The NY Times noted Sunday:

"Citing "investigative shortfalls," senior Army investigators took the Bagram inquiry away from agents in Afghanistan in August 2003, assigning it to a task force based at the agency's headquarters in Virginia. In October 2004, the task force found probable cause to charge 27 of the military police guards and military intelligence interrogators with crimes ranging from involuntary manslaughter to lying to investigators. Those 27 included the 7 who have actually been charged.""

After getting big-time press, they decided that they'd actually have to do something. They obviously see the problem as bad publicity. And so far, the Army has shown a tasted for privates and lower-ranking NCO's; the investigations carefully don't go very high.

"Yes it's taking too long, and yes, you're not going to see public admissions from the top leadership that there was an issue here, but it is being dealt with. Just not in the "Dr. Phil" kinda way that you might like. "

In the end, there is no evidence that it's being dealt with, in any way aside from token punishments of those low-ranking people stupid enough to let evidence get out.

[J.]

I should have articulated better - yes there were leadership problems, but I don't buy into the idea that there was a conscious policy of torture and abuse. Some of the leaders should have publicly admitted to responsibility, they didn't and that's wrong. Having said that, I still believe that the issue is more indicative of the general American culture (re: stories about documented abuses in American prisons, let alone overseas) and that the Army is dealing with it in-house. They're not going to wear rags or beat their chests, but they are cleaning house.

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