ARMY TIMES: Failure of Leadership at the Highest Levels

THE FOLLOWING EXCERPTS WERE TAKEN FROM AN EDITORIAL FOUND IN THE MAY 17 ISSUE OF "THE MILITARY TIMES".

'Indeed, the damage done to the U.S. military and the nation as a whole by the horrifying photographs of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi detainees at the notorious prison is incalculable.'

'But the folks in the Pentagon are talking about the wrong morons.'

'There is no excuse for the behavior displayed by soldiers in the now-infamous pictures and an even more damning report by Army Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba. Every soldier involved should be ashamed.'

'But while responsibility begins with the six soldiers facing criminal charges, it extends all the way up the chain of command to the highest reaches of the military hierarchy and
its civilian leadership.'

'Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, also shares in the shame. Myers asked �60 Minutes II� to hold off reporting news of the scandal because it could put U.S. troops at risk. But when the report was aired, a week later, Myers still hadn�t read Taguba�s report, which had been completed in March. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld also failed to read the report until after the scandal broke in the media.'

'By then, of course, it was too late.'

'On the battlefield, Myers� and Rumsfeld�s errors would be called a lack of situational awareness � a failure that amounts to professional negligence.'

'To date, the Army has moved to court-martial the six soldiers suspected of abusing Iraqi detainees and has reprimanded six others.'

'Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, who commanded the MP brigade that ran Abu Ghraib, has received a letter of admonishment and also faces possible disciplinary action.'

'That�s good, but not good enough.'

'This was not just a failure of leadership at the local command level. This was a failure that ran straight to the top. Accountability here is essential � even if that means relieving top leaders from duty in a time of war.'

� Military Times editorial, May 17 issue


ArmyTimes.Com
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Something tells me that one of these top leaders is Bush.

Army Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba mentioned today that his report and his findings did not indicate that this was something that extended to the top, as said article is claiming or asserting, and that those who should have been made aware, were not made aware.



seekerof

[Edited on 11-5-2004 by Seekerof]

I don't think that we can blame the leaders on this!

These are a few soldiers who took matters into thier own hands and "misbehaved" if you will. Yeah, they knew better than to do it, but I guess they just never figured on getting caught.

While I feel bad that it happened and think that the soldiers who did it should be punished, our (thier) leaders should not.