Hmmm... can't find the Iraq War thread to bump...

[Jimmy Higgins]

Abu Ghraib is back in the news. For those who don't remember or are new to the Aughts, Abu Ghraib was a prison in Iraq that was infamous for being hard to spell and a detainee abuse scandal where prisoners (not necessarily criminals and/or terrorists) were photographed in demeaning poses. A recent court finding indicates that a military contractor is liable for damages.

The verdict against CACI International marks the first time a civilian contractor has been held legally responsible for the inhumane treatment of detainees at the prison west of Baghdad, where U.S. forces questioned hundreds of Iraqis after toppling Saddam Hussein. Photographs of Army soldiers gleefully abusing detainees drew widespread condemnation upon their release in 2004.

CACI employees worked as interrogators at Abu Ghraib under contract with the U.S. government. Attorneys for the company said none of them laid a hand on detainees or had any role in the abuses. Lawyers for the three Iraqi plaintiffs said CACI interrogators would direct military personnel to “soften up” detainees before they were questioned, leading to abuses across the facility.

Military contractors was the W Admin's solution to a thin military invasion/occupation of Iraq. It was cost prohibitive and led to a number of problems, but you go into war with the Military Contractors you have. 20 years after the abuse... found liable. So maybe three more years to get to SCOTUS, and by then no one will remember Iraq happened.

 

[steve_bank]

What? We never invaded Iraq. Did we?

People have learned to suckle at the tit of the US government, foreign and domestic.

Everyone in the world is traumatized and it is our fault.

 

[Gospel]

Everyone in the world is traumatized and it is our fault.

It hasn’t always been America’s fault; it’s just that, in today’s world, it's us, China, and Russia taking on roles similar to those once held by the Roman, Ottoman, Mongolian, and Spanish Empire. Not exactly the same actions, but the parallels are unmistakable. But no worries—one day, we’ll pass the baton to future empires in space who will look back on our history, viewing our war tactics and tools as outdated, dusty relics of a barbaric past—while clinging to the same reasons for conflict.

 

[steve_bank]

And Africa, Mid East, and Asia.

I listened to a BBC show on the evolution of American and European thought on the use of militray force.

A well intentioned thought evolved that the selective e use of militray force could have good results in promoting democracy and rights.


So far it has not really worked.

We try to fight a war to moral and ethcal rules which the other side does not care about.

Inevtably abuses occur.

 

[barbos]

Once you done with Iraq you should investigate Vietnam War, then Latin America shenanigans. And then maybe Ukraine War. Too soon?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Once you done with Iraq you should investigate Vietnam War, then Latin America shenanigans. And then maybe Ukraine War. Too soon?

This is litigation, not investigation.