Honor and Duty
When I read this article, General: Abu Ghraib scandal forced me out of Army, I was ready to puke. Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez feels put upon because he was forced to retire with the full pension and benefits of a three-star general officer after the mess at Abu Ghraib. He’s lucky not to be on trial.
He violated regulations and the Geneva Conventions in approving “special techniques” for dealing with prisoners and the whole thing blew up in a major scandal. Of course, nothing of any importance was learned by the use of the “special techniques”, so his services had no value to his masters.
Sanchez should have looked at Specialist Alyssa Peterson and learned what honor and duty are all about.
“Peterson, a devout Mormon, had graduated from Flagstaff High School and earned a psychology degree from Northern Arizona University on a military scholarship. She was trained in interrogation techniques at Fort Huachuca in Arizona, and was sent to the Middle East in 2003.”
She graduated from the Arabic course at my alma mater, the Defense Language Institute on the Presidio of Monterey in California.
Specialist Peterson refused to participate in what she knew, based on her training as an interrogator, to be illegal procedures and she ended her life when the situation became too much for her.
I’m not saying that General Sanchez should have eaten a 9MM, but he could have resigned in protest of illegal orders. Generals are expected to lead.
2 comments
You make valid points. I think NPR was talking about Sanchez and how he was forced to retire… As you point out, he should be thanking his lucky stars for what he got.
It wasn’t that long ago that a general would have resigned automatically when something less of a disaster than Abu Ghraib occurred on his watch. It was expected, and they damn sure didn’t whine about it.