Justice

The U.S. embassy in Kabul says it is firing its frat boy security contractors. This brings to mind a recent news report that the British security guard charged with murdering two of his colleagues in the Green Zone early in August had a criminal record back in the UK. He actually left Britain despite being on probation for robbery and firearms offenses, the papers reported.

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I just want to note that Roxana Saberi is still being held in an Iranian jail for doing her job. She should be freed immediately. My family's thoughts are with her. My respect for the government of Iran is declining by the moment. You want to be treated like a great power? Begin by acting like one.

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I hate the fact that my country's leaders panicked after 9/11 and embraced torture. It saddens me to watch this.

I can still remember when it was the bad guys who tortured people in the movies. Here's the test I think is useful for judging abuse: What would I think of this being used against captured U.S. military personnel? Or kidnapped reporters?

I was surprised and impressed to see two centrist Washington bigwigs -- former diplomat Thomas Pickering and former FBI director William Sessions -- call for an independent commission to look into U.S. government policies on torture and detainees.

It is in the interest of our nation's security that President Obama should immediately appoint such a commission. To move ahead, make our country safer and strengthen the leadership position of the United States, we must have a full understanding of detainee policies and their consequences. Only then can we prevent any mistakes of the past from being repeated.

I am beginning to think this might just happen. And that would be a good thing indeed. We probably need one more round of revelations to push it over the top. Given the nature of things, I expect that murder will out. 

Photo: Flickr user CitizenSheep

Call me a softie, but I don't understand why this murder case involving American troops hasn't gotten more media attention in this country. This seems to me worse than the tortures at Abu Ghraib. According to court testimony, the Army soldiers then dumped the bodies of the four murdered Iraqis in a Baghdad canal.

And Stars & Stripes -- yes, the Pentagon's newspaper -- deserves a shoutout for staying on the story.

Two South Carolina Republicans piped up to say they don't want the Gtmo detainees moved to their neighborhood, either. Thanks for pitching in, fellas!

At this rate the detainees are going to wind up at the New York City jail on Rikers Island -- which actually might be fitting. It reminds me of an exchange I had with a 10^th Mountain Division soldier in the spring of 2002 when we were standing near some dead al Qaeda fighters in the aftermath of the "Anaconda" battle in eastern Afghanistan. "Sergeant, what do you think of all this?" I asked, gesturing at the strewn corpses, and their RPGs and other weapons. He glanced down at the remains of the al Qaeda men, who had been hit by a JDAM, then looked straight at me and quietly said just five words: "Sir, I'm from the Bronx."