Don't be a fool and die for your country. Let the other sonofabitch die for his.
-- General George S. Patton
January 17, 2005
Graner Gets 10 Years (He Should Have Gotten The Maximum)
In todays earlier post I stated that Army Reserve Specialist Graner was convicted on 9 of the 10 counts of prisoner abuse and sexual humiliation he was charged with.
CNN says he got 10 years.Graner, 36, will serve his prison term as a private, with no salary, and will be dishonorably discharged after he is released.
Led from the courtroom in handcuffs and leg chains, Graner twice answered "No, ma'am" when asked whether he had regrets or apologies.
His mother, Irma, said her son took the rap for high-ranking officers, whom she said were "all guilty."
She criticized them for failing to testify on his behalf.
"He got 10 years in prison for something he was told to do," she said. "He committed a crime for obeying orders, and he would have committed a crime if he didn't obey orders."
Asked about his parents' claim that he was a scapegoat, Graner said, "I was a soldier, and if I did wrong, here I am."
I think there were many failures in the Abu Ghraib prison incident, but for any of the accused to try and say that they were "just following orders" is absolutely absurd. As members of the military we must obey LAWFUL orders. In order for the military establishment to function properly we must understand not only our rank structure, but what is lawful and what is not.
There is always the possiblilty that these people were ordered to commit some or even all of the atrocities that the MSM turned into the freak of the week ratings hike. However, the fact of the matter is all of these people had an obligation to do what was right. If disobeying a direct order was the right thing to do then they could have hashed that out in court. It would have been much better for the public to hear about a soldier denying an unjust order than it was for us all to be flooded with pictures of Graner and his crew doing the things they did.
Our kids don't need to see pictures of a pyramid of naked Iraqi's. They don't need to see that horrible little troll Lindsey England pointing to the penis of a nude prisoner of war. What they need to see are the just actions of those who serve with pride, loyalty and above all integrity.
So far, in my opinion, the people convicted of these atrocities have gotten off lightly. Graner and all of the others (if convicted) should automatically get the maximum allowable sentence.
SlagleRock Out!
That is right. It is easy to say I was just following orders. It is a failure of leadership at the NCO level that caused this. Not some order, that is just cow pucky.
The career of everyone from the CG down has been impacted already by the leadership failure. I am getting tired of people avoiding responsibility for there actions. They broke the law they should go to jail. The leadership failed and careers have ended or should end soon based on that.