Is this what we are teaching Iraqi security forces?

Aside from the fact that we fought it under false pretenses, many baby-boomers who opposed this war from the very beginning did so because they understood from historical knowledge how messy war can be in general.  I am not a baby-boomer.  This is really the first war that I have followed.  In the months leading up to the military confrontation with Iraq, even I poked fun at some of the anti-war protesters.  I guess you could say that as a political activist I am learning the hard way that they were right all along.

Ever since the war began, we've had private military contractors lawlessly shoot at Iraqi civilians, we've had Abu Ghraib, and we've had a bunch of soldiers that will be charged with murdering helpless Iraqi families.

Now we have something else.  The Sunday morning edition of the Los Angeles Times features a report on some of the tactics that Iraqi police officers are using to suppress the insurgency.  Staff writer Solomon Moore uncovered the fact that there have been more than 400 investigations into police corruption between 2005 and 2006:

Brutality and corruption are rampant in Iraq's police force, withabuses ranging from the widespread rape of female prisoners and therelease of terrorism suspects in exchange for bribes to assassinationsof police officers and participation in insurgent bombings, accordingto confidential Iraqi government documents detailing more than 400police corruption investigations.

Officers also have beaten prisoners to death, been involved inkidnapping rings, sold thousands of stolen and forged Iraqi passportsand passed along vital information to insurgents, the Iraqi documentsallege.

The documents, which cover most of 2005 and part of 2006, were obtainedby the Los Angeles Times and authenticated by current and former policeofficials. The alleged offenses span dozens of police units andhundreds of officers ranging from beat cops to generals and policechiefs. Officers were punished in some cases, but the vast majority ofoffenses are either still under investigation or were dropped due tolack of evidence or witness testimony.

This news is obviously terrible.  But you have to at least ask whether this is any different than the conduct of some U.S. taxpayer-funded private contractors that are currently stationed in Iraq?

Regardless, some conservatives even encourage this kind of abuse.  Bill O'Reilly said last month on his radio show that this is how he would govern Iraq if he was in charge:

O'REILLY: "So because -- what you have here now is a tipping point in history. A tipping pointin history. So you have to win the Iraq situation. Now, to me,they're not fighting it hard enough. See,if I'm president, I've got probably another 50-60,000 with ordersto shoot on sight anybody violating curfews. Shoot 'em on sight. That's me. PresidentO'Reilly, curfew in Ramadi, 7 o'clock at night. You're on thestreet, you're dead. I shoot you right between the eyes. OK?That's how I'd run that country -- just likeSaddam ran it."

Do these tactics help suppress the insurgency, or do they encourage fatherless children to turn to a life of hatred?  According to President Bush's most recent reason as to why we went to war, the United States is supposed to start a democracy over there.  All of us, including myself, hope that happens.  But when you see disturbing reports about Iraqi security forces, you have to at least ask whether this is what democracy is supposed to look like?

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Other blogs writing about Iraq: Evergreen Politics, Media Matters, Today in Iraq, Ahlel Bayt, Michael Moore, Hammer of the Blogs, Reality-based Educator, War in Context, Like Maria said Paz, A Lady's Ruminations.

Comments

[Mike Roberts]

I don't pretend to know what any other Boomers do or don't think about as they watch what's happening in Iraq. From my perspective, it's pretty easy to take almost every development in Iraq and draw a near-perfect parallel with the problems we ran into in VietNam.

There are some obvious differences in some of the details and rhetoric, but the basics are all the same:

Ingratitude - "we're trying to help these people; why don't they love us?"

Careerism - "a few bad apples are causing all the trouble; this is not a failure of my leadership"

Press Bashing - "media outlets are giving aid and comfort to the enemy; how dare they say we're losing the war when we're winning all the battles?"

The list goes on and on. Last time we found ourselves in this predicament, we had to get through a Constitutional crisis, force a president out of office and spend an entire generation trying to fix it. We'll get through this one too, but I'm willing to bet it gets worse before it gets any better.

[Administrator: Todd]

Very well said.

When I was referring to baby-boomers, I mostly meant my parents and the other boomers that I know personally who opposed the war.

But again, I like what you wrote.