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By: Chris Stevenson
Military's anxious efforts to villify Black Col. last fall now seems clearer since Iraqi detainee abuse has become well-known.

I write this on the assumption that most of you never even heard of Col. Allen West. The best kept secret of the current war. In one of my last essays I compared Abu-Ghraib to the American penal system, other Black commentators have drawn comparisons between the soldiers in those now-infamous photos who are seen smiling and pointing a finger at the Iraqi detainees, to old photos of White Southerners standing next to Blacks hanging from trees at lynchings. There is no mass correlation of the commanding officer being held most-responsible for the abusive behavior at the Iraq prison, Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Ivan "Chip" Frederick, and Col. West, the man who was held responsible for assaulting a detainee August 20th in Taji.

Late last summer West learned from an informant that there was a plot to kill members of his unit as well as himself. The informant cited an Iraqi police officer as being involved as well. West assigned interrogators to detain and pick the Iraqi cop's brain to see who else was involved, but to no avail, West himself went to the detention center, brought the detainee outside shoved him against the wall and fired his 9mm pistol twice near the head of detainee Yahya Jhodri Hamoodi order to scare him. It worked, the officer provided 2 names. Though some of his soldiers were attacked the next day, the information saved American lives. Then something unexpected happened, Col. West was facing charges and possible Courtmartial as a result of the incident.

Staff Sgt Chip Frederick is facing charges as well, Fredericks is a prison guard (I have yet to find reason to call them Corrections Officers) in the state of Virginia. He is charged with striking detainees as well as making them strike each other. The worst is yet to come, what he has done actually crosses the line of abuse to that of perversion (if you seen the photos, no words are necessary). Under his watch one prisoner was photographed with wires attached to his genitals, evidence of attack dogs mauling prisoners are also present. Frederick is qouted by CBS News as stating the dogs were used for "intimidation factors."

These abusers were certainly all-American, filming most of their activity just as many criminals now do in the states, making it even more convenient for the Arab/Muslim world to hate the US, even though former dictator Saddam Hussein once ran that prison in similar fashion. Yes sir folks, democracy in Iraq. Are we having fun yet?

Though the abuses were much more lengthy and severe (in all 10 cases of suspicious deaths over the last 16 months in Iraq and Afghanistan prisons, and still counting), official investigations didn't begin until 4/24, a snails pace when compared to Col. West. Frederick claims he was under pressure from military intelligence, CIA, FBI, and other intelligence agencies (did they tell him to pose for that picture of him sitting on top of a detainee?), and though having no support or training, or a copy of the Geneva Convention, he was told by MI that he was doing a great job. His attorney Gary Myers is quoted as saying "the elixer of power of believing that you're helping the CIA, for God's sake, when you're from a small town in Virginia, that's intoxicating." Sorry Myers, but I left my violin set in the closet.

In spite of the grisly nature of abuses that should open the way for a mental examination of those involved, Sgt. Frederick recieves a lot of support from American citizens, there is even a Free Frederick website. Col. Allen B. West is African American, this story was not picked up by the Black press enmasse, and there was no outcry from any prominent Black leaders during the time of his ordeal. Only conservative radio's Michael Savage-one of a long line of right-wing shock jocks-made this widely known.

Particular attention was focused on taking away Col. Allen's pension. West's retirement I felt should never have been an issue. A 10/31/03 Washington Times story says West's attorney Neal Puckett stated: "Col. West will not resign one day short of his retirement eligibility (amazingly enough 11/1/03)." West was charged by the Staff Judge Advocate of the 4th Infantry div. with communicating a threat, and aggravated assault for firing his pistol to scare a detainee into divulging information. He was facing 8 years in prison max. They gave him an option to either quit short of his 20 year retirement or face charges that could have led to a trial. Puckett said its not unusual to suggest an officer quit rather than face charges. West (42) stands to gain $1 million in pay and health benefits over the rest of his life (he'll need it, his wife is a cancer survivor). General Raymond Odierno may be one of those suspected of wanting Col. West's pension, he approved the 'quit or courtmartial' option.

West did admit in an email to the Times that he did not follow the rules of interrogation which prohibit the threats of force. After some amount of public pressure, the Army decided not to Courtmartial Col. West, having already reported to Maj. Gen. Odierno last 12/12 for a non-judicial proceeding. He eventually recieved a letter of reprimand and a $5000,00 fine. Most conspicuous to me is the timing. Around the time of the Col. West incident, the White house knew about the Iraqi prisoner abuse. They may have been hoping to demonize West in order to ward off the upcoming storm of negative backlash they saw over the horizon regarding any percieved reports of the abusive troops. Who knew they were also taking pictures?

But the issue between the two examples is that West-though admittedly wrong-acted to protect troops in his division from an eminent threat, therefore his tactic was survivor-related, while Frederick's abuse was of an ongoing nature against people who were of no threat whatsoever to them, they were prisoners on lock-down, and in a controlled environment. Abu Ghraib is the environment that is drawing comparisons to many American prisons, due in no small reason to the terrible actions of Ivan Frederick and Spec. Charles A Graner Jr. Like Frederick, Graner is also prison guard, only in his case the Pennsylvania prison system; the State Correctional Institution-Green (SCI-Green) in Waynesburg PA. The state-of-the-art supermax that holds one of the largest death row populations in the world. Among them one of America's best known political prisoners author/commentator and former Black Panther, Mumia Abu-Jamal.

According to an op-ed piece by Jeff Garis in PA's The Call, newspaper, the executive director of Pennsylvania Abolitionist Against the Death Penalty, out of Philadelphia, prisoner abuse at that facility is the norm: "The climate at SCI-Green is part of Graner's background (so is spousal abuse according to papers filed by his former wife Staci, they were divored in 1997)... if Pennsylvania's Department of Corrections took prisoner abuse more seriously, perhaps some of these war crimes would not have occured." SCI-Green staff over the last six years have been cited for hundreds of cases of abuse involving up to 300 prison staff members.

Most people in America can probably accept the "just following orders" that seems to be the company line of Frederick, and Graner, among others involved and their supporters, but today the measure of a good soldier may not always necessarily be how well or often they follow orders, but how well they can think for themselves.

Stevenson is a columnist for the Buffalo Criterion, pointblank also appears in www.voiceoffreedom.com. as well as Black and alternative newspapers across the country. Contact him at pointblankdta@yahoo.com