A real test for the Blog Culture

We've several examples of where blogs, working as a "wolf pack" can be very effective. The issues have tended to be ordinary, partisan political struggles. Blogs sort themselves into the usual political camps, with a few of us in the center trying to stay out of the cross-fire. This is a natural role for a citizen punditry. But a much more challenging test is underway right now. The familiar right vs. left camps are strained, and the issue is emotionally charged. Discussion of American use of torture and mistreatment of prisoners in the War of Terror has been simmering for some time. A lot of bloggers, myself included, have hesitated to get deep into the conversation, nether blogging on it or reading much of what others write. The issue is too painful; we want to support our troops in combat and we'd like to trust our leaders, but its very hard to cast oneself as a supporter of torture. I simply cannot. The most I can do is hope that the worst accusations are false or at least overstated. It is hard to tell, honestly. (The critics of the US military do their argument a disservice when they toss around exaggerated and unsubstantiated stories too easily. We tend to tune it out, like the infamous pronouncements of "Baghdad Bob", and place our trust in the official announcements from the Pentagon). A few bloggers have done the work of digging through the reports and accusations. They are presenting a well-reasoned case that deserves all of our attention. Sadly this issue is not fading away. There is more at work here than a "few bad apples." Greg Djerejian, who I've been reading a lot this week to stay on top of the news from Europe, has been on the torture and mistreatment story from the start. He links this week to what he describes as a "judicious post" from the NeoLibertarians at QandO. Glenn Reynolds linked to the same, calling it "both non-hysterical and well-documented." I'm in full agreement. If those two fine bloggers were not enough to get you over there, will my additional urging do the trick? The many comments range from insightful to insufferable. Skim over them quickly and pick out the gems. There is also a later post at QandO you should see. Among the comment here was one from a friend and fellow Bloginator, Eric Cowperthwaite...

Torture, abuse and murder, whether of prisoners or non-combatants, by members of the military is corrosive and destructive to the morale of the military. It breaks down military discipline. Soldiers become thugs and worse. These soldiers involved in the systematic abuse, torture and murder of prisoners are just as bad as the men of the SS who guarded the concentration camps and formed the Einsatzgruppen and no military organization should tolerate their behavior or presence within their ranks.

Eric is a veteran of 18 years service and Desert Storm, so he knows of what he speaks. I am not a military man, having missed out on a trip to Vietnam by one year, but being old enough to remember the home front battle of that time I sense some parallels. The public made a terrible mistake back then, one that is widely recognized today. The blame for the ugliness and horrors of that conflict fell on the troops. Blame for the overall conduct of the war fell on the political leaders in Washington. The largest problem was between those two, the military leadership. Vietnam veterans like Colin Powell and Norm Schwarzkopf have written about the tragic weakness in the US military hehierarchy at that time. We are a long way from the sorry situation of 35 years ago, but the same error is before us. Somewhere between the East Wing at the White House and the guards at US prisoners facilities, some bad ideas have taken hold. Turning away from the problem out of a sincere but misplaced patriotism or loyalty to the troops will ultimately harm both the war effort and the honor and respect due the troops. Eric puts it well.

I’m proud of my service, proud of the military and proud of what this country stands for. The men, women and units that have behaved in this abominable fashion neither deserve the appellation of soldier nor to continue their military service.

Eric doesn't mention the leadership explicitly, but earlier in the thread, McQ at QandO puts it clearly:

We’ve argued that the occurrences are more than random and speaks to a very apparent lack of leadership or at least emphasis by leadership. That’s not an indictment of all of the leaders, or the administration, or even most of the leaders. It’s an indictment of those leaders charged with the custody of prisoners in various locales. They’ve not done the job. And they’ve either disregarded guidance or ignored it. They’ve also either been ignorant of the activities or implicitly condoned them. That’s unacceptable.

"Unacceptable" I'll add, not because some "lefty" bloggers or European beaurbureaucratst like it, but because it brings underundeservedrace on the rest of our military and the country and ultimately hurts our overall political effort. Someone made a strategic error, placing the potential for short-term intelligence gain (which is suspect, imho) over the long-term strategic effort and over the fundamental principals for which Americans have always fought. We like to think that blogs are a big deal, and will become even more so, but we need to demonstrate that we can handle a tough issue without dissolving into overly politicized noise. Unquestioning loyalty to a political administration, over the best interests of our war effort and the troops, is what gave us the tragic result in Vietnam. If intelligent and thoughtful bloggers can help steer the national discussion away from political witchwitch huntsblind defensiveness, towards a sober and focusfocusedstigation and response, we'll have demonstrated that the citizen media can matter on the big issues too.