Poor Leadership

3 Pages 724 Words

Poor Leadership is
Responsible for Iraqi Prisoner Atrocities

Donald H. McGannon once quoted that “Leadership is action, not position”. The author of a recently published Associated Press article titled “Troops Reprimanded For Abuse”, sited training as the reason for the abuse of prisoner in Iraq. I don’t believe training should be solely blamed as the cause for these atrocities. I believe that poor Leadership is the cause for the behavior US soldiers demonstrated against Iraqi prisoners. These atrocious deeds conducted by a few people have renewed the hatred toward American citizens and our military. As a recently retire Military Policeman from the United States Air Force, I find the actions of a few Army Soldiers to be an abomination against everything I spent twenty-two years protecting. Their actions have tarnished the reputation of every decent American trying to help the Iraqi people. This article sited Seven soldiers, six officers and one enlisted, who have received reprimands and been relieved of their duties for actions resulting from poor leadership. The article slanted the perception of the incident as the lack of training being the key in the actions taken by the guards. I believe even more apprehensible then the people who committed the acts, are the people placed in the leadership role that allowed it happen. In my view, poor command or leadership is the cause of this brutality, not inadequate training.

As a military policeman I was assigned for four months as a guard at Camp X-Ray in Guantanimo Bay Cuba, watching Cuban Migrants. I can attest to the many hours of training that the Army provides its soldiers and anyone working with them, in regards to the protection of prisoners. The training I received from the Army consisted of: one week of book or instructor led lectures, followed by two weeks of hands on teaching inside a mocked-up camp. Once our initial training was complete, we received a...