Major General Antonio Taguba: Man of Truth
It was just more than a week after the ghosts of Abu Ghraib came back to life. An article in The New Yorker revealed that the general who investigated the prisoner abuses in Abu Ghraib was forced to retire because he had been “overzealous.”
Retired Major General Antonio Taguba spoke before a sold-out crowd of about 300 at the Commonwealth Club of California on Monday evening. They came to hear him speak about the lessons of Abu Ghraib. But it was the revelations in The New Yorker article by Seymour Hersh that were on everyone’s mind – how Pentagon officials, including then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld treated him brusquely after the investigation into the prison abuses that shocked the world, how he was told in 2006, to retire within a year, without explanation.
In his speech, Taguba noted that after three years of congressional hearings, countless books and articles, and about half a dozen solders imprisoned, no high-ranking official has been held accountable for the unconscionable abuses in Abu Ghraib prison.
“Abu Ghraib was not an exaggeration, nor was it just a bunch of rogue soldiers who acted independently in committing hideous criminal acts in a time of war,” Taguba said. “I suspected that they were influenced or instructed by senior officials who were acting from higher authorities on written or verbal guidance, most likely classified.”
Raising questions on the policy of cruel treatment of enemy detainees, which is part of a flawed military tribunal system, Taguba told his audience, “There seems to be a tacit acceptance in our country, most notably in the Executive branch of government that cruel treatment of enemy prisoners is allowable.”
Taguba paid tribute to Sergeant Joseph Darby, whom he described as not-necessarily a model soldier, but his hero nonetheless. Darby was the whistleblower who alerted the US Army about the abuses against Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib in January 2004, by providing a CD containing hundreds of pictures to his superior. The pictures triggered the investigation that Taguba completed in May 2004.
Darby is deemed a rat and treated as a pariah in his own hometown of Cumberland, Maryland. “For those like Darby and most recently, the interrogators who came forward to talk about torture and abuse, it is almost a contradiction to think that integrity and truth can become a crime,” Taguba said.
“Darby and few others found their moral compass. wonder if those in positions of power, past and present, will find theirs and account for their actions or inaction.”
He urged America to make amends all over the world for the prison abuses he exposed three years ago and vowed to do his share should he be in a position of influence. Choking back tears as he remembered the soldiers who worked with him, he said, “I will help to seek some form of redemption in restoring the trust and confidence of our citizens. I say that because I owe a great deal to the wonderful soldiers and families whom I will never forget.”
Many of those who were moved by the general’s remarks could not resist the chance to tell him so face-to-face. Francis De Leon, a young Filipino-American from the East Bay said before getting an autograph, “I think he knew that when he was in the middle of it, that it was the end for his career. I think if he didn’t do it, no one else would.”
Filipino-American leader Perry Diaz, who drove all the way from Sacramento for the event, said he was inspired by Taguba’s candor.
A former American VA nurse also joined the throng that lined up to shake the generals’ hand, “I want to tell him that I’m a VA nurse who was let go in a similar fashion, I want to thank him and tell him that he’s a hero.”
What lies ahead for the general who told the truth and suffered for it? Taguba told this reporter, “I’m looking for employment, I’m in the process now of finding one and hopefully if I can contribute to our Filipino community and the rest of the country in restoring the faith in this nation, I’ll do it.”
Now that he’s a private citizen and no longer following orders, Taguba is looking at a wide range of possibilities. His most important mission at the moment is to help rally support for the passage of the Veterans Equity Bill, which would benefit Filipino World War II veterans. While in the Bay Area, Taguba also met with Filipino veterans, who are eagerly awaiting developments on the proposed legislation that would give them recognition and pension benefits. The general is expected to be among the veterans’ advocates at a crucial mark-up meeting of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee in Washington DC.
On Wednesday, committee members will determine how much pension to give the surviving 18,155 veterans.
His honesty and courage cost him his military career. But General Taguba is still in the frontlines, this time, on behalf of Filipino veterans, who like him, were deprived of the recognition they deserved. (By Ging Reyes – abs-cbn news)
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