I had to miss class Wednesday for being sick, you guys were talking about Impunity. Can anyone sort of summarize the lesson?
Diane Rehm had a talk about Loyalty on the radio today with author Eric Felten. What an important quality it is but how easily abused. Although groups function much better with loyalty, the more loyal you are to a person, group, community, or institution, the more willing you will be to overlook abuse and crime. It seems appropriate to the discussion of impunity.
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-04-28/eric-felten-loyalty-vexing-virtue
In the interview, they talk about Calvin Gibbs, the staff sergeant who was charged last year of murder of Afghan civilians. Supposedly he did this for fun and even got his unit to participate, but no one ever ratted him out, they were so loyal to him.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/world/asia/05gibbs.html
¡Finzamos!
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3 comments:
We read from the book that she brought to class, like acting out a play. The story in it had talk about impunity.
First, I would like to say that I do not in any way condone or defend the alleged actions of these people. However, I have read a lot about loyalty among soldiers and police officers, and know a little bit about it first hand. You are taught that these people are your brothers, and that the only way you will live through combat conditions is if everyone helps each other, and everyone watches everyone else's back. You are taught that anyone who is not a soldier/police officer cannot understand what happens to you, and that you are a better/stronger person than them. You are the shepherd, they are the sheep, and the enemy is the wolf. Also, if someone does do something crazy, and you try to accuse them without having real proof, it can destabilize the whole unit, and get people killed. Think of it like this. You and your family live together in a war zone, and sometimes some of you go out to try to engage the enemy and protect innocent people. When those people come back in, your brother tells you that your father murdered someone. Your father denies it. What do you do? Who do you believe? Things are crazy over there, not just open and closed. Lack of mental health evaluations/support, long and multiple deployments, all of these things are making it more common for people to flip out and do something crazy before they are noticed or stopped. When you fight a war like this, against insurgents in another country, you have almost no way of determining who the real combatants are. I recommend this book on the subject.
"Jungle of snakes : a century of counterinsurgency warfare from the Philippines to Iraq" / James R. Arnold.
Thanks, Doug. Definitely. The situation with the sergeant is complicated. It should have been completely clear cut because they were actually seeing and participating first hand in what was being done--proof--which was obviously immoral and illegal. In this case I'm sure fatigue and lack of support could have played a part. In fact, the Times article supports that, highlighting fear as the principle reason why no one spoke out, whereas Felten said it was merely a matter of loyalty. Makes me question the argument too.
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