M.P. Joseph Darby ...

[DVW5150]

The M.P. that released the photos of prisoners at Abu Graib prison . He was handed two discs by a fellow gaurd . He was unaware of the contents of the discs until he viewed them on his computer . He saw the the photos of the gaurds standing behind prisoners in a human pyramid . Pvt England with a leash around the neck of a prisoner lying on the floor , some others that are unmentionable . To him , it was not the job of M.P.s to humiliate prisoners to 'soften' them .It was abhorent behavior in his opinion . He dropped the disc off at C.I.D. , thought that was that . But Donald Rumsfeld mentioned his name in a congressional hearing . The Army took imediate action investigating it , but didnt remove the 7 gaurds responsible for 3 weeks . During that time M.P. Darby slept w. a side arm under his pillow . He is now living in a undisclosed location ... His hometown of Cumberland Maryland hates him , calls him a traitor .His wife recieved death threats , he was advised by command that , after a security assessment , he shouldnt go home . Do you think hes' a traitor ? Do you think he did the wrong thing ? Or do you think it was correct action to report the treatment of prisoners at Abu Graib ?

[Philly_SWAT]

This is a very tough question for me to answer. One the one hand, I have never been in the military, so I am not familiar with codes of conduct, or "unwritten codes" about not narcing on your fellow soldiers. On the other hand, when the US is supposed to be proclaiming moral superiority to the rest of the world, the behavior at Abu Grabe does not seem to fit into that mold. I am sure Americans would be outraged if they saw American prisoners being treated that way. If anything, it seems blame should be laid on the officers in charge at Aby Grabe, who at the least were negligant in their duties about what was happening under their command, or at worst, actively encouraging such behavior, and then throwing soldiers beneath them under the bus.

[ProfessorChaos]

That guy is not a traitor, he's an example of the core values a soldier/airman/sailor/Marine is supposed to represent. He saw a bunch of pictures showing a bunch of assholes doing something that they KNEW they shouldn't be doing. He did the right thing and forwarded this to his superiors, so that actions could be taken to punish those responsible and prevent any further incidents of this sort of crap. If we were to allow ourselves to behave this way and not stand up for what we believe to be right, how are we any better than our enemies?

[coma]

That guy is not a traitor, he's an example of the core values a soldier/airman/sailor/Marine is supposed to represent. He saw a bunch of pictures showing a bunch of assholes doing something that they KNEW they shouldn't be doing. He did the right thing and forwarded this to his superiors, so that actions could be taken to punish those responsible and prevent any further incidents of this sort of crap. If we were to allow ourselves to behave this way and not stand up for what we believe to be right, how are we any better than our enemies? I agree. Moreover he represents the core values of humanity, at least the way it shouldbe. Too many are willing to be a petty timpot dictator with the smallest of encouragement. And it seems as if they were very much encouraged. No one should have to tell you ritualized torture and sexual degradation is wrong. You are obligated to, at the least, attempt to stop behavior that is morally wrong. That was not a couple of guys getting heated in a battlefield, or a couple of slaps.I don't see how forcing guys to rub their dicks on each other is going to advance anything. It takes balls to stand up to a machine like that in any capacity So, yes, he did the right thing. And no good deed goes unpunished.

[DVW5150]

I agree. Moreover he represents the core values of humanity, at least the way it shouldbe. Too many are willing to be a petty timpot dictator with the smallest of encouragement. And it seems as if they were very much encouraged. No one should have to tell you ritualized torture and sexual degradation is wrong. You are obligated to, at the least, attempt to stop behavior that is morally wrong. That was not a couple of guys getting heated in a battlefield, or a couple of slaps.I don't see how forcing guys to rub their dicks on each other is going to advance anything. It takes balls to stand up to a machine like that in any capacity So, yes, he did the right thing. And no good deed goes unpunished. Amen ... I am glad to see responses like this . It is a shame that the VFW post in Cumberland MD where Darby is from , calls him a traitor . I would do the same thing if I were in his boots .Incidently , I saw a report on Sundays 60 minutes , which coaxed me into bringing this up . As this reminds me in a strange way about the film "Casualties of War" , where a soldier of a squad in the Vietnam war must deal with a rotten hearted Sgt that approves the raping of a vietnamese girl ... No good deed goes unpunished indeed .

[Cykotic]

As far as I'm concerned, anyone who calls this guy a traitor should be shot. He did the right thing to expose what was going on there and how dare anyone say that he didn't do the right thing. It just proves once again that Donald Rumsfeld is a stupid, good for nothing asshole.

[Dropper]

Yeah, it's a sad situation. He couldn't even go home. The DOD did a study of the area and found that there was a good chance that he would be harrassed and maybe even be the subject of criminal activity. All because he turned in criminals while doing his job. I also saw the 60 Minutes story last night. It was a very compelling piece. He's a good man who did a good thing. I loved this particular exchange... "There's still a lot of people though that'll say 'Look, you know, so what they did this. You know, Saddam did things that were much worse,'" Cooper remarks. "We're Americans, we're not Saddam," Darby says. "We hold ourselves to a higher standard. Our soldiers hold themselves to a higher standard." Here's a link to the 60 Minutes article on CBS' website... http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/...n2238188.shtml

[Dawg]

The man did the right thing. That whole bull$hit about sticking by your fellow soldiers doesn't fly when those so-called soldiers are on the wrong side of the law. What happens to those who don't stand up and make the world know the wrong that some evil people do? They could just as well be thrown into the mix themselves and become defendents in their own eventual trial(s) for being silent and going along with it. He had a duty to report them, end of story. Dawg