Almost half of surveyed troops say torture OK
By Kimberly Johnson and Kelly Kennedy - Staff writers, Army Times
Posted : Saturday May 5, 2007 15:12:23 EDT
More than 40 percent of soldiers and Marines who recently served in the war zone believe torture should be allowed if it would save the life of a comrade, according to a 2006 military mental health assessment.
In addition, less than half the 1,350 soldiers and only about one-third of the nearly 450 Marines polled anonymously in Iraq from August to October 2006 told members of Mental Health Advisory Team IV they believe all noncombatants should be treated with dignity and respect.
The team was commissioned by U.S. Central Command. A copy of the team’s findings was obtained by Army Times April 30, and then released to the public May 4 at a Pentagon news briefing.
READ THE FULL BRIEFING HERE
“They looked under every rock, and what they found was not easy to look at,” S. Ward Casscells III, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said at the briefing. “What they’re doing now is trying to find how we can do better.”
The study also found that 36 percent of soldiers and 39 percent of Marines believe torture should be allowed to gather information about insurgents, and 17 percent said all noncombatants should be treated as insurgents.
Of surveyed soldiers, 4 percent reported hitting or kicking noncombatants when it was not necessary; among Marines, 7 percent reported doing so.
This is the first time questions about ethics have been asked during any combat situation, Pentagon officials said, adding that the questions came at the request of Army Gen. George Casey, the former senior U.S. commander in Iraq who recently took over as Army chief of staff.
Maj. Gen. Gale Pollock, acting Army Surgeon General, said she tried to put herself in the service members’ shoes when considering the assessment team’s findings.
“If someone killed or injured my husband, would I be angry? Yes,” she said. “These men and women have been seeing their friends injured, and I think having that thought is normal.”
But acting on such thoughts, she said, is not acceptable.
The military needs to enhance its training to ensure service members don’t do so, she said.
Service members who had spent the most time in combat were most likely to hurt innocent people, the study showed.
Col. Carl Castro, one of the study’s authors, said most service members are “very astute” and know that if they injure an innocent Iraqi, they’ll have problems the next time they go outside the wire.
More soldiers than Marines said they would report a fellow unit member for injuring or killing a noncombatant, 55 percent versus 40 percent. But the Marine percentage, said Rear Adm. Richard Jeffries, Medical Officer of the Marine Corps, is not low enough.
“The Marine Corps is concerned this may be significant,” he said. “One incident is too many.”
He said the Marine Corps and Army had already begun making changes in training in anticipation of the results of the study.
Castro’s team recommended shorter tours and at least 18 to 36 months down time at home between tours. “We know the longer a soldier is deployed, the more likely he is to have a mental health issue,” he said. “Of course, we’re very concerned about it.”
But Pollock said the current reality makes shortened tours and lengthened home time im possible.
“We realize longer dwell time is important. [But] the Army is spread very thin and we need it to be a larger force. … I believe with the increase in soldiers we will be able to increase the dwell time,” she said, referring to current plans to add tens of thousands of active-duty soldiers to the ranks.
She acknowledged that may be a long time in coming, and said the ultimate solution is that “ideally, the wars around the world would stop.”
The study’s findings did not surprise at least one military legal expert. “It’s only natural that people are going to support and defend each other, with their life if they have too,” said Matthew Freedus, adviser for the Washington-based National Institute of Military Justice.
What is troubling, Freedus noted, was the baseline account that, at most, little more than half of soldiers would be willing to turn in a fellow soldier for injuring or killing a noncombatant.
“There needs to be better training at the front end so people don’t think it is inconsistent to report,” he said.
Freedus acknowledged the significant challenges in going up against that “circle the wagons” attitude. “It’s a cultural thing to some degree, and you can’t train that out of people,” he said.
Among those surveyed, 29 percent of soldiers and 31 percent of Marines had been deployed to Iraq two or more times. The study showed that deployment length and family separation were top noncombat concerns for soldiers and that “Marines had fewer noncombat deployment concerns, perhaps due to shorter deployment lengths.”
Marines typically serve seven-month deployments; soldiers had been serving one-year tours, though that recently was increased to 15 months.
The 2006 Operation Iraqi Freedom adjusted suicide rate was 17.3 per 100,000 soldiers, versus the Army-wide average of 11.6. Marine Corps suicide rates were not included in the study.
Pollock said suicide training would be implemented in theater, as well as better leadership training.
The study’s findings underscore the need for on-site counseling and rest and recuperation time, said retired Army Maj. Gen. Robert Scales. Issues raised, however, don’t necessarily reflect leadership, but instead the need for attention to the psychological and human element of combat readiness, Scales said.
“there’s not enough that’s being done for mental conditioning” going into combat, he said.
The study’s findings point to a larger issue, he added. “If you read through the lines here, you will see the crucible of battle. When you fight the long war, regenerating that crucible of courage and morale has to be done more and more.”
“Every soldier and Marine knows what’s right, but once combat fatigue sets in, that starts to fall away,” he said.
Link
By Kimberly Johnson and Kelly Kennedy - Staff writers, Army Times
Posted : Saturday May 5, 2007 15:12:23 EDT
More than 40 percent of soldiers and Marines who recently served in the war zone believe torture should be allowed if it would save the life of a comrade, according to a 2006 military mental health assessment.
In addition, less than half the 1,350 soldiers and only about one-third of the nearly 450 Marines polled anonymously in Iraq from August to October 2006 told members of Mental Health Advisory Team IV they believe all noncombatants should be treated with dignity and respect.
The team was commissioned by U.S. Central Command. A copy of the team’s findings was obtained by Army Times April 30, and then released to the public May 4 at a Pentagon news briefing.
READ THE FULL BRIEFING HERE
“They looked under every rock, and what they found was not easy to look at,” S. Ward Casscells III, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said at the briefing. “What they’re doing now is trying to find how we can do better.”
The study also found that 36 percent of soldiers and 39 percent of Marines believe torture should be allowed to gather information about insurgents, and 17 percent said all noncombatants should be treated as insurgents.
Of surveyed soldiers, 4 percent reported hitting or kicking noncombatants when it was not necessary; among Marines, 7 percent reported doing so.
This is the first time questions about ethics have been asked during any combat situation, Pentagon officials said, adding that the questions came at the request of Army Gen. George Casey, the former senior U.S. commander in Iraq who recently took over as Army chief of staff.
Maj. Gen. Gale Pollock, acting Army Surgeon General, said she tried to put herself in the service members’ shoes when considering the assessment team’s findings.
“If someone killed or injured my husband, would I be angry? Yes,” she said. “These men and women have been seeing their friends injured, and I think having that thought is normal.”
But acting on such thoughts, she said, is not acceptable.
The military needs to enhance its training to ensure service members don’t do so, she said.
Service members who had spent the most time in combat were most likely to hurt innocent people, the study showed.
Col. Carl Castro, one of the study’s authors, said most service members are “very astute” and know that if they injure an innocent Iraqi, they’ll have problems the next time they go outside the wire.
More soldiers than Marines said they would report a fellow unit member for injuring or killing a noncombatant, 55 percent versus 40 percent. But the Marine percentage, said Rear Adm. Richard Jeffries, Medical Officer of the Marine Corps, is not low enough.
“The Marine Corps is concerned this may be significant,” he said. “One incident is too many.”
He said the Marine Corps and Army had already begun making changes in training in anticipation of the results of the study.
Castro’s team recommended shorter tours and at least 18 to 36 months down time at home between tours. “We know the longer a soldier is deployed, the more likely he is to have a mental health issue,” he said. “Of course, we’re very concerned about it.”
But Pollock said the current reality makes shortened tours and lengthened home time im possible.
“We realize longer dwell time is important. [But] the Army is spread very thin and we need it to be a larger force. … I believe with the increase in soldiers we will be able to increase the dwell time,” she said, referring to current plans to add tens of thousands of active-duty soldiers to the ranks.
She acknowledged that may be a long time in coming, and said the ultimate solution is that “ideally, the wars around the world would stop.”
The study’s findings did not surprise at least one military legal expert. “It’s only natural that people are going to support and defend each other, with their life if they have too,” said Matthew Freedus, adviser for the Washington-based National Institute of Military Justice.
What is troubling, Freedus noted, was the baseline account that, at most, little more than half of soldiers would be willing to turn in a fellow soldier for injuring or killing a noncombatant.
“There needs to be better training at the front end so people don’t think it is inconsistent to report,” he said.
Freedus acknowledged the significant challenges in going up against that “circle the wagons” attitude. “It’s a cultural thing to some degree, and you can’t train that out of people,” he said.
Among those surveyed, 29 percent of soldiers and 31 percent of Marines had been deployed to Iraq two or more times. The study showed that deployment length and family separation were top noncombat concerns for soldiers and that “Marines had fewer noncombat deployment concerns, perhaps due to shorter deployment lengths.”
Marines typically serve seven-month deployments; soldiers had been serving one-year tours, though that recently was increased to 15 months.
The 2006 Operation Iraqi Freedom adjusted suicide rate was 17.3 per 100,000 soldiers, versus the Army-wide average of 11.6. Marine Corps suicide rates were not included in the study.
Pollock said suicide training would be implemented in theater, as well as better leadership training.
The study’s findings underscore the need for on-site counseling and rest and recuperation time, said retired Army Maj. Gen. Robert Scales. Issues raised, however, don’t necessarily reflect leadership, but instead the need for attention to the psychological and human element of combat readiness, Scales said.
“there’s not enough that’s being done for mental conditioning” going into combat, he said.
The study’s findings point to a larger issue, he added. “If you read through the lines here, you will see the crucible of battle. When you fight the long war, regenerating that crucible of courage and morale has to be done more and more.”
“Every soldier and Marine knows what’s right, but once combat fatigue sets in, that starts to fall away,” he said.
Link
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