|
ACLU
sues Rumsfeld, though lawsuit may not be
valid
The
American Civil Liberties Union is making
headlines yet again with a lawsuit that
may not be valid.
The
ACLU has sued Defense Secretary Donald H.
Rumsfeld and three Army commanders on behalf
of former prisoners. They are charging that
the military officials authorized the illegal
interrogation procedures used on prisoners
at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison and other
lesser-known sites in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The
Pentagon countered that "No policies
or procedures approved by the secretary
of Defense were intended as, or could conceivably
have been interpreted as, a policy of abuse,
or as condoning abuse."
The
ACLU is providing a wonderful public service
in its role as a watchdog of the government
— if they have a valid case. Currently,
before they even get the opportunity to
argue the defendants are guilty of the charges,
the prosecution must establish that the
defendants are not entitled to official
immunity and, perhaps more importantly,
that former detainees have grounds to sue
in U.S. courts.
After
all, who can forget the ACLU-backed case
of Elk Grove Unified School District v.
Newdow, in which the prosecutor's attempt
to remove "under God" from the
Pledge of Allegiance made it to the Supreme
Court before Newdow was told that he had
no grounds to sue? There are undoubtedly
better ways to spend taxpayer dollars than
a repeat of that scenario.
America's
leaders should be held accountable for their
decisions. If we can believe the ACLU's
allegations, this lawsuit is a very important
component in maintaining the integrity of
the U.S. government and of our nation's
image overseas. However, if we can believe
the Pentagon's statement, this lawsuit is
entirely frivolous and a complete waste
of our tax money and attention.
If
Rumsfeld is not guilty of the charges, he
should not be held personally responsible
for the acts performed by such low-level
soldiers. Unless he ordered the mistreatment
of detainees, attempting to punish him for
the acts of these soldiers would be akin
to holding President George W. Bush personally
responsible for the actions of every American
citizen — it is unreasonable and it
doesn't make any sense.
If
he knew about the soldiers' actions and
merely overlooked them, he should suffer
the consequences for that failure in leadership;
however, if this is the case, he cannot
and should not be given the same punishments
as the guilty soldiers, just as an accomplice
does not receive the same sentence as the
murderer.
As
it stands, the issue comes down to who can
be trusted more: the Pentagon or the ACLU.
Based on the ACLU's most publicized recent
performances, my bet is on the Pentagon.
As the lawsuit progresses, only time will
tell which group is telling the truth; we
can only hope this will turn out to be a
productive use of our government's time
and our money.
Chenin
Simi is a first year public relations and
Spanish major at CSULB.
|
