Soldier Who Reported Abuse Did Not Seek Limelight, Friends Say

[TacticalPeek]

Soldier Who Reported Abuse Did Not Seek Limelight, Friends Say

By David B. Caruso Associated Press Writer

Published: May 9, 2004


The military policeman who blew the whistle on fellow soldiers who were photographed abusing Iraqi detainees has an independent streak and knew "right from wrong," say people who know him.

Spc. Joe Darby was commended in a military report for promptly alerting superiors after discovering photographs of fellow 372nd Military Police Company personnel taking part in abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison.

Darby, 24, who is still on duty overseas, "didn't worry about what people thought," said Robert Ewing, Darby's history teacher and football coach at North Star High in Jennings, Pa. "He wasn't one that went along with his peers."

Darby's tip led to an investigation of prisoner abuse that has outraged Arabs around the world and changed the tenor of America's war effort in Iraq.

more
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGABJI8F1UD.html

[boxster]

1. The part of this that really sucks is that THIS guy is the real hero,

yet he's likely to be chastised and ostracized for it. If I were him, I'd be asking for an honorable discharge immediately.

This guy singlehandedly changed the way people look at the war and brought the world's focus on the inequality between who we claim to be and who we actually are. He exposed the war for what it really is.

He very likely changed the future for millions and changed our society at the same time.

How many people ever have that opportunity?

[TacticalPeek]

8. An Army of one.

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

[drfemoe]

2. <snip> Not everybody went along.

A company captain in a military-police unit in Baghdad told me last week that he was approached by a junior intelligence officer who requested that his M.P.s keep a group of detainees awake around the clock until they began talking. “I said, ‘No, we will not do that,’” the captain said. “The M.I. commander comes to me and says, ‘What is the problem? We’re stressed, and all we are asking you to do is to keep them awake.’ I ask, ‘How? You’ve received training on that, but my soldiers don’t know how to do it. And when you ask an eighteen-year-old kid to keep someone awake, and he doesn’t know how to do it, he’s going to get creative.’” The M.I. officer took the request to the captain’s commander, but, the captain said, “he backed me up.

“It’s all about people. The M.P.s at Abu Ghraib were failed by their commanders—both low-ranking and high,” the captain said. “The system is broken—no doubt about it. But the Army is made up of people, and we’ve got to depend on them to do the right thing.”
...
http://newyorker.com/fact/content/?040517fa_fact2

[cal04]

3. Had courage to tell the truth

Maryland reservist sent note, pix to brass




http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/191681p-165680c.html

[SemperEadem]

4. Spc. Joe Darby-- A true American hero

He should be promoted immediately for having the integrity to know the difference between right and wrong and acting upon it. He is a leader, not a weak-minded follower, which are what the torturers all are--they are not fit to wear the American uniform.

Gee, how it is that the concepts of the Geneva Convention didn't get past him, but got past the others? INTEGRITY.

[nadinbrzezinski]

Evil prevails when men and women of good consicence

refuse to speak up

Specialist Darby you get the man of consicence award for the year... and so do the rest who spoke and were named in the taquba report.

Sir, my hat is off to you, not the pieces of shit wiht stars on their shoulders, REFUSING to take responsibility

[goclark]

5. He needs full time guards

and the purple heart for his brave deed.
He is what real soldiers are about,not raping and beatings.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. No, not the purple heart

he did not get injured

But the Bronze Star, even if this is not a combat op, may apply

At the very least the Army Commendation Medal

Oh and fast tracked to promotion to at least Sergeant First Class... forget Sergeant

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

7. I wonder is there a place we can send letters of support for this guy. EOM

[drfemoe]

9. PA Hometown

http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1876015

Profile of Iraq Abuse Whistleblower Joseph Darby
Morning Edition audio

May 7, 2004 -- NPR's Ari Shapiro reports from the hometown of Joseph Darby, the army specialist responsible for bringing the abuse of Iraqi prisoners to light. In the small Pennsylvania town of Jenners, Darby's former neighbors and teachers agree he always stood up for his beliefs.

Read the Report
» Read the U.S. Military's Report on Prisoner Abuse at Abu Ghraib Prison.

[cosmicone]

10. Give the man a medal!

This man better represents an American soldier's values and courage.

[drfemoe]

11. The whistleblower

<snipped from very long article>
It was Darby, an automobile mechanic in his civilian life, who became deeply troubled after looking at a CD that included dozens of photographs -- prisoners naked and piled on the floor, detainees masturbating, another with his face wrapped in a women's panties. After seeing the photographs, he blew the whistle on the abuse.

According to a story in the Los Angeles Times, Darby copied the photos onto his computer, and then slid an anonymous letter under the door of the office of the Army's Criminal Investigative Division in January. On Jan. 13, Darby came forward and gave investigators a sworn statement.

Because of what he did, seven members of the 372nd now faces charges of abusing detainees at the Abu Ghraib. England was charged by the military Friday with allegedly assaulting detainees and conspiring to mistreat them. She is in restricted custody at Fort Bragg, N.C.

In nearby Cumberland, Md., where many of the 372nd members live, Darby is now a controversial figure.

"Darby's going to be shunned," said Tanya Vargas, 29, a former weekend reservist with the 372nd. "He's going to be blackballed. His life is in jeopardy, because he's a snitch. I hope they have protection for him."

References in the Taguba report to the actions of the 320th, and interviews with some of its members, paints a portrait of a unit unprepared for its mission guarding Iraqi prisoners. Some members expressed bitterness at the enormity of their assigned tasks at Camp Bucca and Abu Ghraib, and said they dealt almost daily with dangerous situations in which they felt understaffed and overwhelmed.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-prison0509,0,3023002.story?coll=ny-homepage-big-pix