American “Exceptionalism” and Historical Whitewashing

Retired Army General Anthony Taguba has an interesting family history piece out today that was clearly written as a celebration of the best of the American immigrant experience. What Taguba did not mention in his piece, and what many Americans have forgotten, is that he wrote the report exposing the American military’s torture machine at Abu Ghraib, Iraq.

On this day, when Americans celebrate our revolt against a British imperial government that flagrantly and routinely violated the rights of citizens, it’s worth remembering how readily our own government slipped into barbarism in a time of war. As Taguba noted in his report:

“…that the intentional abuse of detainees by military police personnel included the following acts:

a. (S) Punching, slapping, and kicking detainees; jumping on their naked feet;

b. (S) Videotaping and photographing naked male and female detainees;

c. (S) Forcibly arranging detainees in various sexually explicit positions for photographing;

d. (S) Forcing detainees to remove their clothing and keeping them naked for several days at a time;

e. (S) Forcing naked male detainees to wear women’s underwear;

f. (S) Forcing groups of male detainees to masturbate themselves while being photographed and videotaped;

g. (S) Arranging naked male detainees in a pile and then jumping on them;

h. (S) Positioning a naked detainee on a MRE Box, with a sandbag on his head, and attaching wires to his fingers, toes, and penis to simulate electric torture;

i. (S) Writing “I am a Rapest” (sic) on the leg of a detainee alleged to have forcibly raped a 15-year old fellow detainee, and then photographing him naked;

j. (S) Placing a dog chain or strap around a naked detainee’s neck and having a female Soldier pose for a picture;

k. (S) A male MP guard having sex with a female detainee;

l. (S) Using military working dogs (without muzzles) to intimidate and frighten detainees, and in at least one case biting and severely injuring a detainee;

m. (S) Taking photographs of dead Iraqi detainees. (ANNEXES 25 and 26)”

A proper celebration of America’s Independence Day should include a commitment to forever renounce the use of the tools of terror, coercion and torture against other human beings.