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| Major General Antonio Taguba was forced to retire. |
For Major General Antonio Taguba it was the beginning of the end of his military career.
Taguba was the second highest ranking Filipino American soldier and would still be in the Army if not given an impossible mission.
In 2004, he was assigned to investigate the alleged use of torture in the military prison known as Abu Ghraib where prisoners of war were detained by the U.S. military and grilled for any information that might be useful in the Iraq War.
His report confirmed that some members of the military were using torture on their prisoners. When asked by high-ranking administration officials and his military superiors if there was torture or was it just a case of abuse, Taguba recalled in an excellent New Yorker article, "I described a naked detainee lying on the wet floor, handcuffed, with an interrogator shoving things up his rectum, and said, 'That's not abuse. That's torture.' There was quiet."
The Bush administration didn't like what Taguba found. They didn't like that Taguba was being hailed by the media as a hero. When he walked into a meeting with these same officials, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld mockingly declared, "Here ... comes ... the ... famous General Taguba ... of the Taguba Report."
Shortlly after his 2004 meeting with Rumsfeld, Taguba told writer Seymour Hirsch an incident as he rode in chauffeured sedan with Gen. John Abiszid, then the head of Central Command. Abiszid told Taguba, "You and your report will be investigated."
"I''d been in the Army 32 years by then," Taguba told Hirsch. "and it was the first time I felt I was in the Mafia."
It became clear to Taguba that his days in his beloved Army were numbered. In 2006, he was told - without any explanation - to retire the following year after 34 years of service.
The Taguba Report and the incriminating photos angered the Arab world. They embarrassed the U.S. military and the White House and ticked off his superiors. Through it all, Taguba remained steadfast in his conclusions:
"From the moment a soldier enlists, we inculcate loyalty, duty, honor, integrity, and selfless service," Taguba said. "We violated the tenets of the Geneva Convention. We violated our own principles and we violated the core of our military values."
In 2008, Taguba wrote, "There is no longer any doubt that the (Bush) administration committed war crimes. The only question is whether those who ordered torture will be held to account."
To date, no one in the Bush administration has been cited for their involvement, knowledge or encouragement of the use of torture when interrogating prisoners.
October is Filipino American History Month. President Obama should give Taguba the Presidential Medal of Freedom for upholding the values of the U.S. military, for his service to his country and for his honesty.
His report confirmed that some members of the military were using torture on their prisoners. When asked by high-ranking administration officials and his military superiors if there was torture or was it just a case of abuse, Taguba recalled in an excellent New Yorker article, "I described a naked detainee lying on the wet floor, handcuffed, with an interrogator shoving things up his rectum, and said, 'That's not abuse. That's torture.' There was quiet."
The Bush administration didn't like what Taguba found. They didn't like that Taguba was being hailed by the media as a hero. When he walked into a meeting with these same officials, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld mockingly declared, "Here ... comes ... the ... famous General Taguba ... of the Taguba Report."
Shortlly after his 2004 meeting with Rumsfeld, Taguba told writer Seymour Hirsch an incident as he rode in chauffeured sedan with Gen. John Abiszid, then the head of Central Command. Abiszid told Taguba, "You and your report will be investigated."
"I''d been in the Army 32 years by then," Taguba told Hirsch. "and it was the first time I felt I was in the Mafia."
It became clear to Taguba that his days in his beloved Army were numbered. In 2006, he was told - without any explanation - to retire the following year after 34 years of service.
The Taguba Report and the incriminating photos angered the Arab world. They embarrassed the U.S. military and the White House and ticked off his superiors. Through it all, Taguba remained steadfast in his conclusions:
"From the moment a soldier enlists, we inculcate loyalty, duty, honor, integrity, and selfless service," Taguba said. "We violated the tenets of the Geneva Convention. We violated our own principles and we violated the core of our military values."
In 2008, Taguba wrote, "There is no longer any doubt that the (Bush) administration committed war crimes. The only question is whether those who ordered torture will be held to account."
To date, no one in the Bush administration has been cited for their involvement, knowledge or encouragement of the use of torture when interrogating prisoners.
October is Filipino American History Month. President Obama should give Taguba the Presidential Medal of Freedom for upholding the values of the U.S. military, for his service to his country and for his honesty.
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