Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

While acknowledging that his unit was close knit and comprised of many members from small town backgrounds, when he made his flabbergasted discovery Joe Darby concluded that there was only one thing to do.

"I knew these people were going to prison," Darby told interviewer Anderson Cooper.  He believed that their conduct justified such a result.

While Darby's courageous effort resulted in his receiving a Profiles in Courage Award from Senator Edward Kennedy and President John F. Kennedy's daughter Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, the response to his action was notably different in his hometown of Cumberland, Maryland, a military town with many angry citizens who believed that Darby had betrayed his fellow soldiers.

A key element of the segment involved Anderson Cooper's interview of Colin Engelbach, the commander of the Cumberland Veterans of Foreign Wars post, who stated bluntly what townsfolk were calling Darby.

"He was a rat," Engelbach said.  "He was a traitor.  He let his unit down.  He let his fellow soldiers down and the U.S. military.  Basically he was no good."

Anderson then asked Engelbach if he agreed with that aforementioned assessment, the VFW commander responded, "I agree that his actions that he did were no good and borderline traitor, yes."

The following dialogue then ensued.

"What he says in his defense is, `Look.  I'm an MP.  And this is something which was illegal," Cooper commented.

"Right.  But do you put the enemy above your buddies?  I wouldn't," Engelbach replied.

Engelbach's comments are reminiscent of hard-core Nazi prisoners of war interrogated by U.S. forces during World War Two.  Americans participating in those interviews were appalled by the intransigent and often-robotic mindset of Germans who would not see beyond the cause for which Germany then stood.

For Engelbach's information, all service personnel take an oath of allegiance to the country and the United States Constitution.  On one level Engelbach's sick words sounded like intransigent Nixon and McCarthy followers in the fifties who believed that anyone who crossed their heroes was disloyal.

On another level Engelbach's pathetic comments sounded like dialogue from the popular television crime series "The Sopranos."  Rather than sounding like someone intent on following the law, Engelbach's bitter words are reminiscent of a mob figure behind bars emphatically refusing to "rat on my brothers outside."  

While all members of the military are duty bound to follow the Constitution, Engelbach and those who agree with him fall more into the category of adhering to the Mafia's code of silence known as omerta.

Darby was perceived as being in such acute danger after revealing information that ultimately led to the trial and imprisonment of six of the seven guards captured on film abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib that the Army warned him that his life was in danger if he returned home to Cumberland, Maryland.

As a result of his brave action in seeking to preserve the very Constitution that the Republican right claims to hold sacrosanct, Joe Darby has become a victim.  He was compelled to leave the community where he spent almost his entire life and live in another town that he did not divulge for fear of reprisal aimed at himself and his family.

Darby revealed that bodyguards protected him for almost six months.  Are those who hate him behaving as vigilant defenders of law and order or as vindictive thugs dominated by thoughts of hatred and revenge?

An exchange of dialogue between Anderson Cooper and Joe Darby at the close of the segment put the issue of ultimate responsibility in clear perspective.

"There's still a lot of people though that'll say `Look, you know, so what they did this," Cooper exclaimed.  "You know, Saddam did things that were much worse."

"We're Americans, we're not Saddam," Darby replied.  "We hold ourselves to a higher standard.  Our soldiers hold themselves to a higher standard."

When asked by Cooper if he would take the same action again, Darby responded, "Yes.  They broke the law and they had to be punished ... It's that simple."

For those seeking a clear understanding of the issue confronted courageously by Joe Darby, they should obtain a copy of Stanley Kramer's classic drama "Judgment at Nuremberg" and perhaps read about the notable post-war trials that occurred in the city where Adolf Hitler made some of his most impassioned speeches before huge throngs of followers.

While Nazi defendants perpetually exclaimed, "I was following orders!" the American prosecution team headed by two of the finest legal minds of the twentieth century, Associate Justice Robert Jackson of the United States Supreme Court and Telford Taylor, stated that principals in warfare could not legitimately use such a blanket defense to crimes against humanity.

The aftermath of the Nuremberg Trial produced an international effort to achieve a standard of law for citizens of all nations to follow in political and military affairs.  A step in that direction was the creation of the United Nations.

This is a tradition that has been flagrantly abandoned by the neoconservatives in their pursuit of global domination.  The Patriot Acts are seen as justification for overturning constitutional liberties and international law in the name of torture and rendition.  

The Patriot Act term "enemy combatants" is used as a substitute for defendants as torture abounds, paradoxically in the alleged pursuit of preserving American democracy.

What a travesty!  What a shame!