"US Army Covers Up Military Atrocities in War Zones" – US Professor

RallyPoint Shared Content — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 08:52:01 -0400

From: Sputnik News

US military camps in Afghanistan have disturbingly low standards of personal conduct and discipline, and there is a widespread tendency in all levels of the chain of command to cover up military atrocities, Dr. David Gibbs from the University of Arizona told Radio Sputnik.

Since the US military is very sensitive to its public image and doesn't want to let the public know about how things really are in many of its bases, there is a tendency among officers to cover up atrocities and acts of personal misconduct.

"They [military atrocities] are certainly much more common than we hear about them," Dr. Gibbs told Radio Sputnik, adding that cover-ups are often done by smaller military units themselves to avoid getting in trouble.
At the same time, military officers at a higher level don't really bother investigating incidents since exposing potential crimes could then affect the entire military chain.

Poor discipline and substance abuse have also become a plague for many military units stationed in hot sports, like Iraq and Afghanistan.
Soldier who are in difficult situations every day engage in substance abuse to cope with their surroundings, Dr. Gibbs said.
"I think substance abuse, alcohol abuse, mental illness — these are very natural outcomes of war, unfortunately."
Infamous US Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, who killed 16 civilians in the Afghan province of Kandahar, was drinking alcohol on the night of the massacre, violating rules of the combat zones.

http://sputniknews.com/military/20150823/ [login to see] /us-army-atrocities-cover-up-middle-east-gibbs-university-professor.html#ixzz3jpZHpLlO

US Army Covers Up Military Atrocities in War Zones – US Professor

US military camps in Afghanistan have disturbingly low standards of personal conduct and discipline, and there is a widespread tendency in all levels of the chain of command to cover up military atrocities, Dr. David Gibbs from the University of Arizona told Radio Sputnik.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 25 at 2015 9:22 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 09:22:13 -0400

What is the data to back that statement up Professor???

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 25 at 2015 9:22 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 09:22:34 -0400

Response by SSG Warren Swan made Aug 25 at 2015 9:30 AM

SSG Warren Swan — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 09:30:54 -0400

"US military camps in Afghanistan have disturbingly low standards of personal conduct and discipline"...obviously this guy has never been deployed and seen the FF games played on the big FOBs like Phoenix, Lightning, and Kandahar. They try hard to bring the garrison Army there, and after being on the edge of BFE, I HATED going to any of them. Are there issues? Yes, but he's taking it to the extremes. I've seen what he talks about with substance abuse, alcohol abuse, and mental illness, but like the good MAJ said, where is he getting his info from? But he also brings up a valid point; CDR's do try to hide things from the public. Pat Tillman as an example. Not all will do this, but it has happened more than once. Does the author know the number of troops who have had their careers ended quickly for mistakes and ignorance while deployed? I would wager he has no clue and there are loads of commands who don't play when it comes to that downrange.

Response by CW2 Carl Swanson made Aug 25 at 2015 10:35 AM

CW2 Carl Swanson — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 10:35:39 -0400

Did he see this first hand? Does he have a study and statistics to base his comments on? Where did this come from? Radio Sputnik....is this guy a card carrying communist out to make our military look like a bunch of hoods and criminals? The only case he mentions is one that was investigated and convicted. I'm confused.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 25 at 2015 10:58 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 10:58:12 -0400

Who is this guy and what's his military background?

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 25 at 2015 11:32 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 11:32:10 -0400

I was there 2013-2014 and id say that's pretty accurate. But, why do we need to bring up all the negativeness? Mississippi guard had the lowest incidents and their 1st Sgts motto was, "The skies the limit, just don't get caught." Jersey had a bonified back alley fight club going on until the whole leadership got relieved of duty. Ive seen some interesting things over there.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 25 at 2015 11:41 AM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 11:41:15 -0400

I'd really like to see the research he's done on this subject. I don't particularly appreciate someone making claims when they present zero evidence on the matter. Shame on you professor.

Response by COL Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 25 at 2015 11:41 AM

COL Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 11:41:58 -0400

The source (Radio Sputnik) is a Russian media source. This looks like misinformation.

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 25 at 2015 12:20 PM

LCDR Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 12:20:14 -0400

Admittedly, it's been a few years since I was holding down a hootch in Afghanistan...However, while I was there, I got to see a good number of our units and installations; from full-on BCTs to small fire-bases comprised of a company or less. What I didn't see was the sort of infractions described here. Yes, there were notable distinctions between the actions of "embedded" groups and larger, regular Army units...but nothing on the scale of "atrocities". As to "substance abuse"...I'm not sure how they're arriving at numbers on that one; a shot of Black Label was about as scarce as a Norfolk bar the night before deployment.

Response by Cpl David Naples made Aug 25 at 2015 12:34 PM

Cpl David Naples — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 12:34:05 -0400

Where is the oroif to validate such a statenent .RP shoykd do a better job at vetting articles such as these

Response by SGT Matthew Denman made Aug 25 at 2015 12:38 PM

SGT Matthew Denman — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 12:38:59 -0400

Who the hell is Dr. Gibbs? Sputnik news? Rally Point you idiots...

Response by PO3 David Davis made Aug 25 at 2015 4:07 PM

PO3 David Davis — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 16:07:11 -0400

If you are having personal misconduct. It's starts at the Top discipline your troops. Granted with no disrespect most of our troops had what I consider no discipline as children. Now we have problems. In my opinion a cover up is misconduct. Fess up and correct the problem make some examples of the perpetrators and have a good come back. Bring pride to your troops. Cover ups make all active duty look bad. Including vets it's a reflection on all of us.

Response by CPT Jack Durish made Aug 25 at 2015 5:40 PM

CPT Jack Durish — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 17:40:49 -0400

War is an atrocity. Sadly, atrocities beget atrocities. However, the professor does shed light on one interesting aspect of atrocities. Atrocities are aberrant behavior among civilized people which the allied forces represent. We react with shock and shame when anyone so much as suggests that our people are guilty of committing them which in itself proves that we are civilized. If the professor were fair and balanced in his "report" he would reflect on the atrocities committed by the terrorists. Why doesn't he? There's no need. The terrorists advertise their atrocities with great pride thus proving that they are uncivilized, stone age barbarians... (Maybe I should retract that last part. I don't want to insult any stone age barbarians who might be lurking on this discussion thread)

Response by SPC Rory J. Mattheisen made Aug 25 at 2015 11:29 PM

SPC Rory J. Mattheisen — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 23:29:44 -0400

This is news???

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 25 at 2015 11:36 PM

MSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 23:36:28 -0400

Where's my tinfoil hat and umbrella? I need a towel!!