Posted on Aug 25, 2015
"US Army Covers Up Military Atrocities in War Zones" – US Professor
18.6K
35
23
0
0
0
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 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
Posted in these groups: 
Warfare
Afghanistan
Warfare Afghanistan
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 15
0
0
0
Where is the oroif to validate such a statenent .RP shoykd do a better job at vetting articles such as these
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
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.
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
The source (Radio Sputnik) is a Russian media source. This looks like misinformation.
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
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.
(0)
(0)
0
0
0
SGT Jeremy Weinrich
From what I've found, he's nothing more than a self-admitted Marxist Professor that has spent his entire adult life in academia and has no military background.
(1)
(0)
SGT Jeremy Weinrich
SGT Jerrold Pesz - Not someone who I would consider intelligent enough to do their own research.
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2009/07/gibb-j23.html
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2009/07/gibb-j23.html
An interview with David N. Gibbs, author of First Do No Harm: Humanitarian Intervention and the...
Earlier this month, the World Socialist Web Site posted a review of First Do No Harm: Humanitarian Intervention by David N. Gibbs, Associate Professor of History and Political Science at the University of Arizona. Professor Gibbs has been gracious in granting the WSWS an interview.
(0)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google