The vast majority of people who just read this title probably have no clue who Joseph Darby is, but you should. It wasn’t 60 Minutes, Dan Rather, or any of the other mainstream media outlets that uncovered the Abu Graib prison abuse, it was in fact Josephy Darby who informed Army investigators about pictures of abuse he saw by members of his unit.
Some time in the coming week I will post a time line of what really happened with Abu Graib since so many people still believe the mainstream media mythology of what happened there. In the mean time read Joseph Darby’s interview in Men Style.com that recounts what he went through and where he is at today in the wake of the Abu Graib prison abuse scandal. This excerpt here should give you a good idea of how good this interview is:
Everybody thinks there was a conspiracy at Abu Ghraib.
Everybody thinks there was an order from high up, or that somebody in command must have known. Everybody is wrong. Nobody in command knew about the abuse, because nobody in command cared enough to ?nd out. That was the real problem. The entire command structure was oblivious, living in their own little worlds. So it wasn’t a conspiracy—it was negligence, plain and simple. They were all fucking clueless. [Men Style.com via Milblogs]
And folks that sums up Abu Graib perfectly.
However, don’t expect to see this in the mainstream media anytime soon since they are still invested in protecting the carefully crafted mythology they created.
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2:51 am on May 20th, 2008 1
People like Josephy Darby scare me. I have seen his type in the past. It could be the “hero” personality (like a fireman that on purpose sets a fire so he can put it out and be the hero). The way he started with the motar attacks etc.. However, he is probably right about leadership - or the failure thereof.
6:32 am on May 20th, 2008 2
He wasn’t trying to be a hero because he originally turned in the CD with the abuse pictures anonymously before CID tracked him down and he confessed he was the one who turned in the CD.
If I saw pictures like what he saw I would have done the same thing.
9:11 am on May 20th, 2008 3
Why say anything?
Is this really going to change anything for anyone?
Perhaps it is cathartic, but so is a diary. Now that his picture and HIS story has been published, is he hoping for some fame or understanding? He’s apparently in the military and has a job lined up. What’s to stop his new employer from changing his mind?
Ultimately he did the right thing and the leak came from the Army/government. Like you said, I had no idea who J.Darby was until this was written. Yeah the MSM is fk’d, but this story does not un-fk what happened.
11:45 am on May 20th, 2008 4
I had a family member assigned to Abu Ghraib (part of one of those “agencies” that Darby mentioned.) He arrived around the same time the scandal hit the media in the US. Pretty much all the conditions of life at Abu Ghraib that Darby mentioned, concurs with what I was told. In my family members case, the constant mortaring and messed up things he had to see led to one hell of a case of PTSD.
Considering the additional scandal driven paranoia that Darby experienced, I think it remarkable that he not(or at least I hope he’s not) a basketcase wasting away somewhere until he just gives up on life.
As far as him turning on his fellow soldiers, he did the right thing. I mean, isn’t that why we learn about the Geneva Convention during training? He might not have gone about it the right way by going outside his chain of command, but isn’t there also a reason that outside reporting methods exist in the military. With in just a few years in the Army, I experienced a number of cases where my command just swept things under the rug, or passed the buck to a gaining command. So I think Darby’s reasons for going outside the chain were legitimate especially as he did not seem to realize the import that would be placed on this event.
11:50 am on May 20th, 2008 5
Just one other thing…
I always feel sorry initially for the officers involved in these kinds of situations, because they always seem to get all of the accountability without having any control or active participation in the situation. However, I also think that if you sign on to be officer you should figure that out really quick, and if you don’t, you’re always probably going to be waste of space anyways.
5:00 pm on May 20th, 2008 6
It’s easy to say “I would have done the same thing” and I would like to think that I would…but you are talking about ratting out people who carry weapons every day and know how to use them…not to mention that what they did shows that they have a somewhat warped sense of humanity that might give one pause as to what they would do to someone who actually did something to THEM….
what Darby did is a piece of history…I do hope he is getting something significant for his contribution besides the pain in his ass and never being able to go home again. Did he write a book yet? Did he sue anyone? the article leaves me wondering about a lot of other things that happened to him since then.
8:18 pm on May 20th, 2008 7
The idea of not turning on your fellow soldiers or cops is one reason why policing in the US, and possible still in penal institutions, was so wrongheaded for so long.