The Case of Donald Rumsfeld and Prisoner Abuse at Abu Ghraib Essay Example for Free

The Case of Donald Rumsfeld and Prisoner Abuse at Abu Ghraib Essay The report on the case of Donald Rumsfeld starts off with Rumsfeld’s hearing (May 7, 2004) with the Senate Armed Services Committees. His response to the question of whether he should resign or not; is â€Å"If I felt I could not be effective, I’d resign in a minute. † The report also gives an account of General Antonio Taguba’s investigation results of Abu Ghraib. He gives a report on the following: Conditions, training, Standard Operating procedures, prison crowding, culture and accountability. In Federalist 41 Madison notes in the Constitution two specific concerns about government power: total power of government over the people and the allocation of power among the entities of government. He states that he does not want unnecessary or improper power given to government be it state or federal. In the case of Donald Rumsfeld and the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib; the soldiers believe they have the power to inflict harsh techniques on the detainees in order to get them to talk. This article will analyze General Taguba’s report. I will examine the problems in this case through the use of theories. CBS’s Sixty Minutes II releases a video with images of torture and abuse; the prisoners endure at the hands of the American soldiers. The video displays naked prisoners crawling on the floor. Some forced into sexual positions; while others are naked and blooded. The media brings this to public awareness worldwide through internet, television and radio shows. Bush and his administration allege that they have no knowledge of the problems or the allegations prior to the CBS airing to television audiences. The Americans and the Arab people express their concern with questions. Who should be accountable for the guards’ actions? Are they instructed to abide by the Geneva Convention? What signals are they receiving from superiors that this behavior is tolerable? DeVreese suggest that how the media frames issues affects how the public perceive the issues. This involves looking at an issue from different perspectives (DeVreese 2004, 36-52). The Taguba Report Major Antonio Taguba is given a directive to investigate the allegations of abuse, the failure in accountability and the escapes. In March 2004, Major Taguba reports that there is a problem in leadership. He confirms the allegations of abuse and disorder in the prison. The Geneva Convention The United States and Iraq is in agreement to the Geneva Convention. Therefore they have obligations to: (a) Treat everyone humanely, regardless of sex, beliefs, race, or status (b) Take no hostages (c) Not engage in treatment of humiliating or degrading (d) Impose executions without court approval While Military officials and most members of Congress, the public and Secretary Rumsfeld are in agreement that the United States Army is in violation of the Geneva Convention at Abu Ghraib, what is uncertain is the question what encourage the actions? Conditions at Abu Ghraib Although (BK) Janis Karpinski is commander of the 800th Military Police Brigade; Taguba’s reports that the brigade is lacking leadership and operational integrity. Taguba findings suggest that top military brass, officials in the Department of Defense or the Bush Administration is closing their eyes or encourage the soldiers’ behavior. Mosher believes that the public sector must maintain a higher standard of integrity and professionalism. (Mosher 1938, 332-342). Training Taguba learns that from the MP personnel to the 320th MP Battalion and the 372nd MP Company has very little to no training or instruction in neither detention/internee operation nor the rules of the Geneva Convention. Although the soldiers say they are trained regularly, there is no documentation to support their statements. Box’s article Running Government Like a Business, shrinking government by contracting out services or returning them to the private sector on the premise that the private sector s more efficient or the assertion that the public sector should simply be smaller(Box 1999,19-43). by the government trying to save money by contracting out; contracting companies are trying to cut cost. Training their workers would cost more money Standard Operating Procedures Within the 800th MP Brigade and its subordinate units there is a lack of knowledge, implementation of the standard operating rules and procedures. Each facility detention, compound, encampment and shift for handling of detainees and criminal prisoner’s procedures differs. There is a need for a check and balance system to maintain compliance. Coopers gives a primary example of accountability problem in war privatization, i. e. , the legal status of contractors. Neither civilian nor military laws cover inappropriate contractor behavior such as torture or unnecessary force resulting in loss of non-combatant life. This is particularly problematic in the Iraq situation where contractors are exempt from local law and they are not bound by U. S. civilian or military law. In some contracts, but not all, contractors who commit a felony are subject to U. S. urisdiction; however, this law does not clearly apply to subcontractors or to third-party nationals and the Pentagon has not written the implementation regulations for the law. In addition, because the contractor has control over day-to-day information concerning the behavior of the employees working in another country, it could be difficult for government prosecutors to secure evidence necessary to investigate an allegation of wrong doing. This is why Tagua saw a lack of training and accountability. The U. S. relieves the responsibility up to the Contracting Companies to train their workers. Prison Crowding Taguba’s report shows the overcrowding of the prisoners is one of the reasons for the poor living condition. The overcrowding is causing identification problem among the leaders in the detainee population who may be organizing the detainee’s escapes and riots. The unrest and overcrowding is due to the lengthy screening and processing and release of detainees who should not be in custody. There are three categories for releasing detainees. (1. ) A detainee can be release if it is determine that detaining them is no longer warrant. 2) If it is determine that a criminal detainee has not part of a terrorist group and that they will not be a danger to society. (3) Detainees accused of committing a crime against the coalition can be release if it is determine that they are no longer a threat to the Coalition Forces. The Detainee Release Authority grants recommendation for releases, but MG Fast regularly denies the board’s recommendations. Culture Operational Journals at different compounds and the 302th Battalion TOC reveal a lot of unprofessional documentations and no chain of command to review them. US civilian contract personnel are not supervising properly. The contractors have open access to the detainees. Accountability The detainees can move from location to another and not be accounted for; due to falsification of process sheets. BK Karpinski reports her findings and recommendations with follow ups and changes regarding the escapes and accountability lapses. Taguba reports that if Karpinski is accurate then the abuse, escapes and accountability lapses may be prevented. Prisoners of War, Terrorists and Enemy Combatants The new era of foreign policy and the promise to define the Bush presidency is a result of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. Bush promise to find and punish the terrorists. The need for the Intelligence to pursue and prevent the terrorist from further attacks on the U. S. puts pressure on the interrogators to accomplish the mission. This relates to Eshbaugh-Soha and Peakes argument that chief executives are rather powerful in setting the policy agenda because Congress, the news media, and the public look to the president for this fact. In order for the president to set the policy agenda, he must command the medias attention so that the media is able to provide information to the public in regards to the presidents initiatives. The best way to do this is in the form of speeches or press conferences, which Bush did. | Because the Taliban and AlQaeda fighters are not under the Geneva Convention; the Administration recommendation to Donald Rumsfeld is to approve 35 full range techniques. Only nine are for exceptional use. the Military lawyer express how that the beginning of these recommendations will cause their ivilian counterparts within the Department of Defense will give approval for getting information about terrorist activity as top priority. Rumsfeld is given a memo by the same Administration warning him of a possible backlash if the nine techniques be used. The Administration also says that if the treatment becomes public, exaggeration and distorting by the media. The media will undermine the support for the war on terrorism. The U. S. officials will be facing human rights prosecution abroad and will be a ploy to have a reason for mistreatment of captured American Soldiers. Weeks later Rumsfeld denies 11 of the 35 techniques. The Media The Financial Times report accusations that official in the Bush Administration set a precedent for abuse and torture. The report reveals congress accusing Bush Administration of sanctioning torture by preparing legal documents that states harsh treatment of detainees is permissible under the United States and International Laws. Financial Times also reports the Statement of U. S. Military Lawyers regarding how they felt shut out of the prison policy. Some of the soldiers say that they are getting mix messages about the rules on prisoners. De Vrees says that news framing involves seeing the issue from either a conflict or an economic consequences perspective He suggests that this framing process determines whether the voter sees the issue as a conflict or economic issue. Here the Financial Times frame the report from a conflict. The government is seen as the ones who gave directives to abuse the detainees. This can hurt the president next election. Bilder and Vagts believes that government attorneys obligations greater than those of private sector attorneys. The client is the entire agency, the entire U. S. government, and the American public. An important difference between the government and private attorney is that the government attorneys advice does not have definitive judicial review. Because of the lack of a safety net in decision making process; there is a greater burden on the government attorney. The Military Lawyers shares with Financial Times how they felt left out of the prison making policy. In Conclusion Although the soldiers were discipline for their participation in the detainee’s abuse; U.  S. government is responsible for the detainees suffering. The U. S. soldiers should have kept their oath and agreement to abide by the Geneva Convention. Donald Rumsfeld did the right thing by resigning. Wilson theory on authority, he suggests that power and discretion must accompany responsibility and that power and discretion need to be provided to the public administrator. He adds that more power creates greater visibility which in turn creates more accountability. As the Defense Secretary he was given more power over the U. S. oldiers; therefore is more accountable. As an Administrator, I would ensure that the soldiers are trained; procedures are in place and adhere to. I would visit the prisons myself and question the detainees, their visitors and other staff to make sure that operational needs are met. Wilson theory on authority, he suggests that power and discretion must accompany responsibility and that power and discretion need to be provided to the public administrator. He adds that more power creates greater visibility which in turn creates more accountability.

Free College Essays - The Mood of Othello in Shakespeares Othello :: GCSE Coursework Shakespeare Othello

The Mood of Othello  Ã‚      Othello is a play that evokes many emotions from a reader’s mind. The mood is changing, yet throughout, it demands a lot of contempt for the villain, Iago. Beginning with act one, there is an immediate setting for suspicion which will remain characteristic throughout the whole story. There is a touch of happiness for the newlyweds, Othello and Desdemona, which quickly disintegrates with the mighty villains lies and deceit. There is a feeling of empathy for Othello when his extreme, yet falsely founded jealousy causes him to lose his mind, and his beloved wife. The mood is sad and frustrating when poor innocent Desdemona is being punished for a crime she didn’t commit. And at the end there is a slight feeling of satisfaction that Iago’s plan was revealed, yet the mood is overwhelmingly depressing because Othello and Desdemona both suffered severely and died. Iago introduces suspicion in the very first scene. He is discussing how he hates Othello, yet he must feign loyalty for his position. This is already a clue to the reader that Iago cannot be trusted. This feeling of mistrust is vital in the mood of the play because it is most ironic that Othello trusts Iago as much as to murder his own wife. This ironic plot creates a frustrating feeling for the reader which is felt throughout the play. The mood is tense when we find out that Brabantio is angry that Othello has taken his daughter. He i s determined that Othello must have tricked Desdemona into loving him. Othello defends his love for her, and she in turn vows her love for him. This situation of a forbidden relationship is romantic, it makes the reader feel a great deal of respect and happiness for their mutual love. When Iago begins poisoning Othello’s mind with false suspicion of Desdemona’s fidelity, the mood is extremely frustrating. The reader is aware of Iago’s lies, yet Othello is being easily led to believe them. This also evokes anger towards Iago, he is evil in his constant lying, yet he is referred to by Othello as kind and honest. This irony is painful to the reader because it is so blatant. Othello’s extreme jealousy causes the reader a combination of emotions. Jealousy is a very painful emotion, and the reader sympathizes with Othello. Yet, since the reader is aware of the falseness in the roots of the jealousy, they feel a little disgusted by how easily Othello is being tricked.

Ocean carrier Essay

The purpose of this report is to evaluate whether Ocean Carriers Inc. should immediately commission a new capesize carrier that would cost $39 million, and would be completed two years hence, in order to finalize a lease of the ship for a three-year period with a potential charterer in very good faith. The contrasting tax regulations between the two countries where the company locates its office, and the different cost-benefit circumstances under different length of time in service are considered in the analysis. Taking all available information into consideration, we highly recommend that the company should purchase the new capesize carrier, have it registered under the Hong Kong office, and put it on a scheme for a 25-year service. Industry Prospects Capesize carriers are mainly used to carry iron ore and coal worldwide. The daily hire rates are therefore determined by the total exports of iron ore and coal, the distance between the exporting countries and the destinations, and the fleet size of capesizes in service. According to the market trends, in the next few years, Australian production in iron ore is expected to be strong and Indian iron ore exports are expected to take off. However, imports of iron ore and coal are expected to be stagnant in next two years. Therefore, total exports of iron ore and coal will be flat in the coming two years, and will rise remarkably in the following few years. Besides, as East Asia countries absorb the largest portion of the iron ore imports, the joining of India to the iron ore exporting won’t significantly increase travel distance because Australia is almost the same distance away by water. Moreover, in 2001 and 2002, 63 and 33 new capesize vessels would be delivered adding up to about 17% of total capesizes currently in service. Consequently, in the first two years, the supply of capesizes would be greater than the demand, the daily hire rates are expected to decrease. But in the mid-to-long run, the daily hire rates are expected to increase continuously. Revenues and Costs – Intuitions Before going into the numbers, we want to discuss some intuitions of this project that support the decision of purchasing the capesize. First, the increasing mid-to-long run daily hire rates will provide basis for promising future cash flows. Secondly, although the daily hire rate for the first two years are expected to be low, the charterer had already offered a rate higher than expected to compensate the company. Thirdly, a great portion of the expenditures come from the preparation for special surveys which should be renewed every five years if the ship needs to stay in the business. The high escalation of costs between the second and third surveys, and the fourth and fifth surveys, indicates that maximum net present value of the project would be achieved when the carrier serves for either 15 years or 25 years. Free Cash Flows In this part, we will discuss the detailed numbers. Some assumptions are made based on the economic outlook and company characteristics when calculating free cash flows. We assume that inflation rate is 3% per annual, and that operation cost would increase 1% above inflation rate per annual. We assume that discount rate is 9%, and will discuss the impact of a rate change later. Provided that the scrape value is estimated to be $5 million at the end of the fifteenth year, we estimate that the value would decrease to $4 million due to more wear in the steel. Please refer to Exhibits 1 to 4 for the calculations of estimated free cash flows and NPVs. We can see that if the company chooses to purchase the capesize, have it registered in Hong Kong instead of USA, and runs it for 25 years, the NPV will be the highest compared to other alternatives. Besides, the Hong Kong option (have the vessel registered in Hong Kong) dominates the USA option (have the vessel registered in USA) because no tax is required in Hong Kong in these operations. Also, the 25-year option dominates the 15-year option because, even if the scrap value is reduced to zero after 25 years, the NPVs for options that keep the capesize for 25 years are still higher than for 15 years. Sensitivity Analysis In the above calculations for the NPVs, we assume discount rate to be 9%. If the discount rate is higher, the NPVs for the projects will be reduced because the benefits from recording depreciation and tax deferring will increase. For example, we found that the USA-25-year option will produce a positive NPV if the discount rate is lowered to 6.67%. However, even if the discount rate is as low as 0.1%, the HK option still dominates the US option, and the 25-year option still dominates the 15-year option. Conclusion To sum up, if Ocean Carriers Inc. purchase a $39 million capesize carrier immediately, register it in Hong Kong, sign the three-year contract with the charterer, and keep the vessel in business for 25 years, based on estimations, it would acquire the largest possible NPV of $3.89 million on the project.

Analysis Of Sherman Alexie s On The Amtrak - 1049 Words

In the poem On the Amtrak from Boston to New York City by Sherman Alexie, the speaker is portrayed as a Native American Indian who wishes to retake and make known his ownership of Indian land, which the white people stole. However, his sympathy towards his rivals seems to keep him from accomplishing these goals. First, we can plainly see his Native American heritage in the language of the poem. For example, he refers to the elderly woman whom he converses with as white (line 1), which implies he is not; there would be no real reason of mentioning skin color unless it was significant to him. The negative outlook the speaker has on the white woman s definition of history is apparent in his rejection of her historical claim. The woman says, Look, / look at all the history, that house on the hill there is over two hundred years old, (lines 1-3). He frowns upon her words, explaining, I have learned / a little more about American history during my few days / back East than what I expect and far less / of what we should all know of the tribal stories / whose architecture is 15,000 years older / than the corners of the house that sits / museum on the hill. (lines 5-11). The way the speaker distances himself from American history (line 6) and how he claims all should know tribal stories (line 8) insinuating he is of tribal descent. Further, he announces, I know the Indians were living stories / around that pond before Walden s grandparents were born (linesShow MoreRelatedBusiness and Management2600 Words   |  11 Pagesat the beginning of each class. Policies may be slightly different depending on the modality in which you attend class. If you have recently changed modalities, read the policies governing your current class modality. Course Materials Barnet, S., Cain, W.E., Burto, W. (2011). Literature for composition: Essays, stories, poems, and plays (9th ed.). New York, NY: Longman. All electronic materials are available on the student website. |Week One: Elements of Literature—Stories