A SOLDIER'S PERSPECTIVE
THE WEB'S LEADING MILITARY BLOG SINCE 2004
It’s all over the news now, of course. Former Guantanamo Bay prison guard, Specialist Brandon Neely, has come forward to speak out about abuse at the camp.
“The stuff I did and the stuff I saw was just wrong,” the disgraceful Texan told the Associated Press.
If you ask me, this is going to be another McBeth case. First of all, I find it interested that not ONE media story mentions the fact that Neely is a member of IVAW. Not only is he a member, but he’s president of the Houston Chapter of the shameful organization (“Army Sergeant” excluded).
Neely detailed how he ground the faces of detainees into the concrete. Why? Because the camp at the time “lacked clear rules” on how to deal with these people. So, instead of doing the right thing, Neely takes matters into his own hands and throws civility and humanity out the window. He didn’t shove the face of just any suspected terrorist. He used his lack of manhood to shove the face of an elderly man into the concrete!
Instead of being paraded round the press, Neely needs to be brought up on charges. His actions, if true (which I doubt), are dispicable. The Army does not train or advocate such treatment. As a matter of fact, our training is exactly the opposite. Soldiers receive extensive training on the Geneva Conventions in basic training. It is no secret how the enemy is to be treated. And even if it wasn’t trained, basic human decency would take over, which Neely seems to lack.
Neely joined the Army in June 2000 as a military policeman. That’s right, a military policeman. I know for a FACT that military policeman are trained on how to deal with detainees, prisoners, etc. They are also even MORE trained on the Geneva Conventions than most Soldiers not in the law enforcement field.
Here’s the truth about Neely’s incident with the “old man” (in his 50′s). He did NOTHING wrong. The man resisted and made a lunge directly toward Neely and he took him down immediately. He had no idea what the man was capable of and was protecting himself. However, he allowed the words of another detainee and most likely his IVAW handlers to manipulate his feelings about that incident that it was somehow wrong; that he wasn’t allowed to defend himself.
So, what would motivate someone of Neely’s “character” to come forward about these abuses more than six years after they happened? Well, he received an Honorable Discharge last year from the Army as a Specialist!! Who the hell serves over six years in the Army and leaves as a Specialist unless you’re a dirtbag?
Here’s the deal: this is nothing new. The media is drumming up charges about events that happened over six years ago and have already been dealt with. Well, dealt with except for SPC Neely. Now that Neely have voluntarily implicated himself, he should be prosecuted for his role in being discredit to the United States Army just like everyone else. This isn’t a “whistleblower” issue since he didn’t say anything new.
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wilsonb
Great perspective and spot-on. No whistle blower, that was a confession…
Great blog!
Beth
AirmanMom
I became nauseated reading this post.
All the same, thank you for sharing.
~AM
Critical Facts
Punks like this detract from credible testimony of torture occurring or having occurred at GTMO, like that provided by Sgt. Erik Saar.
CJ
I haven’t read his book or his story, but from what I’ve read, I don’t have issues with how he did it. I know that abuses took place at Gitmo in the early years, but that was mostly corrected.
Isn’t it funny how all the people who speak out about abuses not only did it themselves, but are liberals? Weird? I wonder why conservative don’t get a lot of press when they speak out.
NY-David
I’ll decline to call this guy a Liberal. Just a shill looking for his fifteen minutes of stardom. I think you nailed in the fact that he was SP4 after six years.
NY-David
CJ
Check out his Facebook page. The dude is an extreme liberal!! Not a cool liberal like you!
SSgtJ
You are correct CF. Idiots like this (and the media that promote them) actually do a lot of harm to your cause.
Do you agree that some of the guards at Gittmo since 2003, have actually done the right thing?
If so, do you think this ‘good guard’ has friends and neighbors that now think less of them because they equate this idiots story with all gittmo guards? … just asking …
Isaac
6 YEARS AND STILL A SPC?
Oh, and CF, get your ranks right, do NOT disgrace the Sergeants as well as the Specialist cadets (we call 3SG trainees that in my country).
CJ
I don’t think CF was disgracing anyone that didn’t deserve it – this time!
He’s talking about the interrogator that wrote a book about Gitmo. He was a SGT. But he was also at Gitmo in the early days when it WAS bad. Like Abu Ghraib, they had issues that were largely resolved by 2003.
Isaac
Nice to see how CF ignores that bit in 2003, under the President he hates so much.
Critical Facts
Isaac:
Huh? Am I supposed to respond to whatever it is you just said?
Isaac
CJ was just talking about how Gitmo conditions improved in 2003. Funny how you give credit to the guy who wants to shut it down while slamming the guy who made it better.
Army Sergeant
Yes, not one media story listed he was a member of IVAW..except, you know, THE STARS AND STRIPES. What’s that quote? Oh yeah, “He is also the president of the local chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War” Clearly not legitimate media!
Also, you really can’t blame IVAW for the fact it wasn’t announced…you can bet it’s in our best interests to announce it so more people can hear about the organization.
SSgtJ
Are you against the war in Afganistan also?
Army Sergeant
Me? No. Some members are.
SSgtJ
I personally supported the mission. Now that we have elected an administration (and congres) that appears to be hamstringing the military, I have changed my position. If the military is not going to be allowed to do their job, then we need to bring them back home.
Critical Facts
Sgt:
The military has been prevented from doing its job in Afghanistan the day bush decided to initiate his awesome little adventure in Iraq.
Obama appears to be taking the military back to fight the “real” war on terror, in Afghanistan.
CJ
CF, Obama is merely continuing what Bush started before he left. The Afghanistan “surge” is nothing new that came out of Obama’s brain trust.
Brandon N.
I think someone needs to do a fact check and read over the article. I was on active duty from 2000 until 2005. Thats right I left active duty in 2005 as a Specialist. I was discharge from the IRR in 2008. So thats 3 years off active duty. Also if you think I am such a liar PROVE me wrong, which you and know one else can. Also a little note there is 2 more former GTMO guards that have spoken out and there is 3 more that have came forward in the last couple days. Say what you want, but until you have walked in the shows of the people you so talk down upon, your opinion doesn’t matter.
Brandon Neely
CJ
Brandon Neely,
Glad to have you “grace” us with your presence. Let me just say to your face, I hope you are prosecuted for your despicable actions at Gitmo. Not sure if you were talking to me or not, but I didn’t discount your story. I know what you say is true. My point is that it took you six years to man up. Your lack of action caused good men to die for a radical cause because you didn’t stop it BEFORE it became news. Good for you!
But, you’re not bringing anything new to the table. We all know what happened in the early days of Gitmo and YOU are one of the people responsible for it. If you were truly sorry for what you’ve done, you would have turned yourself in to the military, not the media.
As for walking in your shadows, I’ve been there. I’ve been forced to make tough decisions that could have adversely affected my career with respect to detainees in Fallujah. Guess what? Did you hear about abuses in Fallujah? NO. Guess why? Because I spoke up about it BEFORE it became a problem. I was called a traitor for turning in the Soldiers responsible and some patrols didn’t want me to go along with them initially. But, I proved myself and when Abu Ghraib broke, those same people were thanking me for keeping them straight early on.
You chose a different path. You chose to beat old men and keep your mouth shut. Don’t give me your pity story, young man. I’m not buying it. Did you even bother to remember the Army Values?
Loyalty
DUTY
RESPECT
SELFLESS SERVICE
HONOR
INTEGRITY
PERSONAL COURAGE
You violated practically every one of those, except loyalty. Unfortunately, you were loyal to the wrong people.
Now instead of coming in here with empty statements, please tell me what is factually wrong about what I’ve written. I can see plenty of crap that YOU’VE said that is completely false (training on geneva conventions the most glaring).
SSgtJ
Well said CJ. I too have walked the walk. As you know, instead of waiting years after the fact to make accusations without dates and names, I stood up and testified at a military court martial right in front of the accused and while still in country in Vietnam. No one can tell me I didn’t practice what I preach.
SSgtJ
Instead of trashing our soldiers using the confession of an idiot and criminal, wouldn’t the media do more justice by researching a little bit more on the actual current detainees?
I am more curious about these 17 detainess. How did they get there? What should we do with them? Have we tried to ‘move’ them before? What happened that time?
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/02/18/appeals-court-rules-transferring-gitmo-detainees/
Critical Facts
Sgt:
I think the media would be happy to research the current detainees were they allowed to do so. Having said that, what is known about the 17 Uighurs is troubling, at best. It may turn out that the only option remaining to the US is to release them into the general population. What I would like to know, however, is on what information, and from whom, did these individuals wind up at gtmo in the first place.
SSgtJ
The media can print our state secrets, I think they can answer these questions. Since all of these lawyers have been to Gittmo, there should be plenty of info.
If you were going to release them, then you would put them back where you got them not back in the USA.
Critical Facts
Even if that were to mean certain death or torture?
jessdawn
There is plenty of info try doing a basic search for Uighurs. Thing that is troubling is there are a lot of concerns based around them. We can not return them to China, they would be killed, my bet would be immediately.
jessdawn
CF, there is some info on wiki. (I know, not the best source) However, it makes since. Stated in Wiki is that some where there to learn to defend themselves from the Chinese government and some were waiting to make their way to Turkey for asylum. While I know that they can not be released to China, I would not be happy if they were released into America either. However, there were some stories in the media about Albania providing resources and asylum to some of the Uighurs. Even providing clothes and work.
Critical Facts
Then I say release them to Albania, so long as they will be free from persecution. The problem is, of course, that we created this situation and now the lives of 17 likely innocent Uighurs are at stake. If we are going to arrest and detain folks based on the flimsiest of hearsay evidence, then we ought to be responsible for mistakes made in the process.
jessdawn
CF-
Have you ever been to Afghanistan or Iraq, during combat operations? They were not captured on hearsay evidence. They were fleeing an enemy camp. We have responsibilities to take care of any prisoners we capture you are correct, but while this is a sad story they were in the wrong place not our soldiers.
Also, one of the things mentioned on wiki is after we found out what was going on with them they were treated differently then the bad guys. There were still things that had to be done to protect them and our own service members. It might not seem fair, but it needed to be done.
I think that we would be willing to give them all to Albania but I am also sure that there are aspects of these detainees that we do not know about yet.
jessdawn
I was an interrogator in the Army and I married a former MP. Both of us have experience dealing with detainees and I can assure all of you that we both received training on the wrong and right things to do. Like CJ I have had to report bad things that happened, but that was soldiers that did not have to deal with detainee’s on a daily basis. We hear all of these stories of bad things happening and we fail to realize that even though it is wrong, and it is wrong, that this is a small percentage of what is really going on.
It is just too bad that we only hear about the bad things that only a few do. Personally, I am sick and tired of hearing about it and knowing the real stories and then people around me that have never experienced it talking about it like they know something. It tarnishes the respect that someone like my husband should have for doing the good job that he did. And it makes people ask me stupid questions, like did they teach you how to torture. OF COURSE NOT!!! We are better than that and I am smart enough to never even think that it would work.
People like Neely need to be held accountable. I am tired of the I did not know better deal. It was his job, if he did not know for sure he should have found out before he was a guard there. People take initiative if you do not know if what you are doing is right find out. Ask someone, if you do not trust your command go to the JAG and find out what they think. If you feel something is wrong it is most likely wrong. Do not blame your incompetence on the military. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse.
CJ
Jess won’t tell you this, but I will. She stood up to an Officer (can’t remember if it was a 1LT or CPT) who was using a cattle prod to get detainees to move and ended it immediately. And she was just a Specialist at the time. Jess is indicative of how MOST troops act when they see an injustice being done.
jessdawn
I guess one of the reasons I do not talk about that stuff is because like any other professional I was doing my job. Not making excuses for why I couldn’t.
jessdawn
And just so people do not think that soldiers carry around cattle prods. It was an issued riot control stick that had shocking electrodes on the end of it. I was shocked with it myself and it is not nearly as strong as a cattle prod. However, it was being used in an unacceptable manner and that stopped.
Like CJ, soldiers call things by names that hold a different meaning to civilians. I am guilty of this, when I talk to my dad, my mom complains that she needs a translator. So if you ever do not fully understand what a service member is saying ask for clarification. We are happy to explain even the most mundane parts of our lives so others can understand us better.
Mike(RetMarine)
The basketball with lips in the picture is not credible in my opinion. I knew and know people who served there and most of this stuff is grossly exagerrated and in other cases fabricated.
CJ
True. And look where a lot of his stories came from – the detainees themselves!!