Axiom:
Every human being is responsible for his or her own behavior. One's behavior includes both actions and beliefs.
Inaction is merely one kind of action. (Questions of whom or what any individual is
responsible to are theological or contractual, not axiomatic.)
I doubt there's a single reader of the above paragraph who didn't form their own list of quibbles and exceptions almost instantaneously. Virtually every item on that list relates to some question of '
control' - the degree to which any person is
able to exercise their will in making choices regarding their own behavior. We then get into the transitive aspects: how one person's behavior influences another's. We are steeped in such questions and considerations our entire lives, whether we recognize them or not, in virtually every relationship with another human being.
Beyond the questions of basic sanity and maturity, I'll quickly list some very common
falsehoods:
"He makes me happy."
"She makes me sad."
"I didn't have a choice."
"Because I said so."
"This <thing> will make you happy."
"The devil made me do it."It really shouldn't require an explanation to show why the above exemplars are totally and irrevocably
false, yet far too many of us cling desperately to beliefs of these kinds. Indeed, even in clinging to these false beliefs, we (like crabs in a sand pit) tend to drag others down when they show how to reject them. Most seminally, our own individual happiness is a
choice, one which cannot be
taken away and can only be
given away. We always have more choices than we
choose to acknowledge. Even Sophie had more than one "Choice"!
Even disregarding the above falsehoods, this is a very large subject - one which has consumed and will continue to consume huge amounts of attention on this forum and, indeed, in virtually every conversation we have in our lives. I will, therefore, limit my further observations to those relevant to the treatment of Iraqi prisoners by military guards. Even that's awfully ambitious, so please forgive my arrogance.
A prison is a totalitarian regime. Not to belabor the obvious, but those people who imprison others are
responsible for imposing totalitarian power and depriving others of many choices of behavior, even those choices that would serve their own survival or well-being. Under any theory of equity and justice, the consequences of imposing such totalitarian power over others lie squarely on the shoulders of those who do so.
The military is an authoritarian regime. Such a regime is one within which people
choose to behave as others
direct them to behave,
subordinating their own will to that of others. Such directions are both explicit and implicit, both general and specific. The
choice to comply with such directions is made with each and every direction. Promulgating such directions over those who
subordinate their will to that of others is also a choice. Thus, people who do so are
responsible for those directions and the foreseeable impact of subordinated compliance.
We (the People) accept authoritarian regimes under some very clear and relatively unambiguous rules of equity and justice:
- No person can be absolved of responsibility for their own behavior, either in complying with directions or in promulgating such directions, whether those directions are explicit or implicit. (This, in essence, is the "Nuremberg Principle.")
- Anyone granted authority in such a regime also accepts accountability for the results of behavior which is in compliance with their direction, whether explicit or implicit.
- Anyone granted authority within such a regime has an affirmative duty to monitor both compliance with their direction and the results of such compliance.
- The senior authority in such a regime is accountable for the behavior of all persons (members and agents) acting on behalf of that regime, and is accountable for creating and maintaining a system of organizational controls that ensure knowledge of such acts. (Ignorance is no excuse.)
In the military, this is called "Command and Control" (C2) or "Command, Communications, and Control" (C3). In corporations, this is called "Management Control."
It's very important to remember that duty, accountability, and responsibility for directions
do not exonerate people (subordinates) from responsibility for their own behavior. The behavior of others never absolves us from responsibility for our own behavior. Nothing does. The false belief that this isn't so is at the heart of
codependency - quite possibly the most rampant and pervasive mental/emotional illness in our society. Thus, in no way do the directions the guards received exonerate them from responsibility, both moral and legal. Likewise, the responsibility of the guards for their behavior does not immunize those who used their authority to enable or promulgate such behavior. Neither diminishes the other.
Torture and abuse are never justified, least of all within a totalitarian regime. Might never makes right. It cannot be justified on either pragmatic or moral grounds. To say something is "understandable" does not make it "right." Never. These are crimes. When promulgated by a regime they are crimes against humanity.
</rant>
Thank you for your patience.