For one Marine, torture came home

[Tinksrival]

www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-op-bardach12feb12,0,7968152.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions
February 12, 2006
latimes.com

ABOUT A YEAR and a half ago, a 40-year-old former Marine sergeant named Jeffrey Lehner, recently returned from Afghanistan, phoned and asked to meet with me. Since his return he had been living with his father, a retired pharmacist, in the Santa Barbara home where he was raised. I first heard about Jeff from an acquaintance of mine who was dating him and who told me that he was deeply distressed about what he had seen on his tours in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Middle East.

<snip>

We met for lunch at a restaurant on Canon Perdido in downtown Santa Barbara. Jeff was focused, articulate and as handsome as a movie star. He was quite wound-up, but utterly lucid.

There was no way I could have known that day the depths of Jeff's unhappiness, no way I could have predicted the tragedy that would follow. I listened closely to his story and, while I was surprised by what I heard, I had no particular reason to disbelieve him.

Jeff said he had been told by soldiers who had been present that the detainees were being interrogated and tortured, and that they were sometimes given psychotropic drugs. Some, he believed, had died in custody. What disturbed him most, he said, was that the detainees were not Taliban fighters or associates of Osama bin Laden. "By the time we got there," Jeff said, "the serious fighters were long gone."

Jeff had other stories to tell as well. He said the CIA team had put detainees in cargo containers aboard planes and interrogated them while circling in the air. He'd been on board some of these flights, he said, and was deeply disturbed by what he'd seen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Too many horrors to live with, Jeff ultimately took his and his fathers life.

This is a very sad story but one that needs to be told.

[Tinksrival]

1. Swimming upstream against a flood of Cheney posts.

Kick so someone will read this incredibly story. :shrug:

[acmavm]

2. I'll help you try to keep it alive. This is incredibly sad. n/t

[Punkingal]

3. Sad...sad....sad....

:cry:

[Solly Mack]

4. Thanks for posting this

Incredibly sad story. Makes you wonder how many more "Jeffs" are out there.

the part about the detainees in cargo containers - wasn't there a bunch of so-called "combatants" who died because they were left inside cargo containers? I seem to recall that happening. They suffocated to death.

[Tinksrival]

11. I googled "Prisoners deaths in cargo"

There's a Newsweek story

Newsweek Cover Special Report: 'The War Crimes of Afghanistan' America's Afghan Allies Asphyxiated Hundreds of Surrendering Taliban Prisoners En Route to Jail, Transporting Them in Sealed Cargo Containers; Bodies Buried in Mass Grave ---- Witnesses Say U.S
Print This Story

www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-18-2002/0001785225&EDATE=

and found alot of info including a documentry:

http://www.freedomfiles.org/war/atrocity.htm

In "a US-orchestrated military operation" (6), the NA captured the Taliban stronghold of Mazar-i-Sharif. Ultimately, thousands of Taliban fighters surrendered to the NA in the nearby town of Kunduz and were taken prisoner.

Kunduz fell in November. In December, New York Times correspondent Carlotta Gall reports that "dozens...of prisoners asphyxiated in shipping containers used to transport them to prison" in Shibarghan, "a journey that took two or three days." (1)

Faced with the problem of moving thousands of "potentially dangerous" men, the NA "packed many of them into the sealed containers" which "line the roads of Afghanistan and are frequently used to hold and transport prisoners."

[Solly Mack]

40. Thank you!

"America's Afghan Allies "

Jeff's story makes you wonder just who else was with those "America's Afghan Allies" when those surrendering Taliban members were placed in the containers - left to die.

[Catchawave]

5. Thanks for posting this, so terrible and sad....

where was his support system? Oh wait, funding's been cut :(

[dsc]

6. a literal crying shame

[LynnTheDem]

7. Bloody hell...

:(

[Dinger]

8. How Sad, May They rest In Peace

bu$hCo. will never go to the same place they are.:cry:

[ripple]

9. how tragic

This is something that should be read by every American. :kick:

[seabeyond]

10. too little too late reporter. there was a job here and the reporter

failed. as media has consistantly dont for years now. shame on them

[LiberalAndProud]

34. You said what I was thinking.

That reporter failed miserably. Jeff was censored by her disbelief. She is culpable.

[DoYouEverWonder]

12. There is something really sick going on here

This is not just bad apples or random incidents. This is ordered and sanctioned by the people at the top.

[EFerrari]

14. Of course it is. Those few bad apples have appeared all over

the world. This is policy, period.

[NMDemDist2]

13. this documentary was on Democracy Now! and FSTV chilling!

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3267.htm

[Cleita]

15. I wonder how many other stories are out there like this?

:kick:

[FreedomAngel82]

43. Already one too many

[Canuckistanian]

16. K&R

This needs to be seen.

[SammyWinstonJack]

17. Simple question for Pinhead**

WHAT NOBLE CAUSE?

[Adelante]

18. Oh, God. PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION

Demand an investigation of Bush policies that lead to prisoner abuse and torture.

http://securingamerica.com/node/473

I've posted this over and over again and nobody pays attention.

Please, please sign it. We are keeping it going although we've already submitted over 12,000 signatures. It should be 12 million!


This story is just too much! :cry:

[Tinksrival]

20. Thanks for posting this WesDem

Bush's war on terror has certainly brought out the worst in humanity which will be echoed for generations. Certainly dims America's beakon of light. Can we take two and a half more years of damage to the world?? I think we all must hope and pray for impeachment.

[Straight Shooter]

19. Note that Jeffrey Lehner was 40 years old, not a young, green kid.

If he could be so traumatized, having lived four decades and knowing that the human condition is not made of milk and honey, far from it, imagine someone 20 or 30 years old, experiencing what he experienced.

Now imagine them bringing it home. Imagine someone snapping in the middle of what seems to be an ordinary day, because the dichotomy between where they were and where they are now is too great. The real terror begins when those who are fighting the so-called war on terror lose the battle to their own demons.

And then there's suicide ...

Suicide, meanwhile, is an enormous and growing concern. Statistics are hard to come by, but some estimate that although 58,000 veterans died in combat in Vietnam, more than that took their own lives after returning home. In a 1987 CDC study, the suicide rate for Vietnam vets was 65% higher than that of civilians. The Army estimates that the suicide rate among Iraq veterans is one-third higher than the historical wartime average, owing to the psychological strains of no-holds-barred insurgency warfare. That means we're looking at a future blizzard of suicides without an adequate VA program in place to address the crisis.

[ClayZ]

21. "They were not called to die for, but rather to kill for, their country."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Sloane_Coffin

"The war against Iraq is as disastrous as it is unnecessary; perhaps in terms of its wisdom, purpose and motives, the worst war in American history.. Our military men and women were not called to defend America but rather to attack Iraq. They were not called to die for, but rather to kill for, their country. What more unpatriotic thing could we have asked of our sons and daughters?"

William Sloane Coffin Biography - Clergyman, Social Activist

[gratuitous]

27. Yep.

And millions of us saw it back in 2002 and 2003. Iraq was not a threat to our country, and no matter how despicable a tyrant Saddam Hussein was, we didn't have any call or right to depose him through military action. Some may argue that it was "faster" than working through diplomatic channels, but how much longer will our military presence be required in Iraq? There's no end in sight at this time. And how much money have we spent and will we spend on this? How many lives will be wasted? What is our "noble" cause in Iraq?

[LibertyorDeath]

22. Damn what a sad story!

and none of it was necessary, what a waste.

Rumsfeld is busy salivating over Iran now

they need more fodder for the canon.

K&R

[Lone_Star_Dem]

23. Heartbreaking

K&R so that more people will read this. I feel it helps drive home the painful aftermath that too many are going to be dealing with for the rest of their lives. However long or short those lives may be. :cry:

[Evergreen Emerald]

24. We need to bring our soldiers home.

Murtha is right. My God, how can justify what we are doing?

[TheGunslinger]

25. Kick

[helderheid]

26. damn. just damn.

[tomreedtoon]

28. Ask all the veterans who are running for Congress...

...if they knew about these things. And if they did, ask if they will bring them up at appropriate moments when they start their stump speeches. It's obviously not the sort of thing you wish to lead with, but there is a point in a good speech where it's necessary to show where the opposition went seriously wrong. This story deserves to be told, by several of the vets, in their sections of the country, and brought to the people's attention.

[ninkasi]

29. Thank you so much for posting this

It is unbearably sad that a good man, haunted by the inhumanity he saw in a war he did not start, was so traumatized by his experiences that he took his own life, and that of his father. The criminals who craved, who lied, and schemed for this war, and who profit by it, are sitting in the Oval Office, and in whatever undisclosed location the inhuman Cheney thing inhabits. They bathe in the blood of the dead, and laugh as they pile up their billions.

Even that is not enough. No, in addition to the billions they have stolen from their wanton killing spree in Iraq, they have squeezed money from programs which would help veterans like Jeff; they are taking money from poor children's lunches, from elderly people's nutrition programs, and from people who depended on Medicaid for medicine.

They abandoned the poor of New Orleans, and the rest of the Gulf Coast, and funneled millions more to the same old cronies, who have from what I can tell, done nothing but collect checks. Stories like this are why I am so angry with our Democratic leaders. They speak out, some of them, but not enough, and not forcefully enough, and not without enough righteous anger to be heard.

If Hillary Clinton is "angry", then that anger needs to be brought up several more notches. Every day, people are dying, and being maimed, and suffering, because of the Bush administration. I realize we need to win back Congress in 2006, but for the love of all we hold dear, can't we at least try to get these evil bastards impeached now, or stopped legally, so that we can mitigate at least a bit of the enormous damage they are causing?

[Tinksrival]

31. Amen!

It's a long way back to where we were six years ago. How far will we have to fall before America looks in the mirror?

[upi402]

30. k/r

I hate all Republican traitors. This is so sad. His poor dad too.
Is this in the MSM?

[Tinksrival]

33. The link in the OP is LA Times

[upi402]

51. Thanks Tinks

I never watch tv news and wonder if the librul media "that only does negatve Iraq stories"...:eyes:

is utterly ignoring these tragedies.

[incapsulated]

32. What this cabal has done to both Iraqis and our soldiers

Are war crimes of the worst sort. Deliberate and evil. God help these poor families.

:cry:

[Tinksrival]

35. This is an Afghan War Vet

We don't hear to many stories from Afghanistan. I've been reading all evening on what has transpired there and it's not looking much better than Iraq which is bad news for the Afghanistan people and the soldiers there. I agree, it all starts at the top. I can't beleive these people in power represent us....represent America. It's very sad, frightning, and maddening.

[incapsulated]

36. Sorry, I made a goof.

It makes sense, though, because it all started in Afghanistan. And it continues in both countries.

[Hekate]

37. K&R for a terrific article; the author does a great job with the subject

It happened in my area...so much sadness...so little help. The Bushites should choke on their hypocritical "support the troops" blather. As for the father and son, may their souls be at rest.

Hekate

[Tsiyu]

38. KICK

reality bites

[progressoid]

39. k&r

[leftchick]

41. This is just horrible on so many levels

The reporter for not doing her job

The ** administration for gutting VA funding

The torture of people in our name

aaarrrggghhh...

<snip>

There are ways to deal with the rage, of course, but treatment of returning veterans is woefully inadequate, owing to a lack of funding. Although the VA acknowledges PTSD as a serious problem for returning veterans, VA hospitals around the country have sharply reduced their inpatient psychiatric beds, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Suicide, meanwhile, is an enormous and growing concern. Statistics are hard to come by, but some estimate that although 58,000 veterans died in combat in Vietnam, more than that took their own lives after returning home. In a 1987 CDC study, the suicide rate for Vietnam vets was 65% higher than that of civilians. The Army estimates that the suicide rate among Iraq veterans is one-third higher than the historical wartime average, owing to the psychological strains of no-holds-barred insurgency warfare. That means we're looking at a future blizzard of suicides without an adequate VA program in place to address the crisis.

Without Jeff and the further details he could have provided, I doubt I will ever know for certain whether all his Afghanistan stories are true. But no matter what you believe when you read this, the story of Jeff's life and death raises issues we must grapple with if we're going to continue sending troops into insurgencies and guerrilla war zones. Thirty years after Vietnam, we seem to have learned very little.

Of course, I feel badly now that I didn't spend more time with Jeff or try harder to get his story published while he was alive.

... yeah, I feel badly too! :grr:

[FreedomAngel82]

42. Oh my gosh

:cry: Why his father?? I can't stand these bastards running the country now. :mad: Just one more reason to be pissed off. I wonder how many Jeff'st here have been. :(

[NNN0LHI]

44. Anyone who thought we have been chasing international terorists...

...around Afghanistan for the past 4 years is a complete idiot.

Don

[one_true_leroy]

45. kick against cheney posts...

more important, imo.

[Tinksrival]

48. Thanks for that.

It took over twenty minutes yesterday to get someone to read the post and that was after I kicked it myself back to page one.
I know the Cheney story is entertaining but it is non story. It was just a stupid accident.

[donheld]

46. Sad sad sad

Will America wake up in time?

[lebkuchen]

47. What was so unbelieveable about what the marine told the reporter?

It sounds like SOP for the CIA.

[KayLaw]

49. Horrible

How can people not know evil when they see it?

[Roland99]

50. Is there a compilation of stories like this in the DU Research Forum?

That would be a good place to put articles like this or the one re: David Airhart or that one the other day from a Marine coming home and saying the US was essentially committing genocide in Iraq.

Would be good to use to rebut winger claims that all troops support * and all troops are righteous patriots who are 100% loyal to their commander-in-chief and all troops believe 100% in what they're doing.

[imperial jedi]

52. this is sickning

n/t

[Auntie Bush]

53. I hope our hospitals are prepared for a ton of patients because

there's going to be a lot of stories just like this. I hope they don't just end up homeless on the streets. It's so sad and to think it was an elective war. Some people in the administration need to be blind folded with their hands tied behind their back and .....
kissed! Ha! Ha! Agent mike!