Strong support for torture among US military in Iraq: A corollary of occupation

Stephen Soldz

A new survey of US military personnel in Iraq finds high rates of support for torture. Forty-one percent of soldiers in Iraq and 44% of marines agree that "Torture should be allowed if it will save the life of a Soldier/Marine" and 36% of soldiers and 39% of marines agree that "Torture should be allowed in order to gather important info about insurgents." Responses to another question give a sense of who, in the opinion of many occupation soldiers and marines, should be subject to torture: 17% of both soldiers and marines agree that "All non-combatants should be treated as insurgents." These results illustrate the US military's conflicting attitudes toward banned torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. On the one hand, the US military has a long history of teaching and promoting torture around the world, in the various American client states in Latin America and elsewhere...

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