Afghanistan veteran Kevin Bell confesses [pdf] that he was tempted to torture detainees:
As it turned out, in spite of meeting all of the mission’s original information priorities, we were never able to confirm or deny the suspect’s involvement in the local ambushes. Part of me was glad that I hadn’t tortured him, but my conscience still haunted me.
Wasn’t it worth finding out the truth? What was wrong with me that I was so worried about following the law when my enemies had never considered it, torturing, threatening and murdering the local school teachers and truck drivers at whim? Who would speak of law and order for them? What about my dead soldier? I bore the weight of these questions alone as I didn’t want to burden my men. I wasn’t proud of it, but in the moment of truth all of the briefings on legal procedures and proper intelligence-gathering techniques meant almost nothing to me.
Tom Ricks seconds Bell's recommendations about how to improve military ethics training to address this problem.
(Photo: Afghan detainees sit while guarded by US Marines from 1st Battalion 8th, Bravo during an operation in Musa Qala district of Helmand province on January 23, 2011. By Dmitry Kostyukov/AFP/Getty Images)
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