Occasional abuse-reducing, little justice

The Washington Post writes glowingly of the efforts of a Army leader in Tal Afar, near the Syrian border, to change the US counterinsurgency there. Lt General H R McMaster, a war-historian, emphasized the need for his troops of the Third Armored Cavalry Regiment to understand the context they are working, requiring one in ten to learn conversational Arabic, and giving a lengthy reading list to all troops.

The abuse of detainees weighed in as one of the most important issues.

Understanding that the key to counterinsurgency is focusing on the people, not the enemy, he said he changed the standing orders of the regiment to state that in the future, all soldiers would "treat detainees professionally." During the unit's previous tour, a detainee was beaten to death during questioning, and a unit commander carried a baseball bat that he called his "Iraqi beater."

"Every time you treat an Iraqi disrespectfully, you are working for the enemy," McMaster said he told every soldier in his command.

The detainee referred to was Sunni tribal leader and Lt. Col. Abdul Jaleel, homicide was caused by "blunt force injuries and asphyxia." His autopsy is available online. Men from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment were charged in connection with the death of Major General Hamed Mowoush but lightly punished with no jail time.

Charges were not even brought against the members of the Third Armored Cavalry Regiment soldiers accused of involvement in Jaleel's murder.

Whatever the interpretation of the real impact of McMaster's work, it seems clear that he is one of very few who has attempted to learn from the Pentagon's mistakes.