The colonel and the corruption

Col. Ted Westhusing, West-Point trained, a straight arrow, the best and the brightest, went to Iraq. He either killed himself or was murdered after learning of possible corruption and human rights violations by private contractors to the US.

So it was only natural that Westhusing acted when he learned of possible corruption by U.S. contractors in Iraq. A few weeks before he died, Westhusing received an anonymous complaint that a private security company he oversaw had cheated the U.S. government and committed human rights violations. Westhusing confronted the contractor and reported the concerns to superiors, who launched an investigation.

Westhusing seemed especially upset by one conclusion he had reached: that traditional military values such as duty, honor and country had been replaced by profit motives in Iraq, where the U.S. had come to rely heavily on contractors for jobs once done by the military.

His suicide note said:

“I cannot support a msn [mission] that leads to corruption, human rights abuse and liars. I am sullied,” it says. “I came to serve honorably and feel dishonored.

“Death before being dishonored any more.”

The military, in a particularly stomach-turning piece of sleazy propaganda, blamed the victim because he was so inflexible as to put moral values before money. I am not making this up…

(A psychologist) said that Westhusing had placed too much pressure on himself to succeed and that he was unusually rigid in his thinking. Westhusing struggled with the idea that monetary values could outweigh moral ones in war. This, she said, was a flaw.

Your tax dollars at work. Making the elite wealthier, blaming the victims, accepting no responsibility ever.

Update: “Trophy Video” of civilian shootings by contractors emerges

Crooks and Liars has the video