I was surprised that members of the Bates College staff were concerned that the government was not doing enough to investigate the issues at Abu Ghraib prison (June 23).

The Department of Defense has begun a very extensive investigation of past policies, practices and procedures, as well as the way they were executed. The Armed Services uncovered the issues with its detainee handling. Let’s allow the people who will fix these problems an opportunity to do so. Nobody is more self-critical than our people in uniform.

When combatants do not present themselves as such with a uniform showing military affiliation or stating so when captured, they are not awarded the same rights as what people normally associate with the Geneva Conventions. In other words, if you disguise yourself as a farmer delivering milk to a school complex and then toss a grenade into the area then you will not be treated under the normal rules of war.

These prisons are full of terrorists. They are enemies of the Iraqi people. These are men who ripped out people’s eyeballs and cut off limbs of children while their parents and families were forced to watch.

I hope the Bates College staff will be as enthusiastic in their support for POW training appropriations that are normally cut or overlooked in peacetime.

Maj. Steven C. LaPlante, Auburn

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