Frank Lautenberg: “all of us in the Senate, and in the Government generally, are terribly upset with the events of these last days and…”

“all of us in the Senate, and in the Government generally, are terribly upset with the events of these last days and weeks because the shock and awe that we all experienced in the beginning days has been diminished when compared to what we are seeing now. Now we are seeing the ultimate degradation of human conduct. Unfortunately, some part of it comes from us, from Americans. We are embarrassed, apologetic, humiliated by what we have seen. I, like all of my colleagues, had a chance to view the pictures the Pentagon sent to Congress yesterday. They were sick, perverted images from the Abu Ghraib prison. Shameful, perverted, degraded images that made Members feel ill. But we could tell from the images there were many soldiers present at these scenes. This was not a soldier or two; there were many. The photographs demonstrated complete disintegration of discipline. Unfortunately, while it would be a lot easier if this were just the case of a few bad apples, it indicates a breakdown in leadership. I am a World War II veteran. I experienced the stress of being in a combat zone. I understand the psychological wear and tear. I also know it is the responsibility of a soldier's leaders all the way to the top of the chain of command to supervise, to manage as best they can the conduct of the troops. Regarding the current case of prison abuse, it is premature to rush to court-martial individual soldiers before all of the facts are known.”