Antonio Taguba was the general who investigated the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq. A New Yorker article stated that Taguba himself became a casualty of Abu Ghraib, because he brought things out in the open - in short, because he simply did his job.
The report said, "A few weeks after his report became public, Taguba, who was still in Kuwait, was in the back seat of a Mercedes sedan with Abizaid [John Abizaid was then head of Centcom]. Abizaid’s driver and his interpreter, who also served as a bodyguard, were in front. Abizaid turned to Taguba and issued a quiet warning: “You and your report will be investigated.”
The report quoted Taguba as saying, “I’d been in the Army thirty-two years by then, and it was the first time that I thought I was in the Mafia.”
The article states that Taguba's career suffered after that. In short, Taguba suffered from the usual dictatorship system response to an unwanted truth - shoot the messenger.
(Please email me your comments - cvdhruve@gmail.com, and also visit my website, cvdhruve.com)
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About Me
- Chetan Dhruve
- I'm the author of the book, "Why Your Boss is Programmed to be a Dictator". The book examines boss behaviour through the lens of Systems Thinking (you can find out more on my personal website, cvdhruve.com). I've worked for a variety of large organisations such as Cisco, IBM and the British Civil Service (Department for International Development, which is the aid wing of the Foreign Office). I have an MBA from Cass Business School in London, an MA in international journalism from City University (London) and a Bachelors in Physics, Electronics and Maths from Bangalore University (Bangalore).