James Keeffe, former prisoner of war

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The retired lieutenant colonel, who was held prisoner by the Germans during World War II, worries that America has entered a situation for which it may be culturally unprepared.

"What do you do with that man who (beheaded) that young American? Read him his rights?" asks Keeffe, who is 81 and lives in Bellevue.

Keeffe frets about the continued self-flagellation of Americans over abuse at Abu Ghraib prison near Iraq. The detainees, he says, were essentially terrorists, not soldiers captured in war. As such, he doesn't think they're entitled to protections under the Geneva Convention.

While he doesn't condone what the soldiers did, Keeffe says, "You get into a quandary if someone has information on the impending terribleness that is on the scale of 9-11; is there justification for brutalizing that person? In my opinion, there definitely is. When it really comes down to it, there was no permanent damage done to any of these people."

A fighter pilot with the U.S. Army Air Force, Keeffe was held for about eight months by the Germans in a POW camp. The conditions were "horrible, miserable, terrible," but he says only twice was he "brutally struck and both times I brought it upon myself."

He blames the breakdown at Abu Ghraib on high-level military personnel but dismisses the excuses of those soldiers who say they were simply following orders: "That's crap. An order is valid only if it's moral and legal. If either of those lines is crossed, no individual is required to follow them."

The U.S., he says, must "see this thing through and as soon as possible turn that country over and forget this dream of bringing democracy there."

— Lornet Turnbull

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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