Ian Fishback Death – Cause Of Death: Former United States Army who was known for writing a letter to Sen. McCain in 2005 and blowing the whistle on detainee abuse in Iraq Captain Ian Fishback has died tragically on Friday 19th November 2021 as the result of an apparent suicide at his home.
Ian was a great army and a philanthropist, he was one of the bravest Soldiers of the post-9/11 era. He took a bold step in 2005 that changed the world. He was very courageous and brave to have taken such a decision on beatings of detainees during the 82nd Airborne’s 2003-4 tour. He had a great passion for humanity.
I am a graduate of West Point currently serving as a Captain in the U.S. Army Infantry. I have served two combat tours with the 82nd Airborne Division, one each in Afghanistan and Iraq. While I served in the Global War on Terror, the actions and statements of my leadership led me to believe that United States policy did not require the application of the Geneva Conventions in Afghanistan or Iraq. On 7 May 2004, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld’s testimony that the United States followed the Geneva Conventions in Iraq and the “spirit” of the Geneva Conventions in Afghanistan prompted me to begin an approach for clarification. For 17 months, I tried to determine what specific standards governed the treatment of detainees by consulting my chain of command through battalion commander, multiple JAG lawyers, multiple Democrat and Republican Congressmen and their aides, the Ft. Bragg Inspector General’s office, multiple government reports, the Secretary of the Army and multiple general officers, a professional interrogator at Guantanamo Bay, the deputy head of the department at West Point responsible for teaching Just War Theory and Law of Land Warfare, and numerous peers who I regard as honorable and intelligent men.”
Photo credit – Eric Schmitt