Alyssa Peterson, the U.S. soldier who killed herself ... rather than participate in torture. A great woman...

With each new revelation on U.S. torture in Iraq, Afghanistan and Gitmo (and who, knows, probably elsewhere), I am reminded of the chilling story of Alyssa Peterson, who I have written about numerous times in the past three years but now with especially sad relevance. Appalled when ordered to take part in interrogations that, no doubt, involved what we would call torture, she refused, then killed herself a few days later, in September 2003.

Of course, we now know from the torture memos and the U.S. Senate committee probe and various new press reports, that the "Gitmo-izing" of Iraq was happening just at the time Alyssa got swept up in it.

Alyssa Peterson was one of the first female soldiers killed in Iraq. A cover-up, naturally, followed. More...

See also:

1. Olbermann: President Obama, you're wrong (about torture...)
2. 9/11 'mastermind' was waterboarded 183 times by the CIA...
3. Abu Ghraib: Lynndie England talks...
4. Confessions of a Guantanamo guard...