Ian Fishback

Ian Fishback is a United States Army officer, who became known after he sent a letter to Senator John McCain of Arizona on September 16, 2005, in which Fishback stated his concerns about the continued abuse of prisoners held under the auspices of the Global War on Terror.

McCain, along with Republican Senators John Warner and Lindsey Graham afterward wrote an amendment to a Senate bill which would make illegal previous Bush administration claims for the use of extreme methods of abuse.

Fishback is a graduate of West Point currently holding the rank of Captain in the U.S. Army Infantry. He served two combat tours with the 82nd Airborne Division, one each in Afghanistan and Iraq. Ivan Fishback stood alone to speak against the prisoners abuse in Iraq. After 17 months of frustration and failure to get his superiors’ attention, he went outside his chain of command to Senator John McCain, who in turn successfully spearheaded “antitorture” legislation. Country Fishback, 27, downplayed his heroism as nothing more than supporting clear standards in accordance with U.S. values.

Fishback was chosen by TIME magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world on May 8, 2006 for taking the stand against torture.

In a letter to McCain, Fishback wrote, “Some argue that since our actions are not as horrifying as Al Qaeda’s, we should not be concerned. When did Al Qaeda become any type of standard by which we measure the morality of the United States? We are America, and our actions should be held to a higher standard, the ideals expressed in documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. I would rather die fighting than give up even the smallest part of the idea that is America.”