6 US Troops charged for maltreating Iraqi jail inmates

[Agathon]

Looking at that old thread. What happened to Ned?

[Wernazuma III]

The US headed towards this scandal right from 9/11. Under the cover of "fighting terrorism", many legal procedures nd standards of treatment became undermined, criticism and warnings by NGOs were labeled as politically motivated, unpatriotic or blue-eyed towards the needs of a war against such an enemy. At some time and some place, this erosion and black-and-white thinking had to lead on the lowest and most primitive level to the assumption that everything is allowed against "the other". And apparently, it took very long - many months - until it blew up.
Even if this case was completely isolated - at least in its cruelty - : this went on for a long time and in that certain prison everyone seems to have known what was going on as many testimonies now show. Some commanders must have messed this up and Rumsfeld certainly did, as he had informations on what happened but only now - with the pictures in the media and not some pathetic whinging NGO - the govt. and military react. Resolving this affair by punishing only the guardsmen as scapegoats can't be it or the US finally really proof their lack of understanding of core principles like "political responsability" - like Rumsfeld himself seems to do.
At least the absolute conviction of many Americans that such things just couldn't happen in their system is broken by those pictures. Such things can happen anywhere, in any army, especially when commanders and officials don't fear that anything could happen to them.

[Alexander's Horse]

Originally posted by Wernazuma III
The US headed towards this scandal right from 9/11.

That's 100% right. The Bush Administration bungled 9/11 from day one.

9/11 was an historic opportunity tragically lost to unite the world behind The United States. Now we see the opposite happening.

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
9/11 was an historic opportunity tragically lost to unite the world behind The United States. Now we see the opposite happening.

Bull. The appeal 9/11 bloody shirt might have lasted awhile longer had Bush been more flexible but the tragedy would have faded into the background as more recent issues came up.

[DanS]

AH: Human nature blames the victim. It's a coping mechanism that helps people forget injustice and make some sense out of the world. It used to be more pronounced in ancient times, but it's still there in spades.

[Tingkai]

People are blaming the Iraqis?

[Alexander's Horse]

You still don't get it. Sadly you're soldiers will bleed in Iraq until you do.

How the Bush Administration managed to squander and then trash the enormous outpouring of international support and sympathy for the USA after 9/11 through it's arrogant belligerent unilateralist policies will go down in history as one of the greatest foreign policy debacles of modern times. I have no doubt about it.

It's simply breath taking. You need a really special gift for foreign policy incompetence to get from 9/11 to the mess we're in right now.

Jesus H Christ - OBL is starting to look like a hero to the muslim world. Why? Because the Bush Administration responded to 9/11 in exactly the way OBL wanted it to - by lashing out. They've managed make 9/11 look like pure genious.

Of course in all this the chicken hawks have been ascendent and the foreign policy and security intelligence professionals have been sidelined. The sooner Rumsfeld and that whole rotten gang leaves, the better. They have blood on their hands.

Not a single one of the key whitehouse neocons ever put their life on the line btw. Funny that. It's always people like that who send others to their death.

[Agathon]

Why? Because the Bush Administration responded to 9/11 in exactly the way OBL wanted it to - by lashing out. They've managed make 9/11 look like pure genious.

Yep. Anyone who can't see that this was the point of 911 must be some kind of dumb.

At the moment OBL is winning.

[Alexander's Horse]

And who are they left with as their closest ally? Israel, that running sore of the Middle East.

Oh this is just priceless. Meanwhile people die.

[Dis]

I can't belive the conservatives on the radio were defending these torture photos today on the radio. Unbelievable.

I'm a conservative, and I can't see any good.

I have never felt more ashamed of being an american.

I've been meaning to ask MTG if there were any good jobs down in Tijuana. I would go to Canada, but they won't have me.

[Dis]

here's an article from my local paper. My local reserve unit was rebuilding and running that prison before the Maryland unit took over.

People say bad things about my city, but you don't see perverts like that in my city. We keep sex in the open, so people don't build up these pent up perversions. Then a maryland (catholic state) unit shows up. These catholics never talk about sex, and have built up strange perversions.

Okay I'm reaching there . Draw your own conclusions. Of course the article I am posting is one soldier talking mostly. Of course he isn't going to say he tortured people, even if he did.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/May-08-Sat-2004/news/23836732.html

[Seeker]

"just saw a couple of pics. Holy ****"


OK Yanks....ya know you've gone and done it when even the battle-scarred, seen-it-all Israeli contingent is floored...

[Wernazuma III]

Dissident: Don't you live in the SW? No hispanic catholics over there?

[Giancarlo]

Funny to see people are trying to politically profit of this here. Not unexpected. This will be taken care of. I think the best thing to do is release the accused former soldiers to an Iraqi judge. I have no problem with seeing them executed. I'm not defending the photos. In fact like the President, I condemn them and am totally disgusted. I threw up when I first saw them. For real, my food came up because I was so disgusted. I never been so disgusted in my life.

[Dis]

you're supposedly gay, why did you throw up?