May 21, 2004

Okay, NOW We've Lost

First, it was revealed that U.S. forces behaved in grotesque ways towards detainees that would humiliate anyone, and should deeply embarass anyone else in whose name it was nominally done. Now it appears to have come out that the people running these detentions and giving the orders were not only disgusting, but definitively an evolutionary step or two below burnt toast:

...The 13 previously secret sworn statements by detainees obtained by the Post added an overt anti-Islamic dimension to the abuses, with prisoners forced to renounce their religion, eat pork and drink liquor in contravention of Islamic religious tenets.

One detainee said he was told during the holy month of Ramadan he would be released if he cooperated and was ordered to curse Islam. "Because they started to hit my broken leg, I curse my religion. They ordered me to thank Jesus I am alive." ...

I doubt there are any Iraqis reading this blog, but for what it's worth (not much, I know), I'm sorry that any of this happened. And mortified. Apparently some Americans don't know to extend to other people even the consideration our laws require towards animals.

My biggest concern about the war going in was that even if Colin Powell's every word to the U.N. had been true, that this crew in the White House would screw the situation up beyond belief. They have wildly exceeded those expectations. If swimming pools full of weaponizable anthrax were discovered in Iraq tomorrow, it still wouldn't suffice to repair our relations with the rest of the world.

Posted by natasha at May 21, 2004 06:37 PM | Iraq | TrackBack(2) | Technorati links |
Comments

It's really a pity... that so many scared, angry people are running this country. Abusive, power-drunk fanatics...

Peace on earth. Good will to men. GOD DAMN WAR!

Posted by: Darryl Pearce at May 21, 2004 09:39 PM

I am reminded by this latest horrible revelation that Bush once called the war on terrorism a "crusade." At the time, everyone remarked on how inappropriate his choice of word was. Maybe not. Maybe that's really how he sees it. Maybe there are enough other people along the chain of command who see it that way, actually to make it happen. Maybe this is a full-blown, old-style crusade, a holy Christian war against Islam, instigated by a couple of raving religious maniacs and ideological nutcases at the top, and perpetrated by people willing to do just about anything to anyone, using the weaponry and wealth of the most powerful military ever assembled to carry out their heinous acts.

And maybe we're done for as a nation among nations, even if we manage to oust this bunch of madmen in the November elections... if we even have November elections. I am not willing to give up yet. But I am anything but confident at this point.

So... per your remark on another thread... am I paranoid enough to suit you, natasha? :)

Posted by: Steve Bates at May 21, 2004 10:24 PM

The whole thing just makes me want to cry, for so many different reasons.

Posted by: hope at May 21, 2004 10:36 PM

hope, I find myself crying these days too.

and yes, natasha, it was inevitable that this gang would f*ck up bigtime. It was one of the reasons I was so angry in the leadup to the war with the saps like Bill Keller and the Washington Post for their supporting Bush in his illegal and preemptive war of choice. If they had just looked at the Standard Operating Procedure of the Bush crew, they would never have backed this war.

Posted by: Mary at May 22, 2004 07:25 PM

Steve,

Whether our levels of paranoia are appropriate will only become clear in the fullness of time. However, I will say that it isn't just our little corner of the internet crowd that's paranoid these days.

Posted by: natasha at May 24, 2004 05:42 AM