Uh, . . . US Senators are asking Rumsfeld to resign, not the media. This is definitely a scandal (Rumsfeld called it a "firestorm") and it is getting bigger. There will be a lot more than six soldiers disciplined. This paranoid suspicion of the media is amusing. What are you afraid of hearing?
nowhere in my last post did I exault "glee". I stated a fact about the hearings and said it would get worse before it gets better. nowhere did I say IMPEACH BUSH AND RUMSFELD BECAUSE THEY CANNOT BE TRUSTED! Did I? NO. This is not a political issue to me, but more of a humanitarian issue. I think it will have huge political ripples, yes, but we are in violation of the Geneva Convention. That is a big deal as I see it, especially since we are the super power of the Earth and should be setting the example for everyone. War crimes are a big deal the last time I checked.................................... :dis:
I'm not scared to hear anything - I hope we hear each and every detail we should. If this is a big enough "scandal" for us to change Sec'y of Defense during a time of war then a lot more needs to be revealed. At this point, this is being blown out of the water. If this was 2002 this would not be the biggest news event for a week straight and the speculation and calls for Rumsfeld's resignation would be held to a minimum. If you truly believe that the media is not fighting and praying for this thing to snowball for political reasons you are drunk, high or both...
Red, I agree that the last thing we needed was this kinda thing but I would also say that our prisoners are already treated badly at the hands of the enemy. This thing isn't going to change the way they treat us as prisoners. Perfect example are the contracters that were killed and burned in the streets and then hung off a bridge. Someone, Explain to me how ANY of our people as prisoners are going to be treated any worse than they already are. These people are killing our civilians and taking them hostage, the very ones trying to help Iraq which proves the enemy doesn't distinguish between civilian and soldier. So tell me how and why should we appease these people? This scandal is rediculous, you would think we tortured these people. I bet we treated Saddam and other prisoners a lot worse than these people and no body knows it. How would you feel if you found out some of these people in these pictures were Al Quada, the very same people that killed alot of people on 9/11?
IMO we have set a most excellent example. I now FULLY EXPECT that all American POW's will be put into embarassing situations and have photos taken of them in compromising positions, then returned safe and sound to their families. If their faces aren't visible they can always claim that it wasn't them (this is another good reason why you should NEVER get a tattoo)... I'll take that ANY DAY over the enemy burning their bodies and hanging them from bridges. It's NOT EVEN CLOSE.
Yes, they are. So where's your outrage over the 4 Americans who were burned and then dismembered to hang from a bridge in Fallujah? I see more outrage from the left over some Iraqi POWs being HUMILIATED than I do over these people being MURDERED AND DESECRATED.
This is all about interrogations like I suspected and posted around here lately. Please see my new thread about this. This country is too damn soft, we are at war and the other side doesn't play by the same rules. The enemy can kill Americans everyday, torture them, whatever and all we seem to talk about is this Iraqi prison situation. Another thing that bothers me is that these soldiers that are now lined up for court martials are scape goats because they were just following orders from the interrogators, it will be interesting to see if we go after them next. I bet not because soldiers are expendible and interrogators aren't. Let's quit interrogating people now because we are bad people and the rest of the world is good. :cuss: :cuss:
Excuse me, G-MAN and others who have a similar view, but there is a GARGANTUAN difference between the lynchmob mentality of those who so outrageously murdered and abused the American workers and that of the organized military. I find it terribly upsetting what happened to our fellow Americans and truly hope that as many of those responsible can be caught and brought to justice. But we expect that kind of behavior from them. Not so with the American military that is supposed to be liberating and providing the example of democracy to these people. The image of the American soldier has always been that of kindness, even to his enemy. Giving out Hershey bars and gum to kids. The American soldier (and America in general) is projected as fighting against the kinds of things that went on in the prison. As far as what happened not being torture, one man's junk is another man's treasure. To these people and Arabs in general, the display of the human body and nudity is extremely offensive as evidenced by the rules requiring women to cover their faces and the ban on pornography and so forth. So what may seem minor to us is major to them. And let's not forget that these people who hate us over there will blow these things up many times and even outright lie and distort them to support thier hate and turn more people against us. So it is imperative that our soldiers on all levels and the politicos in charge be aware of such things and on their best behavior at all times. Remember, these people THINK differently than us. To them, EVERYTHING that happens come directly from Bush! This is the way government has always worked, everything comes from the top. Remember the Miracle on Ice? The Russian people believed Jimmy Carter ORDERED the hockey team to win. That's government to them. With each incident, no matter how trivial or outrageous the circumstances leading to it, our reaction defines the response of the enemy. And this is where we are in a Carch-22 situation in Iraq. If we react with overwhelming force, then they use that against us claiming we are killing innocent women and children. If we do nothing, we are considered weak and only invite more insurgency. Just like Viet Nam, we cannot win. To win a war it must be total!!! And This administration is not willing to do that because they want to win the "hearts and minds" of people who don't want it. You say that more people are outraged over this "torture" issue than over the deaths of those four Americans. I hope so because this reflects on this nation and our military and the situation as a whole a hell of a lot more than the unfortunate death and subsequent treatment of those four unfortunate individuals. More of our young men and women are likely to die because of this added fuel to the fire. Will their deaths and their families grief be any less or important than that of the four who died earlier?
