Court Martial in Iraq (CBS to broadcast images of US troops mistreating Iraqis...)

CBS ^

[FairOpinion]

Sure the pictures were stupid, but the media is trying to equate them with Saddam's torture.

THIS is torture:

Iraqis pour out tales of Saddam's torture chambers
By Jack Kelley, USA TODAY
BAGHDAD — Pictures of dead Iraqis, with their necks slashed, their eyes gouged out and their genitals blackened, fill a bookshelf.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-04-13-saddam-secrets-usat_x.htm

And how do you know the prisoners in that jail aren't some of those who committed the real atrocities?

[Bluntpoint]

Further, we are talking about the pictures with the American soldiers mocking prisoners.

Your link is about the British soldier incident.

And even then, other than some unnamed officials saying these photos look suspicious, there is no proof given here that they are phony.

In our case, the principles are already trying to shift the blame do to lack of regulations, etc.

Not one principle has denied these photos are not genuine.

You are losing it!

[Bluntpoint]

The point is:

These photos are real.

These photos are stupid.

These photos will hurt not help our cause.

Period.

[FairOpinion]

IF the photos are real, they are certainly stupid to have allowed them to get into the hands of the media.

[Bluntpoint]

Bingo!

First, interrogation has to be done in a professional manner.

Second, when unprofessional conduct is unearthed, whether by such stupidity as evidenced here or by the agenda driven press, it still needs to be punished.

[hosepipe]

AND pictures in full living color of it all ?

Something smells in all this.. Its just a little too organized, too Clintonian. A muzzie soldier trying to frag his commander didn't work, and now this ?... I can smell it from here and it smells like a democrat has breathed on it.

[schmelvin]

IF the photos are real, they are certainly stupid to have allowed them to get into the hands of the media.

What do you mean if the photos are real? The photos of British soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners may not be real, but the photos of what those American soldiers did are authentic and backed up by the journal Chip Frederick kept while he was there (a journal in Chip's own handwriting which also included a detailed account of how they attempted to cover up the death of an Iraqi who didn't survive an interrogation), his correspondence to his family back home, admissions by the accused soldiers (who don't deny that the acts occurred, but instead claim that they just didn't know they were doing anything wrong), and testimony from American whistleblowers who witnessed the acts.

The Abu Ghraib prison photos are real. These abuses did happen, and the reputation of America and America's military has taken quite a blow because of these morality-challenged imbeciles unfit to call themselves American soldiers.

I'm not being a "sky is falling" chicken little when I say that this has been very damaging to us. It's given ammo and encouragement to our enemies both foreign and domestic. It's given credibility to the treacherous and damning BS/testimony that John Kerry gave against our soldiers in his youth. Sheesh, I just got done reading an article in a European newspaper calling for the International Criminal Court to file charges against Chip Frederick and the others. This is not good, and we could end up reaping the consequences for years to come because of these "soldiers".

[FairOpinion]

The reason "it's not good" is because everyone is running around with the "woe is me" attitude, instead of putting this into context.

OK -- these things shouldn't have been done, but there is no comparison , as some try to make it, to Saddam's horrors.

So a bunch of terrorists got slightly abused -- we have 3000 innocents dead, and would have more, if we didn't "slightly abuse" the terrorists.

Where were all the liberal media when Saddam was murdering and torturing thousands of his own people?

[WhistlingPastTheGraveyard]

Who hand-picked the terrorists for the operation?

Who declared in his 1998 fatwa that the primary reason for jihad against America was because we were occupying the Arab Peninsula (our bases in Saudi Arabia) for the purposes of threatening Iraq?

The answer to both questions is Osama bin Laden. His fatwa was issued on the anniversary of the beginning of Operation Desert Storm, incidentally.

If OBL hand-picked 15 Saudis to attack America, what do you think he was hoping the United States would do in retaliation?

Exactly what you suggest. He wanted us to retaliate against Saudi Arabia, thus ending our relationship with the kingdom and forcing Saudi Arabia to expell our troops from the region. Precisely the goal stated in his fatwa.