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Are they going to apologize for hanging dead American body parts from wires and bridges?

“Tell that to Captain Coleman, and shout it loud because Arlington Cemetery is a long way from here.” - John Wayne in the Vietnam classic The Green Berets when confronted by a reporter about a perceived war atrocity.

America has been shamed by the actions of some of our military police in Iraq, and we at the Southern Spectator share in the embarrassment and anger of most Americans. It is a clear and unfortunate fact of life that the actions of a few can harm the reputation of all. However, as Tony Snow with Fox News recently noted, it might be time for everybody to calm down and regain their perspective. Tony Snow brought up an interesting point – do the infamous pictures in Iraq involve torture or simply humiliation? Certainly it is improper to photograph enemy soldiers stacked up naked in a pyramid formation. But does it really constitute “torture” and comparisons to the brutal actions of Saddam Hussein?

The Arab world very well may be trying to have it both ways. The photos of Iraqi solders in embarrassing situations have sparked outrage across the Middle East. Aljazeera.net has run stories titled, “Arab Editors Denounce Iraq Abuse” and “More Graphic Iraq Abuse Pictures Surface.” Protests have been assembled in Iraq. Somehow the Arab world and it’s propaganda mouth pieces find it easy to cast stones at the United States – but where was the outrage and condemnation of the September 11th attacks, or of the murder of captured American soldiers early in the war – with their bodies being shown on Arab television, or of the recent murder and mutilation of the four American contractors in Fallujah – including the killing of Navy Seal veteran Scott Helvenston. Does the international community need the Arab world to preach to them about the proper treatment of prisoners?

This entire “scandal” is a distraction from the “big picture.” Aljazeera and the Arab world are using this “scandal” as war time propaganda, and this is in large part because they understand the “politically correctness” mentality of the United States. What better way to harm the U.S. than to make it hate itself. This same dynamic worked during the Vietnam War – with John Kerry fanning the flames of hatred of country during that period. The media, of course, has picked up the ball and run with it – with the photo “scandal” getting much more press coverage than murder of the four contractors in Fallujah – contractors that were guarding a food convoy. Even the combat death of former NFL star turned Army Ranger, Pat Tillman, did not receive the amount of news coverage as the Iraq prison “scandal.”

It is interesting that President Bush, since the Iraqi prison photos have emerged, has begun using tough talk against his hawkish Secretary of Defense. Prior to this the President has firmly stood by his cabinet hawks through out the entire war – despite finding no WMD, and despite increased Iraqi resistance and increased U. S. casualties. On chat boards across the web people are beginning to ask if Bush cares more about the public relations fallout than he does about the military operation.

We at the Southern Spectator continue to support the President – for now. But the nation needs to remember that there have been over 872 coalition deaths in the Iraq war. And with no end in site it is time to get tough and focused. No more strategic debacles like the way our Marines were treated in Fallujah. And no more attention to this photo scandal than is necessary because brave men and women are fighting and dying in Iraq right now - and their lives are more important to us than all of Iraq’s population combined. If our military is unnecessarily being put at risk, and if the administration’s focus is shifting towards international public opinion instead of on the military operation, than perhaps the time has come to bring the troops home.

"Are they going to apologize for hanging dead American body parts from wires and bridges?"

No. Nor will they ever prosecute the people who committed those atrocities.

And that's the difference between them and us.

So, if they don't apologize, we don't?

What a great set of morals there.

Are they going to apologize for hanging dead American body parts from wires and bridges?

It's quite possible that the 'private contractors' who died in that incident were very much involved in the abuse of prisoners.

Regardless of what happened or why, our hopes of building an Iraqi democracy are now dead. Let's pull out and call it a victory.