[Eala]

Very interesting take!! You may be on to something... hmmm...

[annyokie]

Uday and Qusay are ed-day.

[Eala]

"For your ping list" ping...

[Loyal Buckeye]

I think your point has merit. Time and events will prove your point one way or the other.


One thing I've learned is that what appears to be a major problem ends up not being one.

[antiantiamericans]

What makes you think it is necessarily unintended? Even if the whole thing wasn't planned, we do have people whose sole job is to look for, and exploit, situations like this.

[rogueleader]

It's like judo. You turn your weaknesses into strength. The scandal is a weakness, and we turn it into a strength. Right now, every would-be terrorist is going to have horrible nightmares of sexual torture before they light off their next bomb.

That said, this sexual torture crap is too risky and dangerous to rely on as policy. That's why the people responsible need to have their asses nailed to the wall, no matter what. That's also why it's right to apologize and to put into place policies to make sure this never happens again. Getting gays out of the military is a good start. The next step is to reassign women out of combat roles, and not reassign new women into them.

[Arkie2]

Or the quiet in Falujah could be because we put Iraqis back in charge and the quiet in Najaf could be because the tribes and the Shiite elders demanded Sadr get out? Just want to present an alternate universe here!

[arbee4bush]

I agree with you. I hope that this will work in our favor in the end. What I worry about now is that this hearing today will turn into the Church commission (don't think there won't be a commission out of this) and that there will be handcuffs put on our military and investigative forces like they did to the CIA....make them impotent to be able to conduct the business of interrogating prisoners and getting the needed info to protect our troops during war. I hope I am wrong. But I have this sinking feeling we may never ever be able to wage war and win with the partisanship we have in this country and in the media. Pray I am wrong.

[BlueAngel]

Good post and something to ponder.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Excellent point. Also note this: the prisoners chose to submit to this humiliation. They could have defied us and chosen their 72 virgins. How strong is their faith? I believe that the Japanese were much more devoted to their faith than the Islamics. God willing, I do not expect to see as many suicide bombers as there were kamakazis back during WWII. Right or wrong, some of the guards called their bluff, and we can learn from that.

[feedback doctor]

What great insight into this!!

[dead]

The apologies were strictly for North American and European consumption.

[get'emall]

You know? You may be on to something. We know we're dealing with cowards. Perhaps alSadr crapped his kaftan when he saw those photos and pictured himself naked... barking like a dog with a chain on his neck... at the end of a leash held by a 90 pound woman sucking on a Pall Mall.

Hmmmm... there could be something there. Thought-provoking.

[Bosco]

These images would not have gotten the same amount of attention had we (the West) not made a big stink about them.

I venture to suggest that the current inmates of Abu Gharaib are the best treated in the history of the prison.

[tertiary01]

Ms England might really be a heroine? You never know. Events often play out in unusual ways.

[findingtruth]

Ah, an insightful post, with many thoughtful comments.

[bwteim]

Interesting take LS, if it were the case, we could have peppered the Arab streets months ago with Photoshop bombs. Then again, who knows that the psych ops folks are doing?

[FITZ]

What if secretly that was the message we meant to send?

[Ukiapah Heep]

This is entirely true. The Muslims need to know if they slaughter Americans they will end up led around on a leash by a girl.

[nopardons]

I think you're correct;in spades.

The only that would have made those pictures even worse,to the "Arab Street",would have been if these pictures also showed women rubbing bacon all over those "brave" soldiers for Allah.