Posted on 05/08/2004 4:46:32 PM PDT by saquin
Uh-oh...I would really love to see the pictures from that interrogation.
If the actions of a few Americans represent all of America then why don't the actions of a lot of Muslim Terrorists represent all of Islam?I think that pretty much sums it up
Perhaps no one has asked this because the question isn't "fair".
What have the Americans done...
There have been about a dozen or so American soldiers that have abused captured enemy (13 is the latest I have heard that had either direct or indirect involvement). They abused them, plain and simple (undressing them, placing fake electrodes and saying they would be shocked, naked human pyramid, etc.).
Result:
- Almost everyone agreed the soldiers actions were disgraceful and criminal.
- The individuals involved have been arrested, have been formally charged, and are in the process of a court martial.
- The individuals will be busted out of the service with a dishonorable discharge and are likely serve time.
- The individuals lives will be forever altered because of what they did.
- Their actions were rebuked at the highest possible levels, including the commanders in theater (General Kimmitt), the Joint Chief of Staff (General Myers), and the President himself.
- This rebuke has come with great swiftness and has been unequivocal
- American leaders have clearly pointed out that American soldiers do not do these things and condemned it in the strongest terms (including the comment that these soldiers were "a disgrace to the uniform", which is, I believe, about the highest insult one military man can say to another)
Let's look at what are Muslim terrorists have done in recent past…
- 1993 Killing of U.S. soldiers in Somalia.
- 1993 Bombing of World Trade Center; 6 killed.
- 1995–1996 Bombing of U.S. barracks in Saudi Arabia; 22 soldiers killed.
- 1998 Bombing of U.S. embassies in East Africa; 224 killed; including 12 Americans.
- Dec. 1999 Jordanian police arrested members of a cell planning attacks against Western tourists.
- Dec. 14, 1999 Plot to bomb millennium celebrations in Seattle foiled when customs agents arrest an Algerian smuggling explosives into the U.S. Other Algerians subsequently arrested were "Afghan alumni."
- 2000 Bombing of the USS Cole in port in Yemen, 17 U.S. sailors killed.
- Sept. 11, 2001 Destruction of WTC, attack on Pentagon.
- April 11, 2002 Explosion at ancient synagogue in Tunisia left 17 dead, including 11 German tourists.
- May 2002 Car explodes outside hotel in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 14, including 11 French citizens.
- June 2002 Bomb explodes outside American Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 12.
- October 2002 Nightclub bombings in Bali, Indonesia, kill 202, mostly Australian citizens. Suicide attack on a hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, kills 16.
- May 2003 Suicide bombers kill 34, including 8 Americans, at housing compounds for Westerners in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Four bombs kill 24 people, targeting Jewish, Spanish, and Belgian sites in Casablanca, Morocco.
- August 2003 Suicide car bomb kills 12, injures 150, at Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia.
- November 2003 Explosions rock a Riyadh, Saudi Arabia housing compound killing 17. Suicide car bombers simultaneously attack two synagogues in Istanbul, Turkey, killing 25 and injuring hundreds.
- November 2003 A British bank in Istanbul is bombed.
- March 2004 Explosion rocks Madrid, Spain kills 199, injuries 1,400.
Of course, you have heard all of these. But, what about …
- 1993- Present - the over 800 (yes, 800) fatal attacks on innocents (meaning non-military) in Israel since 1993, when the Declaration of Principles at Oslo was signed?
- 2003 - Casablanca Attacks in Casablanca, Morocco leaves 41 dead. The attack involved 12 bombers and 5 targets. The targets were "Western and Jewish". Attack attributed to a Moroccan al-Qaeda-linked group.
- 2003 - A bomb is detonated by Palestinians against a US diplomatic convoy in the Gaza Strip.
Result:
- Muslim terrorists are praised, not arrested or jailed
- The only terrorists that have been arrested have been by the governments that the terrorists oppose (cumulatively "the West")
- People rejoice in the streets, burn American flags, and throw candy up in the air for the children
- None or few Leaders of Islam step forward and rebuke these attacks and declare unequivocally that these people are terrorists and not true believers in Islam
- Most clerics praise the work of the Muslim terrorists
- Few heads of Arab states condemn the attacks on U.S.
- No heads of Arab states condemn the attacks on Israel
So, let me see if I get this straight:
1. A small group of American soldiers abuses a small group of enemy prisoners and they are being severely punished for it. As well, every American official has unequivocally denounced their actions.
2. Thousands of terrorists, in multiple terror groups (Al Qaeda, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, etc.), sponsored in one form or another by over a dozen nations, bomb and kill innocent people over and over again and the world yawns, no condemnations are forthcoming from any Muslim official.
Yes, we're bad; they're not. It is easy to see why people might think that the situation at the Abu Ghraib prison was "frat prank"-type stuff and not the cold-blooded killing and maiming that the Muslim terrorists have been specializing in for the last decade.
You will forgive me while I take the situation in the Abu Ghraib prison with a bit of perspective.
Even though some of her ideas are a bit muddled and utopian for my taste-I don't know how many Pakistani Daniel Pearls will be churned out of Karachi University in the future-she still seems like an incredibly courageous individual, especially when you consider what she's been through in the past two years.
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