Oh yes, and worse has happened to minorities in the deep south here at home. None of which makes Abu Ghraib right... The ditto heads never cease in their attempts to red herring away mistreatment of others...and blame the media in the process.
Abu Ghraib itself is the red herring. Abu Ghraib was meaningless in any "big picture" sense. Abu Ghraib was to the Iraq War what Anna Nicole Smith was to American culture. Ten years from now...not well remembered. Does random prisoner abuse imply widespread, systematic, institutionalized torture and murder of enemy combatants? Hardly. There's no evidence that anything beyond vigorous interrogation is condoned by official Pentagon directives. Subjecting enemy combatants to humiliations such as loud music and forced nudity is not the type of "abuse" that cuts teeth in a world of beheadings, suicide bombing children, stealth airstrikes over civilian targets and other niceties of war. For anyone to imply that American military abuses are a even a mitigating cause of Iraq's vast sectarian violence is an exorcise in intellectual dishonesty.
US based war efforts were initiated on the basis of how virtuous we are, how we are the "good" and they are the "evil" yet we acted in a manner that is consistent with "evil." Dehumanizing people, then posing for the camera like a big game hunter with his foot on the head of his prey and taking photos of it are not consistent with any virtue I am aware of. Wrong is wrong, and your moral relativism position doesn't make it right. That is in important issue, one large enough for even the dullard Bush to figure out: Bush regrets impact of Abu Ghraib scandal Washington - American President George Bush said on Thursday that the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal was the "biggest mistake" made by the United States in Iraq. Speaking after a summit with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Bush said: "I think the biggest mistake that's happened so far, at least from our country's involvement, is Abu Ghraib. We've been paying for that for a long period of time." The Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal that broke with the release of photos of Iraqi prisoners being sexually humiliated at the Baghdad prison drew international criticism for US forces. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?sf=2...lick_id=3&art_id=qw1148605923233B221&set_id=1 Nope, not a red herring at all... I would say logic fails you, that would imply that you even try to be logical.
The quote from Bush was made at the height of the allegations. A political response. Ask him now how important Abu Ghraib looms. A pimple.....
Commrade Hersh is another useful idiot that has sacrificed substance for show. Fanning the flames of hysteria is his M.O. Hey, it sells and that's all that counts.
A big pimple on the nose of someone in beauty queen contest matters... We waged war on the basis of claims of our near perfect complexion...
I bet if you ask those prisoner in Abu Graib if they would rather stay there or be transferred to a prison controlled by Iraqis, they would stay put. How much ya wanna bet?
I think I can be a little more clear than what others have attempted to say here by asking this question: Is there anybody here, besides me, who doesn't give a shit what our soldiers did to those heathens at Abu Ghraib?