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Iraqi prison duty: it's a dirty job, but someone has to be the scapegoat

I find very interesting the following comments by the lawyer of one of the American soldiers accused of abusing the Iraqi prisoners:

(The humiliated man beneath the hood, The New Zealand Herald.)

These words have the ring of truth to them. As I understand it, humiliation techniques are a standard way in which interrogators get prisoners to cooperate.

I confess to not quite understanding the moral outrage. It's OK to drop bombs on soldiers and kill them, or maim them for life, even though soldiers are often unwilling conscripts who would rather not be fighting. But somehow it's a horrible violation of human rights when we use some hardball psychological tactics against the worst enemy prisoners. War isn't supposed to be pleasant. Pundits in the United States, living safe lives in upper-class communities and working in plush offices, are a bit too eager to dish out tongue lashings to soliders in Iraq who are risking their lives to keep America safe.

The very same Arabs who turn a blind eye to physical torture of prisoners by Arab governments (such as Saddam Hussein's former regime) are outraged when the U.S. uses tactics that are far less brutal. The Arab street will find any reason to hate the United States, and there really isn't anything we can do that will make them like us.

Democrats who are calling for Rumsfeld's resignation are mostly interested in making the President look bad so he will lose the election to John Kerry. It's disgusting that they put politics over our nation's security.

I suspect that a few low level soldiers will be court marshalled because someone thinks that we need to have some scapegoats. And the lesson learned by "the military intelligence community and other governmental agencies, including the CIA" is that in the future they must not allow the participants in psychological manipulation of prisoners to take photos.

posted Friday, May 07, 2004