Abu Ghraib a Year Later-

Abu Ghraib a Year Later-

I know it is difficult these days to sort through the steaming piles of bovine excrement that make up our nightly news on the TV these days and actually find something that constitutes real news. Yes it is sad that a little blonde girl is missing in Aruba, and yes it is a great thing that the space shuttle finally got off the ground again (albeit with a few extra parts falling off again). However, since most Americans that are truly concerned with what is actually going on in the world are out surfing that vastness of the internet, here is an interesting foot note that took place today.

Now folks, I understand that there will be some who think that the mere mention of this constitutes heinous acts on the order of the Jane Fonda bomb dropped oh so many years ago, but I don’t really give a shit, because it needs to be discussed. Today the Pentagon blocked a federal court order to release the pictures and videos of the acts of torture that took place at Abu Ghraib last year and stating that the reasons offered are contained in a sealed brief. However as one Pentagon lawyer has argued that “they should not be released because they would only add to the humiliation of the prisoners”. Let me see if I have this right… If I take your daughter out behind a dumpster of a bar and rape her until she in unconscious, that we should not tell anyone because it would humiliate her? OOOOKKKK if you say so bubba. What the hell kind of twisted reasoning is that?

Now, I for one can understand that during war, terrible things happen to all peoples concerned and involved, because war is not pretty and war is not nice, simple as that. However the atrocities that occurred at Abu Ghraib, no matter how much of a blight upon our nation, need to be brought to light so that this type of activity will cease and desist, as we are a civilized nation of decent people and it is just the right thing to do. This is not going to be an easy pill to swallow either, because as Donald Rumsfeld told Congress last year, after viewing a large cache of unreleased images: "I mean, I looked at them last night, and they're hard to believe.” They show acts "that can only be described as blatantly sadistic, cruel and inhumane," he added. In addition to that, a Republican Senator suggested the same day they contained scenes of “rape and murder.” No wonder Rumsfeld commented then, "If these are released to the public, obviously it's going to make matters worse."

No I don’t like it, I don’t’ like it one bit but it has happened and instead of burying this thing in the sand and committing it an oubliette to be forgotten for all times, lets show courage and deal with it like a civilized people should. I end this with a quote from Chuck Skoro, Deacon, St. Paul's Catholic Church “If the truth is that ugly -- which it is -- then we do have to be careful about the way that we tell the truth. But to somehow say that telling the truth should be avoided because people may respond badly to the truth seems bizarre to me."

Flip