Prisoner Abuse Ain't So Bad
Addressing abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld said "Has it been harmful to our country? Yes. Is it something that has to be corrected? Yes. Does it rank up there with chopping off someone's head off (sic) on television? It doesn't. It doesn't."
Well, yes and no. If you're the person getting your head lopped off, whether on television or not, I suppose a little abuse, hell, even a lot of abuse, might be a preferred alternative. So, from the victim's perspective, compared to things that really aren't relevant to the abuse, the abuse really ain't so bad.
Let's look at it another way, though, okay? On the one hand, you have terrorists, whose stated aim is to create terror, without any real regard for their standing in world opinion, doing terrible things. On the other hand you have the most powerful nation on earth, trying to portray itself as the bringer of morality and other good things to the backward middle east, abusing prisoners. Oh yeah, don't forget that one of the good things we were bringing to Iraq (justification for the war version 4.1) was to provide the Iraqis with relief from Saddam's rape rooms and torture chambers.
In that perspective, to whose reputation and credibility has more harm been done?
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