This Shouldn't Be a Brutality Contest

The scandal surrounding the abuse of Iraqi detainees at the hands of American soldiers seems to be growing by the day. I was appalled to see despicable acts of inhuman brutality committed by Americans. I knew that the America that those pictures conveyed to the rest of the world was not the real America. I was concerned that America's credibility, already damaged severely, would be further decimated.

Alas, my fears have already materialized. In response to U.S. criticism of a verdict handed down by a Libyan court, Libyan Foreign Ministry spokesman Hasuna Al-Sevis said, "America has no right to talk about human rights--or even animal rights." Who would have thought that America would one day be scolded by Libya regarding human rights? Libya!

The scandal has rightly generated outrage both here and abroad. Yet, there are some who think that the reaction of Americans to the photos are exaggerated. Gary Bauer, Chairman of the Campaign for Working Families, wrote that the fallout has spiraled "out of control." Rush Limbaugh also wonders what all the fuss is about: "This is no different than what happens at the Skull and Bones initiation, and we're going to ruin people's lives over it, and we're going to hamper our military effort, and then we are going to really hammer them because they had a good time. You know, these people are being fired at every day. I'm talking about people having a good time, these people, you ever heard of emotional release? You [ever] heard of need to blow some steam off?" Blowing off steam?!

Furthermore, one gets a sense that Bauer and Limbaugh think all of the Iraqi prisoners are murderous terrorist thugs. I beg to differ. The Red Cross, in a report in February, stated that some military intelligence officers estimated that 70-90% of "the persons deprived of their liberty in Iraq had been arrested by mistake." Thus, it is quite likely that a good number of the naked, hooded, and sexually abused Iraqis shown in those photos are completely innocent.

Nevertheless, Limbaugh does make a point. If stripping Iraqi prisoners naked, placing hoods over their head, and sexually abusing them is barbaric--which it certainly is--then "What is hijacking our own airplanes and flying them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon? How humiliating is it to blow up American civilians in a convoy and have their charred bodies dragged from the car and dragged through [its] streets?"

Hmm, good point. Furthermore, it seems our terrorist enemies in Iraq always have a leg up on us in the brutality department.

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