11th May 2004, 7:46 PM
It's called being balanced to all sides. Like, using a historical example, World War II. The other side was indisputably worse. But, for instance, we killed 500,000 Japanese by bombing their cities. We did the same to many towns in Vietnam. This is different, but my point is the same... if we want to take the high moral ground, which we try to and should, we have to act like it as well as say things! Saying "we are better and are here in Iraq to help you", and then acting almost as bad as the other ones, is not the way to either get the people to believe you or to make one inch of progress on the overall operation.
So, am I denigrating our people or lifting up terrorists? I'd say neither. I'm trying to balance both sides and not let the fact I'm American make me miss the big picture...
Now, people like Al-Quaida are obviously evil, as I said. We have to stop them. We should be trying harder at that... but I think I've detailed how Bush was incredibly stupid to abandon Afghanistan for Iraq before. :) But as I said, our acting almost as bad sends the absolute wrong message and inflames hatred. And, as we see here, inflames their hatred too. Now, would no scandal have saved that guy? Most likely not. That was Al-Quaida, after all, not some local resistance group. They'd have killed him either way. But it gives them a convenient excuse that the local people will listen to much more closely after seeing pictures like this!
As Israel, or India, or a billion other places, reacting to hatred with hatred only results in more hatred, not a resolution of the problem. It does the exact opposite and makes it worse. But it seems to be human nature to want to continue that hatred, unfortunately... which is why we have to work twice as hard to try to restrict that and to put our people in situations where they don't get the chance to do flagrant violations of the law despite their internal thoughts.
Which is where it ties into this. Now, I am sure that this is much more than one group. But I also think that the bad organization and lack of training is probably systematic. And when combined with military intelligence people who clearly did not care how the guards 'softened up' the inmates, it is a breeding ground for abuse... we should have seen it coming, and prepared by training guards and setting clear ground rules and combining with international organizations to do the task, but between Bush's incredibly stupid hatred of the international community and his administration's equally idiotic utter lack of post-war planning, that didn't happen...
In short, many people are doubtless guilty, and not all the guilty will be charged. But with stricter rules and better organization from the top the situation could have been mostly avoided. If we truly wanted to we could live up to our claims to be representing good.
And as a final comment, how are their acts so much more savage? Maybe by a slight degree, but it's no massive gulf as you suggest... (in the scope of the prisons and what went on there, not the whole American occupation)
So, am I denigrating our people or lifting up terrorists? I'd say neither. I'm trying to balance both sides and not let the fact I'm American make me miss the big picture...
Now, people like Al-Quaida are obviously evil, as I said. We have to stop them. We should be trying harder at that... but I think I've detailed how Bush was incredibly stupid to abandon Afghanistan for Iraq before. :) But as I said, our acting almost as bad sends the absolute wrong message and inflames hatred. And, as we see here, inflames their hatred too. Now, would no scandal have saved that guy? Most likely not. That was Al-Quaida, after all, not some local resistance group. They'd have killed him either way. But it gives them a convenient excuse that the local people will listen to much more closely after seeing pictures like this!
As Israel, or India, or a billion other places, reacting to hatred with hatred only results in more hatred, not a resolution of the problem. It does the exact opposite and makes it worse. But it seems to be human nature to want to continue that hatred, unfortunately... which is why we have to work twice as hard to try to restrict that and to put our people in situations where they don't get the chance to do flagrant violations of the law despite their internal thoughts.
Which is where it ties into this. Now, I am sure that this is much more than one group. But I also think that the bad organization and lack of training is probably systematic. And when combined with military intelligence people who clearly did not care how the guards 'softened up' the inmates, it is a breeding ground for abuse... we should have seen it coming, and prepared by training guards and setting clear ground rules and combining with international organizations to do the task, but between Bush's incredibly stupid hatred of the international community and his administration's equally idiotic utter lack of post-war planning, that didn't happen...
In short, many people are doubtless guilty, and not all the guilty will be charged. But with stricter rules and better organization from the top the situation could have been mostly avoided. If we truly wanted to we could live up to our claims to be representing good.
And as a final comment, how are their acts so much more savage? Maybe by a slight degree, but it's no massive gulf as you suggest... (in the scope of the prisons and what went on there, not the whole American occupation)