Winning Hearts and Minds 2

My posting of Riverbend's Baghdad Burning new thoughts on American's in Iraq, Just Go, created a bit of a stir here and in a discussion group. Here is another Iraqi supporter of the U.S. discussing his new thoughts. Remember, these people were on our side. Healing Iraq's opinion seems to have been changing since an American military patrol stopped his cousin for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, reportedly beat him, handcuffed him, and then tossed him into a deep river.


Abu Ghraib

Now, regarding the disgusting images from Abu Ghraib that the whole world had witnessed in the last few days. They didn't come as a surprise at all, we have been hearing stories about the abuse of prisoners for a long time from released detainees and from humanitarian organisations. It doesn't shock me at all that some American soldiers are so sick and devoid from any humanity. You need to have a cousin pushed off from a dam by some in order to learn that.

What surprises me though are people saying "Saddam did worse", or the soldiers responsible claiming they were 'never taught anything about running a prison', and 'No one gave us a copy of the Geneva conventions'. We have a saying for that over here, "An excuse uglier than the guilt".

The fact that the soldiers were merely relieved from duty and reprimanded wasn't surprising either. In fact, it is to be expected. The outcome of the investigation indicated that systematic psychological and physical torture, mistreatment, or abuse (whatever) was indeed routine in US detention centers throughout Iraq. Military Intelligence officers had encouraged it, referring to it as 'setting the conditions for subsequent interrogation', and of course soldiers follow orders without questioning. Keep in mind, though, that former Iraqi Security and Mukhabarat officers also employed appropriate measures to 'set the conditions', and we thought we were over that now.

While Saddam Hussein sits safely in his comfortable cell in Qatar or wherever else he is being held, Iraqi detainees are being put into the most humiliating and degrading conditions that can be imagined. While the guilty are free to wreak havoc, and take refuge in holy cities, the innocent are detained and mistreated for months without charges. But it seems like that is life.

They may be just a few soldiers, it may be an isolated case, but what's the difference? The effect has been done, and the Hearts and Minds campaign is a joke that isn't funny any more.


I don't think I'll even repeat what an Iraqi teenager thinks.