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“Only Criminals could say….”
Iraq, National Politics Comments (2)
Wow. Every once in a while you read something that sets you back in place and strengthens your resolve.
If you go to Right Voices (and you should) and only read the posts there, you’re doing yourself a grave disservice. Lisa and Reilly do a wonderful job of giving tidbits of news articles, but sometimes they miss something that can help you figure things out. (No offense!)
Day before yesterday, Lisa linked to a Lebanonese news article which gives some insight into how bad things were in Iraq under Saddam Hussein.
I won’t quote the part of the article that Lisa quoted (you should go to RV and read it yourself). But, right at the end of the article we have this telling little section:
But most of all, they want recognition for what they, and thousands of others like them, have been through. And that people would stop saying “things were better under Saddam.”
“Only criminals could say such a thing. The victims deserve better than this,” [Former Abu Ghraib inmate Ibrahim] Idrissi concludes.
We cannot, we must not, excuse the torture of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison. Those actions are beneath Americans, and especially those privileged enough to wear a uniform. There is no excuse for it. None. If you don’t believe that’s what I believe then maybe you should read my post on it.
But, we are just as wrong to say that we have only changed the name of the management so that the torture goes on. In the words of Idrissi, “What we have seen about the recent abuse at Abu Ghraib is a joke to us.” To put the torture inflicted by American soldiers on the level of what Mr. Idrissi experienced is to cheapen the trauma he and others experienced there for 30 years. Yes, what our soldiers did is inhuman and inexcusable and those involved should be punished (no matter who they might be), but it does not begin to compare with the horrible reality of what Abu Ghraib was under Hussein’s management.
But, I must admit that I have come to expect that type of specious comparison from liberals. These are the same people who, like Harry Belafonte, tell us that African-Americans who work with (or for) conservatives are “house negros” or “Uncle Toms” and so cheapen the actual history of slavery as it occurred in this county. These are the same folks who, in more extreme cases, compare the eating of meat with the Holocaust, and so cheapen the atrocities of the Second World War. (And, yes, I know that not all liberals are religious vegans. It’s why I said “in more extreme cases.”)
Perhaps before they next tell us about they would rather Saddam Hussein were still in charge of Iraq (like Lisa reports one lady told her), they should ask those prisoners who think that torture and humiliation inflicted by Americans is “a joke” when compared to that done by the “beloved” Hussein. Then the “guests” of a Hussein-run prison can convict them of their speciousness.
MickC @ May 26, 2004
Thank you for posting the link to that article about the torture of prisoners under Saddam Hussein. People who are in denial about this defy all reason and logic to support their position. The article reminded me of a cartoon I saw showing thousands of dead bodies in a mass grave with a democrat stading in the middle saying, “yeah, but where are the weapons of mass destruction.”
Unreal.
You’re very welcome. Some perspective is always good.