The pictures from Iraq

[Ed_L]

I have no reason to believe the pictures were faked. As has been mentioned, nobody is denying the fact that these things actually happened. IMHO there is no reason for people to act like that against other human beings. "Just following orders", or "We haven't been told the rules of war" would not be an acceptable excuse to me. I can understand, in some cases, when a civilian is shot. This could easily happen when you can't tell the civilians from the enemy, and you feel your life might be threatened. But to do the things that have been done to prisoners in this war and others is something I just can't understand. The studies suggest that I might do the same things under certain conditions, but I would hope the studies were wrong. Although I have very definite political views on this, I won't get into that part of it on this site.

Ed

[G. Couch]

Someone correct me if I am wrong...but I recall reading a story that mentioned Colin Powell was very much against the current Iraq policy and that he and Dick Cheney are barely on speaking terms as a result...Interesting that the opinion of Powell, the person in the Bush administration with the most extensive military background, is being totally ignored by the policy makers (Cheney and Rumsfeld).

...and their absurd policy seems to be to have the army act as an urban police force. These people are trained to kill and destroy things...not keep the peace between several ethnic/religious groups. Is it any wonder that this stuff is happening?

[Ed_L]

Whichever candidate is elected, I expect to see a new Secretary of State.

Ed

[chris h]

...and their absurd policy seems to be to have the army act as an urban police force. These people are trained to kill and destroy things...not keep the peace between several ethnic/religious groups. Is it any wonder that this stuff is happening?

A technique borrowed from the Israelis I think Greg !

[Ed_L]

I heard this morning that there are pictures of many Iraqi women who were nude. Given their culture, these people must feel as though they have been raped! It might not sound like a major thing (the nudity) to many, but consider the fact that their women keep their faces covered, while in Western cultures many women wear almost no clothing in many places. I wonder what the women's rights groups in the U.S. will have to say about it.

Ed