There are No Words for How Disgusting This Is

I wanted to wait before I blogged about the newest Abu Ghraib photographs, which were set to be released by the President in April before he changed his mind. I wanted to allow myself time to calm down, write about the issue less emotionally. But time has not slackened my sorrow over these abuses.


From what I have gathered from news reports, these photographs, which relate to 400 cases of alleged abuse between 2001 and 2005 in Abu Ghraib and six other prisons, graphically depict the rape of Iraqi men, women and children. There is no one associated with this horrific tale that I am not angry at. All I can come up with, like Jill is "rage, crushing sadness, and unbearable shame."

When I imagine the scope of these abuses, the cruelty involved, the terror, the broken spirts, hearts and minds, I think back to how this war began, back in 2003 when the media and the Bush administration convinced Americans (but not this American) that we would be greeted as liberators and home in three months. I think back to how smug and arrogant we were as Americans, assuming we could INVADE another people's land and culture and yet not trample them under our self-righteous feet. We are war criminals and the acts we have committed in this war will haunt us for decades to come--as they should!

I am sickenend by our lack of humanity and reminded once again that the best government is an open, transparent government. I have yet to decide if the best form of government would look like Capitalist Democracy. But I do emphatically believe a well-functioning goverment would allow an informed public to decide the path it will take, based on all the facts, even the ones that don't work in your favour.

In my summer job, I must gather all the facts of a case and use these facts to craft a decision. Many times, I feel empathy for a particular side. And when I learn of a fact that goes against finding in that side's favour, there is a flash-a moment-where I would rather hide that fact than present it. But I must lay out all the relevant facts so those who read my decision--especially those who disagree with it--will understand I did not cherry-pick my evidence but rather used law and policy to guide my decision.

What the U.S. has morphed into is more of an oligarthy, where the prospereous few make decisions for the many based on what benefits the few and the only facts presented are those bent and twisted to make a more compelling case.

We should all be ashamed of ourselves for allowing our Presidents and our goverments to rule the nation without us.