[RalphyS]

Quote: (Originally Posted by Chase)

This is a dead issue that is being resurrected by people who want to exploit the Islamic discontent. The people responsible for the torture have been prosecuted and are serving time in prison. It's funny that the media will only cover the beheadings of innocent people for a day or two... but won't leave the Abu Ghraib subject alone.

I am not stating that it is a good thing that these photos surfaced now, in fact they should have been released to the press (Rumsfeld stated in his testimony that there were more) at that time and the subject could have been delt with completely then.

The photos do represent something the major public has not seen yet and are therefore somewhat newsworthy and just like the cartoons the press has every right to publish them, when they got hold of them.

I do however not believe that everybody guilty of these crimes or at least responsible for the treatment of these prisoners has been prosecuted and sentenced to a just punishment. The people on the bottom level took the fall, I do not believe they acted on their own accord and even if they did, the supervisors are at least responsible for atrocities like this that happened on their watch and there should have been consequences for that.

The USA has always claimed the moral highground, but the treatment of prisoners (or captured enemy combatants, if you like) in places like Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and probably detention camps in Eastern Europe has damaged the already tainted image of the USA in such a manor that it will take decades to heal.

If we claim to be better than our enemies, we should not resort to the things that they do, otherwise the struggle will be in vain.