Watching the Iraq War portrayed on television is somewhat like watching an old black & white western movie. The cowboys move into Indian territory take their land and when the Indians fight back the cowboys call the Indians savages...
In Iraq the cowboys take over the country and when the Iraqis fight back the cowboys call the Iraqis terrorists. America still has a cowboy mentality and a belief that the most guns and the best gunslingers win and it may be true, unfortunately it may be after many cowboys are dead. This is especially true after the disgusting photos emerged showing American soldiers committing war crimes against their prisoners in Saddam's Abu Ghraib prison; make no mistake, they were war crimes and it was not just a few soldiers going too far. Reports allege army intelligence officers, CIA agents and private contractors along with the pictured individuals abused and even killed prisoners. The actions of these individuals have set back the Iraq War so far it may never be a winnable; at least under the present leadership, if you can call it leadership...
Remember when American soldiers were captured by Saddam's military? I still remember the scared look on Shashana Johnson's face as she answered questions to the interviewer. We were outraged; showing prisoners on videos and in photos was a violation of the Geneva Convention. Are we still so concerned about the Geneva Convention?
Now we have pictures showing American soldiers sexually abusing Iraqi prisoners, making them get naked and pose in sexual positions, attaching electrical wire to them, imagine if the Iraqi military had done that to Shashana Johnson and her fellow American prisoners. We would have been so outraged that we would have wanted to kill all Iraqis. So you can imagine how the Iraqis and all Arabs must feel seeing pictures of Iraqi prisoners being tortured by patriotic American soldiers with smiles on their faces. So much for winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqis...
The actions of those Americans in Abu Ghraib prison have intensified the Arab anger, the war and the danger to all American soldiers in Iraq. Iraqis I saw interviewed on television compared President Bush to Saddam. They don't believe the American government and they don't believe Bush and why should they? They were told that America was there to liberate them from Saddam and that things would be different but they see Abu Ghraib prison still torturing people just like under Saddam and the only difference is it is the Americans doing the torturing. This is a huge debacle. You can claim all you want that it was a few bad soldiers but if the situation was reversed and Saddam claimed it was a few bad soldiers that tortured Americans, would you believe him? I doubt it and I doubt Iraqis will believe the American claim. Which means the war will intensify with little chance of stability in Iraq and all because of a little good-natured torture...
What should happen to those that took part in the torture? Is a court marshal enough? If CIA agents and private contractors did participate in the abuse what should happen to them? Should they face a war tribunal? Iraqi leaders have set up a tribunal of judges and prosecutors to try Saddam and other members of his Baathist regime, why not turn over the CIA agents and private contractors that participated in the torture to them, after all the war crimes happened in their country. What if the interim government that America hands over power to on June 30 asks to have them extradited would the U.S. comply or would they shield war criminals if the war criminals were Americans? This opens up a whole can of worms. All the while American soldiers will be taking more shots and bombs from mad Iraqis...
Like it or not as commander and chief Bush is the face of the U.S. military and its occupation. When it goes well, Iraqis love him, when it goes bad, they hate him; right now it is going bad, very bad. When torture happened under Saddam, Iraqis blamed Saddam, now torture has happened under Bush and Iraqis blame Bush. With torture on Bush's Iraqi resume, American troops will never win in Iraq; they will take the punishment for the misdeeds of a few ignorant soldiers. The only possible way to win the Iraq war now is to put a new face on it. A new president whether John Kerry, John McCain or whoever could tell the Iraqis and the world that the mistakes of the previous administration will be corrected. A new president could approach the United Nations with an offering to join the treaties that Bush reneged on, such as the Kyoto treaty and the Antiballistic Missile Treaty if the United Nations or its member nations helped both financially and militarily in Iraq. Bush doesn't get anything of substance from the United Nations because he doesn't offer anything in return. A new president could wipe the slate clean and bring in foreign troops to backup the U.S. soldiers. All Bush can do is shuffle the same tired troops; he offers nothing to the countries of the world and so he gets nothing. With Bush all America can expect is a worsening condition in Iraq, more casualties and little help from the world community. A new president could do wonders or as they say in the old black & white western movies, it's time for a new sheriff...
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