Iraqi Prison Photos Mar U.S. Image

[Q]

Published on Friday, April 30, 2004 by Reuters

Iraqi Prison Photos Mar U.S. Image

by Paul Majendie

LONDON - Photos of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners drew international condemnation on Friday, prompting the stark conclusion that the U.S. campaign to win the hearts and minds of Iraqis is a lost cause.

"This is the straw that broke the camel's back for America," said Abdel-Bari Atwan, editor of the Arab newspaper Al Quds Al Arabi. "The liberators are worse than the dictators."

"They have not just lost the hearts and minds of Iraqis but all the Third World and the Arab countries," he told Reuters.

The CBS News program "60 Minutes II" on Wednesday broadcast photos taken at the Abu Ghraib prison late last year showing American troops abusing some Iraqis held at what was once a notorious center of torture and executions under toppled President Saddam Hussein.

The pictures showed U.S. troops smiling, posing, laughing or giving the thumbs-up sign as naked, male Iraqi prisoners were stacked in a pyramid or positioned to simulate sex acts with one another.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0430-01.htm

[SCDem]

1. Actually it's just the cherry on top

I think the US' image was already marred when we or Bush decided to go to war against Iraq unilaterally and under false pretenses.

[whistle]

3. You got that right...

...This war has been about $250 Billion in military spending and growing, about control and power over oil sources and ego, namely George W. Bush's over-inflated neurotic self-perception of his place in history.

[Jacobin]

4. sigh.............yeah, about sums it up

How much lower can you go with Jayzzzzzzzzzzzzzus Dubya Bush* monkeying around with the world in the name of gawd.

[cynic4life]

2. maybe those soldiers

thought they were carrying on a proud tradition of the prison.

[LittleApple81]

7. Not to worry...American business community joined in with the contractor

torturers...whatever the army could do before, we can do better now at a much higher cost.

[meow mix]

5. who needs hearts or minds - when u can have nakkid butts /nt

[BJ]

6. Institutional racism in U.S. military at the root.

It's high time we, the American people, took a long, hard look at the all volunteer force. Underneath all the "be all you can be" and an "Army of One" BS, beats the heart of a fascist/racist beast.

The real question is, why should we even be surprised that American soldiers humiliated Iraqi prisoners?

[Karenina]

10. NOBODY wants to touch it BJ.

Nor will they touch the reality of the underlying current that fuels this atrocity. "Kill 'em ALL!!!" "Kick their ass, take their gas!"
Convert them to Jeebuzinanity! USA! USA! USA!

[DinahMoeHum]

8. Pretty damn disgusting. . .and that's an understatement.

"...we're fighting in a war we lost before that war began,
we're the white boots marching in a yellow land."

- Phil Ochs.


:nuke:

[Tyler Durden]

9. Adding SHIT to SHIT just makes more SHIT.

Since Gingrich and his hoods took over Congress during the Clinton Administration, the rest of the world has been looking at us like "Dude, what the FUCK is WRONG with you???"

Completing our degradation with Bush as Fuhrer has just confirmed this opinion in the court of world opinion. They do not look at what has happened as an anomaly, but as proof postive that the USA has become the haven for New World Barbarism.

We haven't had an image to mar in years. You can't improve the smell of shit with more shit, and adding more shit to a pile of shit surprises no one.

[Cursive_Knives512]

11. This is making me physically ill.

Like some other posters have said, if that happened to American soldiers, the entire country would be outraged and demand retribution of some sort.

Is anyone else sick from this? It just disheartens me so much.