We should not move on, ever, until we force ourselves to look at the stain which will never come out

[kpete]

Sunday, April 13, 2008

"A War Of Sexual Humiliation"

by dday

..................

We should not move on, ever, until we force ourselves to look at the stain which will never come out. And at the risk of stepping on Dennis Hartley's turf, I want to tell you about Errol Morris' latest documentary "Standard Operating Procedure," which I was able to see a couple days ago.

.................

Afterwards there was a discussion with the filmmaker Errol Morris, and it was fascinating. His belief is that these "few bad apples" were imprisoned for the very act of photography, for leaving a trail for others to find about these abuses (which in the view of Sabrina Harman was her point, she wanted to take the pictures "to show people what was going on here, because otherwise nobody would believe it). Morris said that the question of whether or not the scenes depicted rose to the level of torture is misplaced and spirals into irrelevant questions of precise definitions. Ultimately there is a question of "the principle of fair play and common American decency... you don't punish the little guys and let the big guys get away scot-free." Even without the admission of guilt from the President being known to Morris, he was well aware of his culpability. After all, the Yoo memo justifying the already-enacted sins of the Bush Administration come down to assertions that a President can do whatever he pleases in a time of war. "Well, if he can do whatever he wants, then doesn't that make him responsible? And if so, why hasn't he been impeached?" By the Administration's own logic, there can be only one man to blame, and the fact that he hasn't reflects a basic cowardice and a failure of will.

Morris believes that the scandal at Abu Ghraib helped Bush get elected in 2004, because it gave us someone to blame. We looked at the scenes of abuse and immediately accused those inside the frame of responsibility, instead of those outside the frame demanding that these acts be undertaken. "The Iraq war," said Morris, "was essentially a war of sexual humiliation." We invaded to show Iraq and the world how tough we are. That we could dominate the rest of the world. That we could impose our will and muffle the sounds of dissent. Abu Ghraib was merely a complement to a war of humiliation. And that comes from the top down.

There's a significant moment in the film, a re-enactment of a spot of blood from the dead prisoner dropping on one of the MPs who was holding him up and unaware of the circumstances. He says "I didn't have anything to do with this guy dying," and yet Morris shows the drop of blood over and over, staining the military uniform. In essence we all have that spot of blood on us. We are all responsible. The spot is deep and full and will be very hard to get out. Our will in getting to the truth about torture, in forcing the nation to recognize that spot of blood, to internalize it, to hold to account those who have stained us, will be the defining factor in whether we can ever be washed clean.

more at:
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/war-of-sexual-humiliation-by-dday-let.html

I will never forget...
http://www.kpetestudio.com/

[msongs]

1. actually we are NOT all responsible. obamahillary vote to fund /support war "their" war nt