Blog /untitled

May 13, 2004 03:03 +0000  |  Society & Culture 5

there really isn't a title appropriate for something like this. i remember now why i stopped watching the news. me, a person who's fascinated by society and culture, faith and war -- stopped watching television that showcased all of that in an intense 30minutes.

i stopped watching because it was breaking my heart.

the cbc's national did a story on the "iraqi prisoner scandal" tonight. "scandal". that's what they call it here. human beings were stripped of their clothing held at gun point and posed in humiliating positions while american soldiers stood by laughing and taking pictures. one woman, by the name of "lynndie england" who's featured in a few of the better known photos is "speaking out" now, claiming the "i was only following orders" excuse... but that's just what it is -- an excuse.

i understand. really i do. war is a dirty business. a task requiring nations to sometimes do questionable things to attain a specific goal. but this... this is wrong... i know that "wrong" is a very weak term to be using here, but anything else would take away from the absolute truth of this. it's despicable, and horrifying... and it makes me seriously question the righteousness of their cause.

not that i've ever supported the american "efforts" in the middle east. gods know they've historically done more damage there than any measure of good. but a small part of me was happy that saddam was gone. hopeful that this could actually be what the american media was pitching it as: the bigger bully kicking the hell out of the smaller bully so the little guy can be free. sure it's naive, but i wanted to believe.

and now this. how can they claim the righteousness of their cause with one hand and commit acts like this with the other? i spit on you lynndie england. you're a disgrace not only to the united states army, but the whole damn human race. "i was only following orders" will not help you when your time comes.

the cbc did however take note of the fact that the united states isn't the only nation marred by this kind of disgusting behaviour. both britain and canada have shown examples of the same behaviour in this and other wars. and all i can say to that is that i wish i could just point to the americans and blame them... but i know i can't... and it makes me wonder: are we really so much better than the terrorists?

Comments

noreen
13 May 2004, 6:31 a.m.  | 

"i was just following orders..."

-the holocaust - nazis
-mao's "red guards" during cultural revolution
-and many many other wars (i'm in a hurry right now and tired, can't think)

it's easy to excuse yourself by saying you were simply following orders - not so easy to live up to the guilt behind it.

following orders is a bullshit excuse.

Angela
13 May 2004, 11:35 a.m.  | 

I've become physically and spiritually ill by the images that have been plastered on every newspaper and TV in the last week. I can't stand it either. I am angry, frustrated, disheartened, sickened by the human race at this point. So yeah, I understand what you're experiencing. :( (hug)

edge
14 May 2004, 4:31 a.m.  | 

Well, this is the Friends' Generation's Vietnam now isn't it, people are lying (Rumsfeld, Bush, the list goes on), people are dying (Tillman, Nick Berg horribly and savagely), and now I am sickened by the world that I will eventually leave to my son's generation with a giant apology stating that we did not know it would get this out of hand.

Mac
15 May 2004, 12:52 p.m.  | 

Canadian soldiers encountered the same thing in Afghanistan during their first stint there. Our guys didn't follow protocol (turning the prisioner over the the Yank MP's) and brought him directly to the detention area.

They found naked, hooded, zap-strapped prisioners who were sitting in their own excrement and hadn't been fed in three days. The Canadians refused to leave until they were fed and a Medical Officer had seen them. This breach of the conventions was reported through the Canadian chain of command to the Yanks and the matter was never addressed.

Contrary to what the Yanks say about "illegal combatants" (there's a damned good reason why they where petitioning the UN to have their soldiers exempted from war crimes), the Afghan civilians/irregulars civilians taking up arms en masse" are legal combatants according to the coventions and are entitled to POW status.

Just my 2 cents....

daniel
16 May 2004, 10:57 p.m.  | 

i'd not heard about that incident. what the cbc did report though was that an afghan prisoner was killed while a prisoner of the canadian forces in somalia... your news however is not surprising.

but who are you? and how'd you find my blog?

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