--- Dan Minette <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I was shocked and saddened to see and hear evidence > of what looks like > atrocities performed by US guards of Iraqi > prisoners.
I'm not even a tiny bit shocked, unfortunately. Anyone here ever seen the results of Zambardo's Stanford Prison Experiment? There are some other experimental psychology experiments like that which suggest that this sort of behavior is pretty routine unless prison guards are given exceptional levels of supervision and training - and even then it happens a lot, actually. The condition of American prisons, and the way prisoners are treated in them, is perhaps the most disgusting facet of modern American life. I occasionally feel that the only person in America who cares about that fact is me. See, for example, Bill Lockyer, the Attorney General of California, who has spoken favorably of prison rape. But that's neither here nor there. It's not shocking or surprising but it is, of course, tragic. The way we deal with it will, at least, serve to limit the damage (I hope). I would imagine that what will happen is, at the minimum, a full court martial of everyone involved. The American military, sadly, has a record of not moving up the chain of command quite as aggressively as I would have hoped (in My Lai, for example, the people above Calley's level were not prosecuted at all, so far as I recall - I would have had his immediate superior, at least, thrown in prison for prima facie gross dereliction of duty if I had the option). In this case it is _absolutely vital_ that the commanding officers of the people invovled be cashiered from the service, quite publicly so if at all possible, assuming that all the facts are in. I can't imagine that there are any facts that could possibly mitigate the evidence so far, but I have to concede the possibility that something is possible. The difference between America and its enemies is not that Americans do not commit atrocities. Sometimes we do, because Americans are humans too. The difference is that when our enemies commit atrocities, the people who do so are awarded for it, and the people who commit them are applauded as heroes. Americans who commit atrocities are, and should be, punished for their crimes. There is _nothing_ more important facing the American military's justice system right now. ===== Gautam Mukunda [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Freedom is not free" http://www.mukunda.blogspot.com __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Win a $20,000 Career Makeover at Yahoo! HotJobs http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/careermakeover
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