perfidy

J,
Nope, no douchebag screening. THC, yes; psychotics, yes; broken or bleeding, yes; sadistic prick, not really.

The best hope would be that once people are identified, and they would be over time, they would be relegated to positions in the organization where they can't do any real harm. Kinda like working for government, or govt institutions like state universities.

There was slim hope, from the outset, that the US could win the cultural and media war against militant islam by destroying Husseins armies. This helps not at all.

I heard this morning on NPR that the photos were taken under the supervision of CACI contractors hired to work as interrogators.

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I think it was featured in this story, but I can't listen to audio streams at work to confirm that.

I heard the story this AM. I posted earlier about my problems with privatizing core governmental functionality, the military being one such function I identified most strongly.

CACI has no military chain of command. And because CACI also has no military legal accountability, none of the alleged fuckwits will face a court martial. Indeed the story posited the CACI contractors may walk free as no US Law appears to cover Americans torturing foreign suspects in a foreign country.

It hadn't occurred to me until I read SGT Stryker's post, but these contractors may have "signed the death warrants of many soldiers and citizens of free nations around the world." Creepy.

a few days later I have some more thoughts about this whole thing.

1) Driving eastward on I-66 at night, I get the creeps when I see 'CACI' floating high in the air over Arlington. CACI will forever be equated with barbarism now.

2) I think we should hang 'em high. Let the fuckers who did this and those who condoned this to rot in prison. It's incredibly stupid.

3) On the other hand, did our guys beat them with cables and hoses? Hang them by their wrists tied behind their backs? (as was reported under Saddam Hussein) Don't get me wrong, all of this disgusts me. But what is psychological damage versus assault and permanent physical damage? (I only mention this to broaden the scope of argument and see what comes out of the woodwork. It's academic, okay?)

4) I am greatly disturbed by Seymour Hersh's assertion yesterday on the Diane Rehm show that there is videotape of juveniles at Abu Ghraib being molested. If so, that is equally as important as the story of these photographs.

5) WTF were these dumb asses thinking when they took photographs? And why is this something they think is funny and worth laughing about? Vengance is a strong emotion and frankly, vendettas can last a long fucking time. "The Hatfields & McCoys" mean anything to you?

This situation throws me into a blind rage. Where is decency and accountability? Everyone thinks that I'm anti-military, which I am to a certain extent, and which I am not to a certain extent. When shit like this happens, I have to say it does not make the case for our armed forces look very good and tips me to one side.. grr... time to calm down with a soothing glass of caffeine...

Maps,
Isn't it funny how a handful of American soldiers and hangers-on are busted abusing prisoners and there's enough global outrage to fling the planet out of its orbit, but Arabs blow up Jews every day (including, most recently, a pregnant woman and her children), and not a peep from the Arab world or the EU?

Well, except for a Palestinian radio station, congratulating terrorists for killing pregnant Jews.

Oh, and with Sudan on the Human Rights body thingy at the UN....it's more an more like living in Bizarroworld.

Gl - you know, Arabs have been blowing up Jews for a few decades... and it was our nation's quiet and non-overt support of Israel that got us into this fucking mess with Arabic peeps around the world.

So it's very interesting you raise that point. Yes, very interesting indeed.

I heard the Sudanese minister's comments last night on a CBC show, As It Happens... Because it sure as hell didn't get play on any American show I hear on NPR.

And why is our representative to the UNCHR (?) a non-native english speaker? Does caucasian America not care about human rights? Who is this guy? He was articulate, but he had the unmistakable L/R problem of someone from Asia. Is he a former victim of HR violations? Who knows? These are all thoughts of a bored mind on the late shift at work... 40 minutes to go before meeting GP.

Maps,
I think you like making me so exasperated in hopes of seeing my head explode.

Arab and other terrorists kill Jews, Americans, etc because they like too, and has little to do with who we do or do not support in terms of foreign assistance. After all, have alook at the $$ and other help the US funnels to Egypt, for example.

Your choice of words about my point being "very interesting" came across as sinister somehow...was there a larger meaning you were trying to get across? I missed it.

But my larger point was that no one gives a rat's ass however many people Muslims kill- kill!- but when a clutch of American soldiers do something bad, holy fucking shit people better resign, retire, and apologize.

The idea that this assclown from Sudan can credibly equate his country's decades-long institutionalization of slavery, ethnic, and religious violence to a tiny group of soldiers who, let's face it, really only hurt some terrorists' feelings, is asinine.

I just don't understand this world anymore, where the fucking President of the United States has to make apologetic overtures to the Arab world, but no one is outraged when non-Muslims are threatened.

And while I'm at it, I'm still waiting for my apology for the hostages in 1979, the Beirut bombing in 1983, the Achille Lauro, the USS Cole, the embassies in Africa, and 9-11. Any chance any Islamic government will apologize for the antics of the terrorists they breed and train? Or a religious authority for the terrorists they indoctrinate?

Maps,
I forgot to ask about your remark about caucasian Americans, and not caring about human rights.

See, in this country, one's ethnicity does not reflect one's ability or capacity to hold office. So whether the guy is of Chinese decent or Polish is irrelevant. We are taught not to make assumptions about people's capability by what they look like. Or at least we used to be taught that, before hippies took over American education.

And let me add that you may be onto something about "caucasian" (I don't even KNOW anyone for the Caucasus) Americans not caring about human rights. Because it was non-white, non-christians who devised the Magna Carta, the Declaration of the Rights of Man, the Bill of Rights, the rest of the Constitution, the Geneva Conventions, the Red Cross, and the UN Charter.

Yeah, white men don't give a shit.

Pax, GL.

As regards this:"I just don't understand this world anymore, where the fucking President of the United States has to make apologetic overtures to the Arab world, but no one is outraged when non-Muslims are threatened."

It's because there's a double standard that applies. Everyone accuses us of doing evil shit all the time, yet we never actually DO, and therefore when we do, it behooves us to apologize. Why? Because a lot of the rest of the world DOES evil shit all the time, and it's sort of expected of them.

GL - no sinister tone meant. I am pretty straight forward, and if I'm being sarcastic, I try to set it off with italics or asterisks.

As for the US's rep, I consider myself a reasonably politically attentive APA. I am on the 80-20 listserve, which is the largest APA interest PAC in the US. I have never heard of this guy until he was on my radio this week. Short of Elaine Chao and Norm Mineta, Bush doesn't have many other APA's in his administration. Not that Clinton did either. For all of that Lincoln Bedroom crap and the Chinese donors from LA, there wasn't a lot of APA representation in the last democratic administration.

Don't take all my stuff too seriously or personally. It's just literally crap I write while I'm horribly bored at work... It generates stuff for me to read on tonight's late shift. YAY! (You fell for it! hahaha!)

I guess some things are better left unsaid.

Maps,
Once I was wound up, I started to sense your true intent: pushing my buttons! Kinda like how Buckethead twists Ross' tail. And vice versa. I don't really know those guys, but I know button-pushing when I see it.

You may be glad to know my head didn't actually explode.

GL - no worries today... heh heh... I'm not on late shift, so I probably won't be posting anything during daylight hours to make your head explode... But if you want, I could try.

So, tell me now, where are we all going with this? I heard on the radio this morning (code words for 'NPR' ) that Bush is falling in the polls. Are the actions of some bone-headed idiots going to cost him the election in November? I think everyone, except the most unctuous apologists, is heavily disgusted by what's happened. Disgusted enough to vote Bush out of office. Of course 6 months till the election is a long time.

I also heard that some in Congress are calling for the resignation of 'Ronald Dumsfeld.' (I was being clever on this morning's commute... I just want to call him by a new nickname... 'Dummy') While that sounds like a good idea in terms of PR, I'm actually not sure that it's a good idea for Bush to change horses midstream. Yes, when Bush loses the election (I hope), that will happen anyway, but it seems to me that having a '8 month in-betweener'/interim Sec'y of Defense is not going to hold Bush in good stead over the long view of history. Besides, who is he going to pick now? Shuffle folks around and put Powell in charge of defense and Negreponte the new Sec'y of State?

And what's with Dummy withholding information about this from the President? Is Dubya that clueless? Is Dummy evilly plotting things behind the back of the President or trying to control it all before it gets to Dubya? I'm really not a conspiracy theorist of any stripe, but this does make me very suspicious about all kinds of shadowy crap being done by senior members of this administration. (cheney hunting with Scalia and the whole energy policy thing)

Maps,
Oh, you wouldn't have to try, that is, exert any especial effort, especially knowing what buttons to push to make me stamp and pout. To be safe I'll make sure that in future I wear a helmet before I read your responses, so that if my head does explode, the mess is minimized.

But this prisoner business is not going to sway anybody. People who want Bush out have already entered the lists, and people who are "Bush's way or the highway" are not going to side against him over this.

And undecideds like me, who don't care for either Bush OR Kerry, will continue to be alternately shocked, bored, and bemused by each party's antics. Frankly, November isn't going to change any of those attitudes regardless of who wins.