Re: [ga] Humiliating photos are symptomatic of a greater problem

["Richard Henderson" <richardhenderson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thank you for an excellent and thought-provoking article and e-mail, which cut deep to our own consciences. As a British citizen I am appalled and deeply ashamed of the indecencies carried out by some of my own country's soldiers, and the lack of human kindness and respect afforded by them to prisoners from a different culture. I am also well aware that this is probably not just a matter of an isolated incident - reports by impartial third parties strongly suggest that abuse and failure to respect the Geneva Convention (or basic common humanity) was occurring in more than an individual location.

What I suggest we can see is a culture of arrogance and "might is right"... along with a spiritual and moral weakness that lurks beneath the surface of some of the world's supposedly moral nations. You see this malaise not only in a handful of low-ranking soldiers, but also here in the UK in cases like Deepcut, where British recruits appear to have been systematically bullied by their own NCOs and some of them died in circumstances which have led to murder investigations. There is a pathetic and ignorant "macho" culture which is fostered in both the UK and US armed forces with resulting dehumanising effects in some units. In a modern world, it is deeply discouraging that these same out-dated attitudes are perpetuated.

Worse still, there appears to have been tacit acceptance of these events, failure to publicise them openly, failure to really take them seriously... this from people who already had the invasion of Iraq as an agenda long before September 11th, and who arrogantly defied the international community, aborted its WMD inspection processes, and launched the attack on Iraq on the grounds of weapons which now appear to have been decommissioned years before. When this spurious basis for war lost credibility, the war suddenly became a "human rights" issue... though in the light of the cowardly bombing from the safety of the skies and the deaths of thousands of Iraqi children and ordinary families, not to mention the POW pictures (and videos to follow?) and the reckless attack on Falluja resulting in over 100 children killed, the claim of the US to be a "human rights" role-model wears a bit thin.

I am ashamed that the British Prime Minister (against the wishes of 80% of the British public) backed the decision to invade Iraq without the sanction of a second UN resolution. I am ashamed of the disgusting conduct of those troops who have been found out (how many haven't been?). I am ashamed that when the international community voted this week by 140-6 in support of the foundation of a Palestinian State, the United States and its so called allies seem to abandon the aspirations of ordinary Arab people but do nothing about the Weapons of Mass Destruction that Israel possesses. I'm not saying that Israel may not have its reasons for these, but the hypocrisy and inconsistency of America is staggering.

The "New American Century" group, which backed the expansionist and aggressive foreign policy of George Bush (and which included influential members of his administration) overtly set out to expand US influence through military might. Today, the world holds America in lower esteem than probably at any time in her history. What on earth has gone so badly wrong?

Unfortunately arrogance, ignorance and greed have resulted in weak and morally-flawed people taking over at the head of government in the US - while here in the UK a weak leader who tries to please everybody and be everything to everyone, first tried to humour George Bush and then found he couldn't extricate himself from Bush's ambitions.

What has this all got to do with ICANN? Well we're talking about an attitude and a culture... look at Enron, look at Worldcom (yes, Worldcom, Vint)... and look at the arrogant way in which the US government set up ICANN as a 'front' for its control of the DNS... the DNS accountable not to the world but to the US's Department of Commerce. And look at the way ICANN has operated, ousting democracy and the At Large from its Boardroom, opaque and non-communicative in many of its transactions, driven by "insiders" who seem to favour the vested interests and corporate interests...

Today, in our world, there are still pockets of residual sympathy for the USA, because there is another side to all this... ordinary family Americans who are kindly and decent (albeit living off the exploitation of poorer peoples - but we are all guilty of that in the West)... however, the leadership of the US and UK - who are ultimately responsible for the invasion of Iraq and the conduct of their troops - are more discredited now than at almost any time.

And what does all this contribute to the War on Terror? The stupidity of these actions will fuel the cause of martrydom and terrorism, and has made the world a less safe place to live in for your children, our children, and Arab children... it is a *shambles*...

These pictures - and the still more degrading reality which lurks behind them, mostly undiscovered - are a shameful indictment.

Thank you Khaled, for your mail.

Yrs,

Richard Henderson
www.iraqwar.co.uk
www.atlarge.org 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Ibelimited1@xxxxxxx 
  To: ga@xxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Saturday, May 08, 2004 4:02 PM
  Subject: [ga] Humiliating photos are symptomatic of a greater problem 


        Dear All

        The article below out of the Jordanian Times portrays a position and an opinion that I agree with 100%. And as an Arab American I am saddened to say that the strongest nation on earth will once again show no interest in learning from its own mistakes.  

        When you lie to the American people and sell them on a war and an invade another country for the wrong reasons.... you should not be shocked nor surprised. 

        The questions we must ask are:
        A- who are really responsible for this?
        B- and whose heads must role as a result?

        Not the soldiers alone if justice is to be served.

        Many might remember the movie "A few good men" with Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson.   Draw you own conclusions.   

        You will understand when you read the article.

        If you think this is unrelated to Internet issues, think again and harder.

        regards

        Khaled Fattal
        MINC Chairman and CEO

         

         

         
            
        Humiliating photos are symptomatic of a greater problem 
        By Sherri Muzher 
         
            
        As photos of the humiliation of Iraqi prisoners of war (PoWs) were released, people around the world expressed outrage and shock. 
        As an Arab-American, I can understand the outrage, but it's the shock I don't get. When pop culture conditions people to believe that Arabs are sub-human and when troops go to war under the premise that they are going to punish those responsible for Sept. 11, these kinds of activities are waiting to happen. 

        And those troops who gleefully humiliated and sexually abused the Iraqi PoWs just happened to be caught. There are likely more with that type of mentality, regardless of what the president says. 

        A 53-page internal army report recently prepared by Major General Antonio Taguba found that Iraqi detainees were subjected to âsadistic, blatant and wanton criminal abusesâ at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad. According to the report, abuses included detainees being beaten with a broom handle and one sodomised with âa chemical light and perhaps a broom stickâ. 

        Most bewildering are the ridiculous excuses by the six soldiers who are being investigated. They and their lawyers say that the troops weren't given rules or didn't know the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of PoWs. Most people don't know the wording of the Fourth Geneva Convention, but those same people surely must know that placing wires on someone's genitalia with the idea of electrocuting that person is wrong. That's called human decency. 

        Military experts have been interviewed on different networks, and many have said that while the pictures are appalling, the Fourth Geneva Convention has not been violated. But, Article 13 of Part I clearly states: âLikewise, prisoners of war must at all times be protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity.â 

        Keep in mind that the Fourth Geneva Convention was repeatedly invoked by the Bush administration and experts when some American PoWs were captured and shown on Al Jazeera last year. They were not stripped naked nor were they forced to simulate sex acts. 

        What's sad is that future American PoWs will likely pay the price for the repulsive choices of some of their brethren in the military. Everybody in the Middle East has seen the photographs and even those who have been supportive of US efforts in Iraq are going to shrug when the Fourth Geneva Convention is likely to be violated by Iraqis in the future as payback â unless the troops in question are severely punished. 

        Ghazi Mashal Ajil Al Yawer, a member of the Iraqi Governing Council told the Associated Press that the perpetrators must be punished âas war criminalsâ because âthe dignity of an Iraqi citizen is no less than the dignity of an Americanâ. 

        And that's the point of it all: nobody's humanity is greater than anyone else's. When the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is covered by the media, Palestinian deaths rarely warrant the type of breaking news or breathless coverage that Israeli deaths get. Now, the same type of situation is being repeated in Iraq. The Fourth Geneva Convention gets repeatedly mentioned when American troops are captured, but when Iraqis prisoners are abused, many experts say that the convention does not apply. 

        It has always been difficult being an Arab American, and yes, the insults of âsand niggerâ and âcamel jockeyâ came well before Sept. 11. Watch Bugs Bunny or Popeye with your kids, and you will find that Arabs have always been portrayed as the bad guys. This decades-long dehumanisation of Arabs in pop culture has made it easier to place Arab Americans, as well as Muslim Americans, as targets. 

        Americans are prone to ask: âWhy do they hate us so much?â Well, Arabs wonder the same about Americans. 

        Ultimately, it would be unfair to blame the entire military for the acts of a few and I know that many act honourably despite their personal feelings. However, I don't see too many people bothering to distinguish between the 19 hijackers and the 350 million Arabs whose only concern is to work hard and put bread on the table or to create better futures for their kids. 

        It's not fun to be generalised, is it? 

        The writer is a media analyst and writer for Middle East Affairs in Mason, MI. She contributed this article to The Jordan Times. 

        Friday-Saturday, May 7-8, 2004