What Atrocities? What Torture?
By Jon Alvarez (05/05/04)
Sadly, this war is fast becoming a "politically-correct" war. Thanks to the anti-American efforts of CBS, they have helped to fuel the fires of anti-Americanism around the globe. So now we are having to apologize for a few soldiers who chose to ham it up and take pictures of themselves with Iraqi prisoners. I've seen nothing which leads me to believe these Iraqis were subjected to anything worse than being forced to perform sophomoric hazing rituals a la the Omega fraternity in the movie "Animal House."
In fact, most American POW accounts of their treatment at the hands of not only the Iraqis, but also certain Asian peoples, leads me to believe most of our brave POWs would have considered themselves lucky to have been treated to a little bit of hazing as opposed to the starvation and beatings they endured. Just ask Senator John McCain and the other Vietnam War POWs or Navy aviator Jeffry Zaun how their captors treated them.
Folks, we are at war and war is hell. Bad things happen in war and people die. Let's keep things in perspective; we are in Iraq and Afghanistan because radical Islam has declared war on Western society. We must stay the course if we are going to prevail. Also, bad things happen in prisons, that's why it's a good idea to stay out of them.
We are at war with a people who have been brutalized for years by a sadistic killer. For our own media and the Arab press to use these pictures to draw comparisons between our forces and Saddam Hussein is irresponsible and blatantly false. We've seen just recently how the people of Iraq treat Americans by dragging, burning, and hanging their bodies AFTER they were murdered in cold blood.
These soldiers involved in this "scandal" will be dealt with by the military. It's a sad testimony to see Brig. General Janis Karpinski, who was in charge of these prisons, attempt to pass the buck rather than take some responsibility for those under her command. What is truly unfortunate is that those responsible for real atrocities like those committed in Fallujah continue to roam free and most likely will never face justice.
Let's not allow the media to make more of this than there really is. We already know many in the Arab world hate us. If we allow this to turn into a "PC" war, they will no longer fear us. They need to learn that bad things will happen to them if they mess with the United States. War is hell.
Contact your elected officials and the media to let them know you stand by our troops and the War on Terror.
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