Pensamientos

In a prior post I expressed my dismay at the manner that the U.S. military police were humiliating Iraqi POWs. The well-publicized photos of naked prisoners piled on top of each other, genitals exposed, while a female soldier, with a cigarette dangling from the corner of her mouth, points and grins obscenely, shames the sensibilities. The same female soldier, holding a dog lease affixed to the neck of a naked, prone Iraqi on the cold prison floor, affronts all reason and severely damages America's claim that we are "different" and more humane than other cultures. Photos of a German shepard dog, snarling and baring its teeth at a bleeding, leather-bound, naked Iraqi man, parallels photos of WWII prisoners being herded onto trains for the journey to Auschwitz, the Jewish death camp. These acts are deplorable and the images are painful to look at, but In the light of day, America will expose her sins and fully recover her status as a free and just culture. Her willingness to fully investigate, debate, expose, and prosecute scandalous and unlawful acts publicly, clearly separates America from the shadowy, despotic cultures of Hussein, Hilter, Stalin, Milosevich, Douvalier, Mao-tse sung, Mussolini; cultures where no voice above a whisper could be heard without fear of death; cultures where millions of innocents, were tortured, executed and buried in mass graves, in secret places; cultures that ruled by control and fear and intimidation. America's light overshadows these culture's darkness. That is why, in this dangerous time we shall overcome the trials and tribulations that we presently face. As horrible as our sins are, they don't begin to approach the terrorist beheading and video taping of the evil execution of Nicholas Berg, a young, American, civilian entrepreneur. They pale in comparison to the terror of 9-11 and the WTC destruction and the 200 innocent civilan train deaths in the Madrid explosion. The list of terroist atrocities is long and lest we forget, many in the Abu-Zagreb Baghdad prison were willing participants in horrible terrorist acts that killed many innocent children, women and elderly people. We are at war with terrorism. Inhumane acts always happen in war, but we must keep in perspective America's goal, which is to free the Iraqi and Afghan people, eliminate terrorism and secure a safer, more peaceful world. Today I pray for the soul of Nicholas Berg and the comfort of his family and friends.