Friday, April 30, 2004
Baghdad Burning on the Iraqi Prisoner Abuse
There can be nothing more powerful than this from a blogger based in Baghdad:
...Seeing those naked, helpless, hooded men was like being slapped in the face with an ice cold hand. I felt ashamed looking at them- like I was seeing something I shouldn’t be seeing and all I could think was, “I might know one of those faceless men...” I might have passed him in the street or worked with him. I might have bought groceries from one of them or sat through a lecture they gave in college... any of them might be a teacher, gas station attendant or engineer... any one of them might be a father or grandfather... each and every one of them is a son and possibly a brother. And people wonder at what happened in Falloojeh a few weeks ago when those Americans were killed and dragged through the streets...
(...)
I want something done about it and I want it done publicly. I want those horrible soldiers who were responsible for this to be publicly punished and humiliated. I want them to be condemned and identified as the horrible people they are. I want their children and their children’s children to carry on the story of what was done for a long time- as long as those prisoners will carry along with them the humiliation and pain of what was done and as long as the memory of those pictures remains in Iraqi hearts and minds.
I can't possibly imagine being an Iraqi today. First, they're attacked by the U.S. "Coalition" without provocation. Then, after sacking Baghdad, the U.S. appoints a Governing Council that is so crooked and rife with corruption even OUR government has had enough. And now their "liberators" are abusing them with the pictures being front page news all over the world (except in the country that is responsible.)
We are fucking broken.
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There can be nothing more powerful than this from a blogger based in Baghdad:
...Seeing those naked, helpless, hooded men was like being slapped in the face with an ice cold hand. I felt ashamed looking at them- like I was seeing something I shouldn’t be seeing and all I could think was, “I might know one of those faceless men...” I might have passed him in the street or worked with him. I might have bought groceries from one of them or sat through a lecture they gave in college... any of them might be a teacher, gas station attendant or engineer... any one of them might be a father or grandfather... each and every one of them is a son and possibly a brother. And people wonder at what happened in Falloojeh a few weeks ago when those Americans were killed and dragged through the streets...
(...)
I want something done about it and I want it done publicly. I want those horrible soldiers who were responsible for this to be publicly punished and humiliated. I want them to be condemned and identified as the horrible people they are. I want their children and their children’s children to carry on the story of what was done for a long time- as long as those prisoners will carry along with them the humiliation and pain of what was done and as long as the memory of those pictures remains in Iraqi hearts and minds.
I can't possibly imagine being an Iraqi today. First, they're attacked by the U.S. "Coalition" without provocation. Then, after sacking Baghdad, the U.S. appoints a Governing Council that is so crooked and rife with corruption even OUR government has had enough. And now their "liberators" are abusing them with the pictures being front page news all over the world (except in the country that is responsible.)
We are fucking broken.
| Permalink Here
