An Essay by Frank J.
It’s wrong to abuse prisoners. My mom always told me that abuse was wrong. When my dog was a puppy, I’d put her in a box and hang it from the ceiling by a rope and then spin the box around. She’d make a funny sound when I did that. But my mom told me to stop because she said that was abuse and that was wrong. So I did stop, but, when my dog was older, sometime I’d wake up to find her sitting there in the darkness, staring at me with this strange look in her eyes.
Anyway, just like it is wrong to abuse a dog, it is wrong to abuse prisoners who are people. I heard that some soldiers have been abusing prisoners and they are bad. They should stop. They should be like good soldiers and shoot bad people. But prisoners are bad people, so how do you know when hurting them is abuse? Well, if a ninja attacks you, fighting back is not abuse. But, prisoners aren’t trying to hurt you like a ninja is, so hurting them is abuse. Like, if you walked up to some random person and punched him, that would be abuse (though the courts would call it “assault and battery”; the courts have lots of funny words for things). Also, penguins are not attacking you, so seeing how far you can throw one is also abuse, though what the zoo will charge you with is trespassing. Plus they won’t let you back in the zoo. And, if the penguin lands in the crocodile pen, you have to buy the zoo a new penguin… and they’re expensive. And they’re hard to find, as they don’t sell them at Wal-Mart. So don’t abuse penguins. Also, another thing my mom told me not to abuse is substances. So, if you see a substance, be nice to it.
In summary, do not abuse prisoners… unless you think they’re terrorists.
oops..
First!
Why wasn’t there as much international outrage at the burning and mutilating of those four people earlier this year?
Oh, did anyone else get a rage filled email from the limey this morning?
The US is held to a higher standard as we are the best country in the world – that’s why I’m upset about the abuse. I’m also mad because it could put our captured at risk for retribution. It will also strengthen the resolve of those friggin’ idiot insurgers.
I’m not shedding tears for the prisoners – I’m just mostly pissed at the lack of professionalism and the stupidity of TAKING PICTURES!
If you want to see the press scream, watch what would happen if we actually treated those prisoners according to the Geneva Convention…and shot them. As non-regular troops, or partisans, they are considered to be one step above a spy, who can be shot for looking at you in the wrong tone of voice. Partisans are ALWAYS considered to be armed combatants, even if they are hog-tied, blindfolded, and unconscious on a cement floor in the middle of a completely empty room. So, the US would be within it’s rights to just shoot them and be done with the problem.
More important than not abusing people is not taking photos. How many times have we seen the photos or videos of morons who are committing crimes and they photographed the incident themselves? Many, I wish I could take morons and make them do humiliating things while I held them prisoner. Of course, no cameras please.
you know, wouldn’t it be cheaper just to shoot them anyway? give the soldiers some good target practice. they could tie rabid monkeys to their backs so they would run around screaming in agony. moving targets usually present an added challenge.
Yeah, the abuse was wrong, but taking pictures? Damned stupid.
Abuse and pictures aside – another thing that got me hot was the female general in charge. Instead of stepping up to the plate, she’s all “It’s not my fault, higher HQ wouldn’t give me what I needed.” Whiney beach. What you need is to give back that star if you can’t do the job.
No email from Limey, but I did get forwarded a reply. I’d appreciate it if no one did that in the future. Please–for The Children(TM).
Frank, I’ll bet your mom told you to refrain from abusing yourself too.
–Yep… it was wrong of them. Yep, they were stupid for taking pictures. BUT… can we get a little perspective here??? Worse “abuse” goes on in fraternities… and Kerry is saying Bush didn’t apologize correctly to the arab world??? What the holy hell is going on here??? I feel like the whole world is turning into some freakish parody of itself. This is bad, people… very bad.
–By the way, Sandor… I got that email from the slimey. You know what? I don’t think he likes you very much…
Bad to torture prisoners…good to torture terrorists…so many choices.
If you’re going to do something illegal or stupid don’t create evidence, I tell my students this all the time. I agree with those who said they are no better thn spies and we should just shoot them after a strong interrogation.. that includes whatever means necessary to get information to keep our men and women safe
I am not saying I condone the “torture”. Once we made the decision to treat them as uniformed soldiers, we bound ourselves to treat them humanely. I don’t like it, but that’s the way it is. It is how American’s are raised, and that’s how our troops are trained. But, number one, if you are going to do ignorant crap like that, DON’T take pictures of it and show your friends. It shows how stupid you are. And, number two, if we are going to get accused of torturing them, why don’t we actually TORTURE them? We cannot be vilified anymore than we already are. If we are going to be critisized, we might as well deserve it.
Not to threadjack, but has anyone noticed that Evil Glenn has linked to IMAO? I think it’s snowing in Hell now…
Rob,
That’s almost twice in one week. He’s starting to freak me out. Not only do I usually get a Instalanche from him, I get a ping-alanche too from bloggers who don’t usually read me.
It’s very simple:
WE’RE SUPPOSED TO BE THE GOOD GUYS!!!
I don’t want to hear/read any weak crap about how “…it’s not as bad as what Saddam did.” or “Compared to the Arab world…”
Members of the United States Armed Forces don’t get to be sick, twisted, sh*theads.
Frank, i know this was a serious essay, but i thought it was funny anyway (the essay not the prisoner abuse)… thanks for the advice about penguins, i assumed Walmart carried them in the poultry section.
Well… I liked the pictures, seems like those guys are having lots of fun!
I wonder if the prisoners that are being mistreated are teh same a-holes that tortured people for Saddam. If they WERE the ones, I say don’t stop! Kick it up a notch.
I didn’t get the limey’s last letter, someone please forward it to me.
Thanks
Excellent, as usual, Frank. My Advanced Law teacher and classmates are looking at my strangely for the insane giggling.
–Timmer and Sandor: Agreed that we do not have the luxury to act that way. Well, now that A FEW individuals have done this and the world knows… now what?? The President apologized… heads are going to roll… etc., etc., etc. Can we get over this and move on? Or should we stand still now and let the world tell us how bad we are and keep our head down in shame??
–F*%@ NO!! We punish those guilty and we move on! No more apologies to anyone. Actions speak louder than any words. We won’t make the same mistake again– we learn from it… but WE MOVE ON… NOW!!
— I’m sick and tired of this crap now. The world is NOT our keeper. We will police our own. We have to find the perspective here and not let the f’ing liberal world media treat us like criminals.
–E N O U G H is E N O U G H.
Man, Devil Dog, wouldn’t it have been great if Bush could have said it like that? lol…
I’m not sure why this is such a big deal. The soldiers who did that represent the tiniest percentage of our military and our country. They should be punished, yes, but everyone else needs to get their panties out of a wad.
–Pam: maybe he will once this annoying election is over with. I get a strong sense that he just wants to really cut loose and do what needs doing. Once Kerry goes down in flames, then maybe we’ll see what we need to see.
Blake, it’s a big deal because the dems want it to be a big deal. What gives credence to their finger-pointing is the sad fact that what was done IS reprehensible–we are Americans, after all–we’re better than this. It’s a sad thing when a few lousy people can bring shame to a good nation. I don’t envy Bush for having to bear the brunt of their actions, but as all great leaders must, he did just that. My respect remains intact.
Devil Dog, yeah…he’s definitely walking on eggshells right now with the election. It will be good when Kerry goes down in flames and he can get back to the serious business of killin’ bad guys. And all the smart people in all the land shall rejoice. And there will be singing and dancing and much merrymaking. And all that will be heard in the far-off place that french-looking losers go to die will be Kerry’s anguished bellow, “my preciousssssssss……”
Ok…sorry…I was waxing eloquent. sorta. done now. hehe… 😛
Yes Pam, we seriously dislikeses Kerry. He’s tricksy.
Thirtieth!
We throttles the Kerry! Yess, preciouss!
Humans like drama…this is the answer to “why is this such a big deal”. People like to remain ignorant to all that the US has done good in Iraq. They focus on the bad because it gets more attention. For some reason democrats and socialists really enjoy bad news..it gives them more ammo.
Devil Dog
Couldn’t agree more. The Army will take care of the sh*theads and we’ll all move on. Doesn’t take anything away from the mission.
I’m just real sick of hearing/reading some folks tyring to justify what happened by comparing it to what other folks in the world do. That’s weak no matter who throws it out there.
But the lesson here for all of us in uniform is the same lesson that we were taught in basic/boot and the same lesson we’re taught whenever we go overseas: We represent our nation in everything we do. It’s part of the job whether we signed up for it or not. Yes, only a few committed these crimes, but the world DOES judge all of us by those crimes. Or have you already forgotten when the squids gave you crap for the pinheads in Japan and Okinawa?
Just a comment. I know ‘the humble devildog’ placed “torture” in quotes, but my reading of the investigating general’s complete report on MSNBC’s site seems to show they really didn’t come up with proof of torture, only humiliation (and utter stupidity).
I also don’t see much comment about how old this information really is – mid 2003. And how it’s been pretty much already handled by the military. (Not saying I agree with some of their decisions, but they are CLOSER to the facts than I).
Since I’m new to Frank’s blog, the Limey probably won’t get back to me – but if he does I’ll remember to take his head out of the hole in the drywall before I start to patch things.
My explanation: the guards were all “don’t ask, don’t tell”s let in under Clinton.
policy: find way to blame Clinton
It should be a big deal, but not a public one.
The behavior was inexcusable, but it is already
being dealt with. If it were not, there would
be more justification for the coverage it’s
currently getting. As it is, the media’s just
making money off of a scandal.
It’s unfortunate,because the media is doing a
disservice not only to our troops and our
president but to the abused prisoners, who have
now been shown naked, world wide in humiliating
photos. But of course the media won’t see its own
guilt in the affair.
Beautiful as always, Miranda. Not to mention that the current flames of hatred against the US (and subsequent attacks/kidnappings as a result) could be considered a direct result of the media’s poor judgement. I long for the days of WW2 when the American press was actually more interesting in America winning the war rather than losing the war. In a sad, sick, twisted way, America losing the war on terror would be considered a victory to the press who are far more interested in making a buck than honoring and cherishing the nation that makes their careers possible. Nothing sells newspapers quite like tragedy, and I find it tragic that this fact causes media outlets to root for tragedy. Wankers.
Case in point, anyone “remember the Maine?” A prime case of media gone berserk, but at least they were still rooting for the US to win…
Yes, and from the same incident, “Give me the pictures and I’ll give you the war.” Which might be even more fitting.
Though, if America ever really lost a war on terror, thre would be no victory for our press. They’d be out a lot more than money. I wonder if they realize that.
Where is the outrage when our American citizens/troops are drug down the street, being spit on and tortured? Where is the outrage when we fund billions of dollars to rebuild a country and our workers are kidnapped and killed..?? Where is our apology? Where is our support?
Fck the media who only sees the bad in this great country!
And, Fck Kerry for demanding an apology from our President! The President Of The United States owes NO ONE an apology!
What should you do about monkeys that aren’t attacking you?
How on earth are the prisoners going to learn their lesson if we can`t torture them a wee bit?
Damn straight! CCinCali, joatmoaf, you’re the kind of people this country needs. I just can’t wait until Bush wins this election by a landslide. Then us good, right-thinking, god-fearing, straight, white republicans can have the US to ourselves, and no one will give a damn if a few sand-jockeys get beat up in the process! God (NOT Allah) bless America!
Listen to you sick f***s. I hope you get nailed again!
Hmmmm..don’t remember saying all that, Ed..