Read other letters about this article

• Friday, February 17, 2006 01:33 AM

  Sour Grapes and Rotten Apples

  There is a significant difference between the Danish cartoons and the torture at Abu Ghraib. As someone pointed out, the United States, neither its government nor its people, had anything to do with the Danish cartoons. We however have had everything to do with the torture at Abu Ghraib. One is not equivalent to the other. Apparently that's too difficult a concept for some of you to understand. The entire Muslim world is not tuned into Salon.com. I suspect few are. A great many Americans however are and that's the point. As Americans you should be appalled at the behavior of your government for if not outright mandating torture at least giving it the old wink and nod. You should cry out at the level to which YOUR government has sunk in pursuit of its ends in your name. How does torture make us better than the enemy? What unaccountable damage has been done to the reputation and standing of the United States among the nations of the world? This just makes us bullies because torture has been shown to be ineffective in intelligence gathering. That Salon decided to publish these pictures is irrelvant to Muslims because they've already seen them. The minute these pictures were put out by the Australian media, they were all over the Middle Eastern world. By publishing these pictures, Salon is doing its job as a member of the free press in a republic. It's informing the citizens about the behavior of their own government in the hopes that you will act like an informed member of society and do what you can to correct the government. In a republic, that's your duty. Salon has little if any way to influence how the Danes behave.

  —Ballsee Read Ballsee's other letters
  Permalink
  Flag
  Click "Submit Flag" if you feel this post is inappropriate. Explain why below if you wish.

  Cancel