Letters to the Editor
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Take a good, hard look at these pictures, America....
Because every prisoner humiliated at Abu Ghraib provides the motivation and rationale for dozens of young men and women from around the world to take up the fight against the U.S. After all, this is the face of "democracy" and "freedom" -- this is the face of how America treats others.
And, quite sensibly I might add, they will choose to fight against the imposition of this barbaric "Americanism" on their own countries and culture.
The prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib is horrendous, but it also functions as a visual, easy-to-understand metaphor for how the West has treated the Arab and Islamic world for a long time.
I'm an American and since Bush came to power, I HATE US...
Is it ANY wonder they hate us?????????
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Reality Check
While I can, to some degree, understand why so many are trying to compare the publication fo these images to the non-publication of the cartoons, I don't believe that's the strongest point to be made.
I also understand the complaint that this is old news - but that's not the strongest point.
Some say they should not have been published out of fear of reprisals - and that's not the strongest point.
To me, my fear is that this is nothing new. That these incidents have happened throughout history. And sometimes it is the good guys who behave badly.
Does this make the good guys bad? Not really. It makes them human. It's a sad fact that people in certain situations can behave very badly. Look at the Milgram Experiment for further evidence.
The strongest point here is something I thought we all learned from Viet Nam. The explosion of media coverage brings an immediacy and reality to the public that the public isn't comfortable facing.
The military has always had to do the dirty jobs - some with valid reasons and positive results, some with shadowy rationales and demonic results. How one feels about the situation is a matter of perspective.
We have to get to a point where evidence of existent evil does not damn a whole culture.
Do I think the images should have been published. No. There's no value in it except for the self-interest of the publishers political viewpoint.
Had the media been capable of such widespread disemination of unfavorable content throughout the Civil War or WWI or WWII - I am certain we would have seen the same type of activity or worse. And even the most liberal find a hard time condemning the end results of those conflicts. Time will tell about Iraq.
Should it be minimized - certainly. Can it be eradicated - no. Not until we find a level of world peace that is a long way off.
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what constitutes torture?
I'm a bit surprised by some of the letters about Salon's publication of additional Abu Ghraid photos, questioning that 'all but one' are not really torture, but 'mere' degradation.
I see a parallel here with the definition of 'abuse,' such as in domestic abuse. So... it's only abuse when it's physical and there are bruises and broken limbs? Emotional and psychological abuse is not really abuse? In some ways abuse and torture that leave no marks is more insidious and damaging than that which leaves physical evidence.
Intentional degradation and psychological harm qualifies as torture and abuse, especially in light of the premeditated humiliation that was used specifically against those from the Islamic culture. What our culture might see as a 'fraternity prank' or a 'Vegas show' is the lowest of low to Muslims. Our military learned these tactics from the Israelis.
It has come to light only recently because the court order to release them came only recently, despite the pictures (and vids) being taken 2 years ago. This needs to be shown, and hurrah to Salon for posting them.
From a reader who just renewed her subscription. :-)
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Why don't you publish all 1000 of them?
A year or so back, 98 senators filed into a room and viewed the thousand photos that you say you have. They came out saying what they had seen included "much worse" than the handful already published.
Yet not one brave senator demanded that the military release the lot of them. Every single one of them, Democrat and Republican, is complicit in this torture, which the US continues to inflict all over the world.
Now you've got the photos -- and you show another handful, less than 2 percent.
Show them all, brave liberals.
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I can't take it!!
PLEASE, Salon.com, PLEASE remove that picture! Haven't we all had enough, what with the original pictures published so long ago? Yes, we need to know - do we need to SEE??? Over and over again?? This is not a comic book - we all read English VERY well, thank you - PLEASE just tell us about it, describe it, condem it, yes, yes, YES, but stop the visual ASSAULT!!!
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Well done, and those who don't like it, don't look
There are apparently some people in this country -- as evidenced by some of the readers of Salon who responded to this -- who believe the Abu Grahib scandal should simply go away; it was 2.5 years ago, the argument seems to go, and the U.S. has adequately dealt with the perpetrators of the torture that took place there. This is a depressing response, one belonging to people who would rather skim the surface of today's "current events" and then move on quickly to the next factoid that arises. I applaud Salon for practicing journalism that does more than regurgitate today's headlines. What separates a true news organization from the sensationalistic is the commitment to in-depth analysis of culturally and politically crucial stories. Abu Grahib is clearly that, and as new information about it arises it should be dealt with, not passed over as "old news."
Further, if people don't want to see the photos, then they needn't look. If some peoples have an aversion to information, that should not mean that no one gets to have access to it. Salon is free to print them, and readers are free to ignore them. That this basic argument even seems to be necessary is a sad commentary on the state of freedom of the press in this country.
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This is a shameless plea from Salon for more hits today
Publication of these photos is not journalism. Publication of these photos is not brave. Publication of these photos is the sad effort of a two-bit internet 'zine (it didn't used to be two-bit!) that's trying to get more hits today. What you're doing is as bad as what happened at Abu Ghraib!! Do these poor tortured men need their penises put on the internet for everyone to see? You're publicizing their humiliation. We already know about the horrible things that have happened at Abu Ghraib - how could you further exacerbate these men's torture for the sake of $$$$$$$?