((( Anybody But Bush Update: Iraqi prisoner
prefers Saddam's torture )))

May 03, 2004


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http://www.anybodybutbush.info/archives/000224.html



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by ttagaris
Mon May 3rd, 2004 at 02:37:09 EST

I really wish this headline came from The Onion,
or maybe Mad Magazine,
but it doesn't; the article comes from the
Associated Press.

When I read quotes like this, I begin to worry:

"Al-Shweiri said that while jailed by Saddam's
regime, he was
electrocuted, beaten and hung from the ceiling
with his hands tied
behind his back.

"But that's better than the humiliation of being
stripped naked," he
said. 'Shoot me here,' he added, pointing between
his eyes, 'but don't
do this to us."

read
the associated press article


Diaries :: ttagaris's diary ::

Now, I was in the United States Marine Corps, and
I really don't want
to pass judgement on anyone committing these acts
against Iraqis,
whoever they may be.

In my eyes, the vast majority of people that I
served with were great
people, some of the best I have ever met in my
life, and I am proud to
have served with each and every one of them.

What gives me pause, and makes me sad above all
else, is the
transformation many of our men and women must
have gone through since
arriving in Iraq. The people I served, I could
not fathom
participating in acts such as these.

While I have never served in combat, I know we
have all heard from
friends, relatives, or accounts on television and
through conversations
on-line about how you come back a changed person.
The experience of war
and death up-close is so powerful, that it
demands a mental
transformation as a defense mechanism.

I can't help but shake the feeling that these
troops that tortured
Iraqis are not just a few bad apples, but these
are just a small
handful of the good apples that have have gone
rotten after exposure to
the horrors of war.

I can't speak for the friends that I served with,
maybe they wish to
stay in Iraq. The last I heard they were digging
graves every day from
the time they woke up, until they were done for
the day. I can't
imagine that job doing any help for the fragile
mind of a young man
10's of thousands of miles away from home,
watching death up-close
every day. I would like them to come home.

Tim