Pandora Has Left the Building

From today's LA Times. We should all remember that Sy Hersh brough this up immediately (dismissed on both camera and mic by the usual suspects). The fetishistic importance that's been laid upon the photos themselves is troubling...John McCain is pushing for a full release of everything.

I know I don't want to see them. If one reads between the lines (and we have to), you can see the stage being set, the American public, being braced for the release of some truly pornographic images. And, as the ICRC report shows, those in Abu Ghraib found themselves there by simple misfortune, the wrong place at the wrong time (which, as is becoming increasingly clear, means, in Iraq, during occupation):

Most 'Arrested by Mistake'

By Bob Drogin Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON — Coalition military intelligence officials estimated that 70% to 90% of prisoners detained in Iraq (news - web sites) since the war began last year "had been arrested by mistake," according to a confidential Red Cross report given to the Bush administration earlier this year.

Yet the report described a wide range of prisoner mistreatment — including many new details of abusive techniques — that it said U.S. officials had failed to halt, despite repeated complaints from the International Committee of the Red Cross.

ICRC monitors saw some improvements by early this year, but the continued abuses "went beyond exceptional cases and might be considered as a practice tolerated" by coalition forces, the report concluded.

...

The ICRC sent its report to the military police brigade commander in charge of Abu Ghraib after the October visit, and the commander responded Dec. 24, a senior Pentagon official said last week. But the Pentagon did not launch a formal investigation into abuses at the prison until a low-ranking U.S. soldier approached military investigators Jan. 13 and gave them a computer disc of photos.

The ICRC report also describes torture and other brutal practices by Iraqi police working in Baghdad under the U.S.-led occupation.

It cites cases in which suspects held by Iraqi police allegedly were beaten with cables, kicked in the testicles, burned with cigarettes and forced to sign confessions.

In June, a group of men arrested by Iraqi police "allegedly had water poured on their legs and had electrical shocks administered to them with stripped tips of electrical wires," the report notes.

One man's mother was brought in, "and the policeman threatened to mistreat her." Another detainee "was threatened with having his wife brought in and raped."

"Many persons deprived of their liberty drew parallels between police practices under the occupation with those of the former regime," the report noted.

This is a horrific development on so many levels. Not only have we seen what our own soldiers are cpable of (either on their own or, as is more likely, under orders), but we also see the sort of police force we've installed; one that bears striking similarities to the force they'd followed.

As so many have already pointed out, the Geneva Convention isn't there to protect the bad guys; it's what we depend on top protect our own in the hands of the enemy. God forbid we lose some of our folks to kidnappings now. As is the mindset of those working within the prison, there's no doubt the insurgency feels too, all gloves are off.

Knowing the level of importance honor (valid or otherwise) plays in Arab culture, I wonder if this could be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Is it so far fetched to see a few hundred thousand of the world's teeming Muslim millions, including actual states, actual armies, feel this is indeed the jihad they've been waiting for and march across the borders? How many fronts can one army cover? Iran is already threatening retaliation against Israel, should they attempt a strike oin Iranian nuclear facilities. Yes, we are the most powerful military force on the planet, but so indeed was Rome, and Babylon before. Myopia abounds.