A rchive Date
[ 13-05-2004 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ U.S ]
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[http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/Toronto/Peter_Worthington/2004/05/13/457206.html
Indignities hurt all in Iraq
By PETER WORTHINGTON - For the Toronto Sun
Thu, May 13, 2004
Does the beheading of another American by al-Qaida terrorists prove America was wrong to invade Iraq and overthrow Saddam Hussein?
Was freelance telephone engineer Nick Berg, 26, kidnapped and beheaded because of American indignities imposed on prisoners held in Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison? The answer to both questions is "No."
If anything, the grisly murder of Berg on videotape, with his head being hacked off while he was still alive and screaming, justifies going to war to eliminate people who indulge in such atrocities. Berg's death recalls the equally depraved "execution" (if murder can be called that) of the Wall Street Journal's Daniel Pearl by al-Qaida terrorists in Pakistan in 2002 and also videotaped.
For al-Qaida (or its inadvertent apologists in the West) to suggest that the murder of Berg was related to what U.S. prison guards were doing in Abu Ghraib prison is unacceptable nonsense. Al-Qaida doesn't play by Western rules, is contemptuous of Western values.
And the murder of Berg reinforces the necessity for the civilized world to co-operate to try to eliminate or curtail such behaviour. Nor does al-Qaida barbarism mitigate or justify what was going on in Abu Ghraib prison - though inevitably it makes the depraved, rogue behaviour of American Military Police guards seem less offensive by comparison.
Ironically, the ghastly death of Berg may help the Bush administration weather the uproar being generated by the behaviour of guards at the prison. If so, it's a pity.
These U.S. soldiers were not only demeaning and debasing Iraqis, they were humiliating and degrading themselves, the U.S. army, and those who support America as something worthy and admirable. These "soldiers" were even videotaping each other having sex, for heaven's sake, which shows an astonishing lack of self respect and propriety.
At the Senate inquiry, there's an attempt to explain or justify the aberrant behaviour by noting that the guards were ill-trained, not adequately instructed, poorly supervised, blah, blah, blah.
More nonsense. Your don't have to be trained or instructed to know that simulating or performing sex acts with prisoners, or leashing them like dogs, or posing them naked, or draping women's underwear on their faces is wrong. Rather, you have to indoctrinate or persuade normal individuals that this is the way to behave. The fact that they so cheerfully and blatantly posed for cameras indicates abnormal conduct.
The gleeful assassination of Nick Berg by these al-Qaida people will probably strengthen Bush's hand at the moment.
Berg's father is on record seeming to blame President Bush for his son's death, suggesting that had not Berg been taken in custody by U.S. forces for a couple of weeks in March, he might have been able to leave Iraq safely. This seems a father's frustration and sorrow being manifested - having to blame someone.
Nick Berg was questioned by the U.S. military because he'd been travelling in the country without authority and Iraqis turned him over to U.S. forces. In other words, he was on his own - either as someone trying to help Iraqis, someone in search of adventure, or someone trying to make money in a high-risk area. Or a mixture of all these motives.
His tragedy is that he gambled - and lost. These things happen, and are happening more today than they used to, thanks to the sophistication and technology of the barbarians.
One cannot realistically argue with the U.S. administration for wanting a free, secure and civilized world, though one can argue with the methods used to achieve this. The debate should focus on methodology.
By its depravity, al-Qaida has once again vindicated the need for the war against terror, which cannot be won by appeasement, surrender or misguided tolerance.
Worthington normally appears Friday and Sunday. Letters to the editor should be sent to: editor@tor.sunpub.com Home Page
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