So there I was,
surfing the latest news, when I was nearly hurled from my chair by the sheer centrifugal force of the Bush adminstration's
latest spin job.
Condoleeza Rice said:
"The president has told the secretary of defense that he expects people to be held accountable, and that he wants, too, to know that this is not a systemic problem."
I heard:
"The president intends to stick to his established policy of scapegoating and self-delusion."
Rice also said:
"In other words, quite apart from the specific cases of those particular photographs, Americans do not dehumanize other people. That is not why we're in Iraq. We're in Iraq to liberate a people, to help them."
I heard:
"This spray of excrement is an isolated incident, and in no way indicates that the shit has hit the fan."
Oh, okay. Except for this from Reuters:
"Two Iraqi prisoners were murdered by Americans and 23 other deaths are being investigated in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States revealed on Tuesday."
Well, hmm. Those 25 victims weren't in the pictures, and yet they suffered. In fact, apparently there have already been trials related to these deaths, including a completed court martial.
Wake up and smell what you're shoveling, Condi. 25 deaths is not a few isolated events, the actions of a disturbed few.
For every death, how many abuses took place? 3? 8? 20? These 25 deaths point to hundreds, if not thousands, of abuses. That's a systemic problem.
And you damn well know it, or else you've taken a sharp blow to the head since the last time I saw your intellect on display. Maybe just a sharp blow to the ethics.