Tuesday, June 01, 2004

"Terrorists"

Apologists for Abu Ghraib make a great point of referring to all Iraqi prisoners as "terrorists", as if that justifies what happens to them. In this they're following the line set by the occupation spokesman, Brigadier Kimmitt, who says things like "people are in Abu Ghraib for a reason". Unfortunately, according to a secret US Army report leaked to the New York Times, that "reason" is often simply showing dislike for the invaders:

General Ryder, the army's provost marshal, reported that some Iraqis had been held for months for nothing more than expressing "displeasure or ill will" towards the US occupying forces.

And some of these people were then tortured by interrogators who refused to believe they didn't know anything.

Despite what the Americans think, disliking them is not terrorism (or if it is, then it strips the word of all meaning). Imprisoning and torturing people for that is resurrecting the "crime" of lese majeste. Americans fought a revolution to be free of that kind of tyranny; is it any wonder that Iraqis are doing the same?

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