framer1
05-12-2004, 03:31 PM
A little honesty.
The Iraqi prison fiasco made me furious. I was furious that solders could commit such stupid acts. I was furious that our solders would shame our nation this way. My thoughts on this subject are changing.
Research was done in Berkley, I believe, in the 1960s, which is very relevant to what happened in Iraq. A group of students were told to administer an electrical shock to a group of individuals each time they answered a question incorrectly. For each wrong answer the voltage was turned up. The professor would nod for them to go ahead and administer the shock. The students eventually turned the voltage high enough to kill a human being and proceed to follow instructions and deliver the shocks. The individuals receiving the shocks suffered in agony.
What the students did not know was that the people were actors and were not really being shocked. The students would have knowingly tortured and possibly killed these people, because a trusted professor told them to do so.
While I could not imagine myself participating in the deeds in Iraq, likely neither could those who did it, if they were in our shoes.
Figuratively, heads should roll for anyone in the command structure that had knowledge or complicity in these deeds. I have no doubt that will be the case. In fact, it was already in progress. I have no sympathy for anyone in the command structure. However, the people that committed these deeds are your neighbors, your sons, and your daughters. I am beginning to feel less angry at them and a little sorry for them.
However, for someone to try and uses these events for their political or financial gains are themselves lower than those that committing the deeds. I am furious at 60 Minutes. They knew that the photos would inflame fanatics to kill Americans. And the photos did just that.
A local soldier is being held captive in Iraq. The likelihood of him ever coming home is much less likely now. 60 Minutes knew what they were doing would cost lives, but they chose to score their political points, and build ratings. The world did not need to see those images to understand that what we did was wrong. This is not about freedom of the press. This is about being responsible citizens of a society.
I am also furious at Ted Kennedy. Ted Kennedy before cameras insisted that we are as evil as Sadam. The USA is now running the rape rooms and torture chambers, according to Ted. Ted Kennedy is the most despicable citizen in this vast, great nation. To think that he holds high office is a stain upon our country.
I do not want to enter into a debate. These are the facts as I see them. I hope you agree, and I do not care if you do not.
I thought this would be of some interest. Believe me I didn't write it but I believe it.
The Iraqi prison fiasco made me furious. I was furious that solders could commit such stupid acts. I was furious that our solders would shame our nation this way. My thoughts on this subject are changing.
Research was done in Berkley, I believe, in the 1960s, which is very relevant to what happened in Iraq. A group of students were told to administer an electrical shock to a group of individuals each time they answered a question incorrectly. For each wrong answer the voltage was turned up. The professor would nod for them to go ahead and administer the shock. The students eventually turned the voltage high enough to kill a human being and proceed to follow instructions and deliver the shocks. The individuals receiving the shocks suffered in agony.
What the students did not know was that the people were actors and were not really being shocked. The students would have knowingly tortured and possibly killed these people, because a trusted professor told them to do so.
While I could not imagine myself participating in the deeds in Iraq, likely neither could those who did it, if they were in our shoes.
Figuratively, heads should roll for anyone in the command structure that had knowledge or complicity in these deeds. I have no doubt that will be the case. In fact, it was already in progress. I have no sympathy for anyone in the command structure. However, the people that committed these deeds are your neighbors, your sons, and your daughters. I am beginning to feel less angry at them and a little sorry for them.
However, for someone to try and uses these events for their political or financial gains are themselves lower than those that committing the deeds. I am furious at 60 Minutes. They knew that the photos would inflame fanatics to kill Americans. And the photos did just that.
A local soldier is being held captive in Iraq. The likelihood of him ever coming home is much less likely now. 60 Minutes knew what they were doing would cost lives, but they chose to score their political points, and build ratings. The world did not need to see those images to understand that what we did was wrong. This is not about freedom of the press. This is about being responsible citizens of a society.
I am also furious at Ted Kennedy. Ted Kennedy before cameras insisted that we are as evil as Sadam. The USA is now running the rape rooms and torture chambers, according to Ted. Ted Kennedy is the most despicable citizen in this vast, great nation. To think that he holds high office is a stain upon our country.
I do not want to enter into a debate. These are the facts as I see them. I hope you agree, and I do not care if you do not.
I thought this would be of some interest. Believe me I didn't write it but I believe it.