Silence Equals Vietnam

To those who have urged me to keep blogging, I thank you. To those who urged me to stop, I thank you, too. ;-) Now down to business.

Prepare for the great smear onslaught.

NEW YORK - A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Army to release more than 100 photographs and several videos taken by an American soldier relating to prisoner abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, according to court documents.

The order came in response to a Freedom of Information Act suit filed in 2003 by civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, regarding treatment of U.S.-held prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.

Yes, civil right groups want the rest of the photos publicized so they can screech in protest (again) at the abuse and the “torture,” even though the abusers and a good chunk of their chain of command are being punished.

And, as we saw in the comments of this post, some people cannot differentiate between Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. Why not? Because both are overseen by those “evil” US troops and their "dastardly overlord," the Commander-in-Chief.

Guantanamo Bay’s not-flushed Korans, “desecrated” Korans—meaning one accidentally touched by an infidel—alleged “humiliation” by female interrogators are all bundled up with Abu Ghraib’s true and punished misdeeds into a nice little package with a bow on it.

Here’s what’s in the box: of those traditional media who oppose any of our endeavors in Iraq, there are some few who would try to make a logical argument against it (even at this late date). Then there are those who have given up on that or never had the ability to formulate a coherent opposing viewpoint in the first place. These would rather take the fact that there are some bad apples in the military and blow their existence out of proportion. They do this in spite of the fact that the military harshly punishes its bad boys and girls; most of the time the traditional media won’t mention the latter at all.

The military tries but cannot possibly keep every potential wrong-doer out of its ranks. That is why the UCMJ exists. However, because OIF hasn’t been executed perfectly—because it has been executed by human effort--that imperfection has been fashioned into weapon to be used against its proponents: from the president on down to the young Marine private. (Any former GI with a grudge or one attempting to cover some personal dishonor can present himself as a weapon for this purpose also.)

Says Bill O’Reilly:

The truth is that abuse has occurred, but on a relatively small scale. According to General Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the U.S. has detained about 68,000 people since 9/11 (most have been released), and there have been 325 investigations into alleged abuse. At this writing, about 100 cases of wrongdoing have been substantiated.

That's not a big number, but it doesn't matter to the anti-Bush cabal, which understands that perception is reality in a nation where "reality programming" is the rage of the day.

And, in order to tarnish the president, those who are following his orders must be tarnished.

Thirty-five years ago it was “babykillers.” In this century, it’s “inhumane torturers.” As was so a generation ago, the crimes of a few will be used to attempt to smear the whole.

What’s different from then? Well, that should be obvious: we veterans and supporters of the troops don’t have to put up with it silently.

(Thanks to the Command Post)

UPDATE: Bill in DC has more.