On the question of Abu Ghraib Susan Sontag got it absolutely right. In ‘At the Same Time’ she writes:

‘...the horror of what is shown in the photographs cannot be separated from the horror that the photographs were taken - with the perpertrators posing, gloating, over their helpless captives. German soldiers in the Second World War took photographs of the atrocities they were committing in Poland and Russia, but snapshots in which they placed themselves among their victims are exceedingly rare…If there is something comparable to what these pictures show, it would be some of the photographs of black victims of lynching taken between the 1880s and 1930s, which show Americans grinning beneath the naked and mutilated body of a black man or woman hanging behind them from a tree. The lynching photographs were souvenirs of a collective action whose participants felt perfectly justified in what they had done. So are the pictures of Abu Ghraib.’

The real problem is that the government of the United States authorized and ordered the abuse, rape, sodomy of children and torturing to death of innocent people as a policy of state - just the way the Nazi ‘government’ did. High crimes and misdemeanors indeed. The underlings carried out their orders but who gave them? I think we all know the answer to that.

Ah Jimmy what about the Detainees Rights to Privacy and dignity?
Damn has anyone bothered to consult with those depicted in these insufferable acts of torture and humiliation as to what their preference would be.
I know if I was one of those shown being abused or degraded I would not want them released for world wide public consumption- the origninal violation of my rights would have been horrific enough without the unethical and immoral MSM using them to jack up their ratings.
I think some well intentioned people have lost sight of their Human Rights edicts, in their blind rage and desperation to seek judicial Revenge. You are not a champion of Human rights if you fail to consult those who’s rights you claim to be defending.
These photos should be only available to those involved with the Cases which have been brought to trial and those who are considering prosecutions like the international courts
Stop and Think -let’s not rape the rape victim a second time in our zeal for vindication and retribution.

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/6/2/ralph_nader_an d_labor_professor_harley

Ralph Nader and Labor Professor Harley Shaiken Discuss the Bankruptcy and Future of General Motors

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Nader is AWESOME as usual…