what about sodomy with a cylum lightstick? They are reporting this morning that was occuring as well. Personally i could give a rats ass if these "prisoners" were involved with al queda. But these "soldiers" are a disgrace for MANY reasons.

mike

The soldiers should be punished for being such assholes and for giving the rest of the force a "black eye".

The violations were nothing, compared to what the other side does to our people (kill,burn,dismember,hang,drag through streets,etc.)

Those who are appaled by what our few little moron MPs did to POWs,should be more upset with what insurgets in Iraq,Afgahnistan,etc do, and should denounce it as well!

I for one am absolutely repulsed by this.  I am horrified when it happens to our men and women, but that is tempered by the very knowledge that such tactics are the bread and butter of our opposition.  Maybe that makes it an easier pill to swallow as you know to expect it.  I am however disgusted neyond words that this behavior is being used to paint with broad strokes implying that our entire military structure supports these types of crimes.  And make no mistake, they are just that, crimes.  We are better than this, the world has known for years that we are better than this and has hated us for it.  Today we dropped to their level, the actions of these individuals made our nation hypocritical.  Before they derided us with nothing but conjecture to base it upon.  Today they have the proof that we are capable of doing the very things which we have condemned them for.

Remember, one of our justifications for going into Iraq was not just WMDs, but human rights abuses.  The gassing of one's own people, the ruthlessness of their secret service, the persecution based upon religious and political beliefs, the prisons teeming with innocents and subjected to unspeakable horrors.  So what do these individuals do?  They round up people in the middle of the night and imprison them for no other reason then they are men in a hot zone and COULD be insurgents.  They are taken away to a prison and striiped naked, humiliated, sodomized in some cases, threatened with death or bodily harm and who knows what else.  This "softening up" is brutality, plain and simple.  Try explaining away a german shepherd being set loose on a naked and scared man.  I'm listening, give it a try!

I am the farthest thing from a liberal.  I in fact support coercive methods being employed when you know somebody is a bad guy - think break down the door and find him making bomb vests and IEDs, but come on, most of these people were guilty of absolutely nothing other than being Iraqi men and having the misfortune of living in a hot zone that they may not have the means to escape from.  These soldiers put our men and women at risk.  Rest assured that the scumbags in the desert are waiting for nothing more than another US service member to fall into their hands.  The retribution will make this all look like child's play, and the sad thing is the world will say we have it coming.  This was a disaster brought down on our service from some of the most vile excuses for human beings that this nation's military has ever known.

Quoted: I said it before and I will say it again. My main problem with this whole situation is that they documented it. I know stuff like this goes on.  I don't condone it but I do accept it.  I have a really hard time getting emotionally worked up and upset over what those Iraqi's suffered. Sgtar15

This is more or less how I feel. At first I thought this was going to bring us more troubles in regards to bombings. However, not to condone it, I've heard that the insurgents are scared as hell right now. Perhaps it was a trade off. Catch hell for doing those things but at the same time send a message that we are superior to them.

I keep hearing that these guys don't respect kindness and that they think it shows weakness. But seeing those pictures has put fear into them. My question is, and I haven't followed it, how are things going in Fallujah and Najaf? If it has calmed down, did these pictures have anything to do with it?

Despite whatever the results, I still don't like it and think they were stupid for 1) doing it 2) taking pictures of it 3) letting the pictures get out. All in all, I'd prefer what Sun Tzu has to say:

...when you capture an enemy soldier you should not mistreat him. Dead, he would be of no use to you but if he is alive and healthy, you can put him to work. ---Sun Tzu: The Art of War

I know we aren't talking about beating them to death, but perhaps by treating them with respect, and showing some compassion for them, later on they can go out and inform others we aren't such the bad guys Usama bin Laden and others have made us out to be. Basically, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar attitude. Hell, I really don't know.

Someone a couple of days ago posted that it was too early to come to a decision on this. I think that's a good point. Rumsfeld said that there are much worse photos and videos out there that could potentially surface. Also I fear that we are gonig to hear that some of the captives that were tortured/tormeneted/whatever were either common criminals or innocents, I could be wrong, time will tell.

After just hearing the latest news, I retract my post in this thread. I won't go into any detail of how it should be done, just say for every 1 American they execute, response should be 10 fold in kind. If you want to know how I would do it, IM me.

I dunno pictures of attack dogs lunging at naked prisoners and photos of the prisoner bleeding on the ground with vicious bite wounds hardly seems like a frat house prank.  If you think it is, you're welcome to come over to my frat house any time and I'll be happy to arrange such a session for you.  It is becoming increasingly clear that many of these people were guilty of nothing, evidenced by the fact that the vast majority were released with no charges filed against them.  So ask yourself, how would you feel if say some federal agency came into your neighborhood, rounded up every man, took them off to an undisclosed location, refused to tell your family where you were and subjected you to the things these prisoners went through only to be released months later with the excuse it was meant to fight terrorism.  Wrap a towel around their heads and its acceptable treatment, do it to anybody here and its a government needing to be overthrown because it has turned tyranical?

I'm all for being tough under the right circumstances.  I think you would be hard pressed to say that every one of the prisoners who suffered this abuse had it coming, and it is certainly unreasonable to hold them accountable for what terrorists have done to an American that they had no involvement in.  Seriously, read some of the reports that are coming out and try to justify it.