The following is a post from the 37 signals weblog called It’s good that you’re upset found via plasticbag.org
The world is rightfully disgusted by the treatment of some Iraqi prisoners, but the fact that the world is outraged is a good sign that America is still held to a higher standard. The Arab street remained mostly quiet when Saddam tortured for three decades or when American soldiers were dragged through the streets and hung to dangle in public a few weeks back. And how many leaders in the Arab world will be outraged that one of their own ruthlessly beheaded an American contractor after forcing him to name his parents and his siblings (and don’t forget about Daniel Pearl who had to admit he was a Jew before his head was cut off)? The world barely gave notice to the Taliban’s systematic and despicable treatment of women in Afghanistan or the destruction of ancient works of irreplaceable art and culture. The world was barely interested in stopping the carnage in Bosnia until over a half-million were killed (and then the UN still didn’t want to get involved). The world is still barely affected by the genocide taking place right now in Africa. But, when the US humiliates some Iraqi prisoners, people are outraged and are calling for resignations at the highest levels of our government. And that’s a good sign for America. We’re held up to a higher standard and it’s something we should be proud of. Not the vile treatment, of course, but the world’s response. We’re in trouble when people stop caring about how we act as a nation.
I don’t know whether America is held to a higher standard I tend to the opinion that it isn’t but that this belief that it is is born out of the American Superiority Complex. I think America truly did change after 9/11 but rather than move on it fell back to the position it had in the Fifties and Sixties before Vietnam and Watergate. I think the Bush Administration imagines itself to be in some Manichaean conflict against evil and is itself incapable of doing wrong.
The beheading of Nick Berg was horrific and was condemned by people all round the world including those in the Middle East as were the actions of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The torture of Iraqi prisoners though blamed upon a few bad apples does seem to have been if not directed from the top then at least permitted. The incidents of torture are not restricted to Iraq either but have been reported in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay the difference being is that we have photographic evidence of the abuse in this case. The outrage from the world is not for a single incident but for the US government policy, which has been exposed to be that of using any tactic to get the result wanted.
