>...and hoods. What is it with the fucking hoods? This is new, right?
>Could it be that there has been enough collective progress that we
>cannot treat people like objects unless we hide their faces/eyes? Or
>is this just the most positive spin that can be put on this?
That's an interesting idea which probably has a lot in it. The hoods are in place so the guards don't have to confront the humanity of the people they are torturing. They don't get a chance to see them as human, you need a face to be perceived as a fellow human being and to evoke solidarity in others.
>What is it with the hoods? And if the occupiers are actually
>revolted by what has happened, why don't they free those prisoners?
>....I guess this is the vicious circle of, well, evil: if you let
>the prisoners go, they'll tell everyone what happened; if you don't
>let them go, then you sink deeper into it. Extraordinary how iconic
>these pictures are turning out to be -- how they perfectly represent
>every element of this obscenity.
Yes, but look at the bright side, those images have cut deep. It is encouraging that, at least when confronted with incontrovertible proof, there is this revulsion. I mean, the reaction up until now has been denial. Even though it was always quite clear that people were being tortured systematically. People generally wouldn't face up to it.
I'm reading that as meaning that torture really is repugnant to Americans. This is a great relief to me, I had (naturally) come to the conclusion that Americans were OK with it. The worst that can be said now is that Americans are only OK with it so long as there is plausible denial, kind of like the Germans with the Holocaust.
So Americans are a bit like puppies, the world just needs to rub their noses in it to stop them crapping all over the carpet. Maybe. And young American soldiers can't be trusted to be concentration camp guards if they are allowed to see the faces of those they hold captive. That is somewhat encouraging too, if you think about it.
Obviously it would be better if people, especially Americans, were capable of abstract thought and deductive reasoning, so that there was no need to paint a picture. But its a start.
Bill bartlett Bracknell tas