Quote: britneyspearsatemyshorts said: i just guess i dislike comments comparing the stuff we've seen with what sadaam has done. there are several notable differences one saddams abuses were state sanctioned and so far there is no proof this came from higher up then mid level commanders. also what we've seen so far is very brutal and humiliating but not on par with dipping people alive in acid and cutting off heads and other inhuman practices by saddam and the baath party. granted there will prolly be some very brutal stuff to come out but i dont think its systematic govt policy but misguided and in some cases rascist soldiers.
My gut reaction is the same. I can't see Bush, or even any senior administration official, signing a secret order telling the miliatry to torture prisoners. Even Rumsfeld, a dodgy man with his own agenda, is not going to stick his neck out and tell soldiers to torture prisoners.
Its pretty fucked, though, that these soldiers say they were told by their commanding officers to do this stuff. To the Iraqis, it looks like its systemic. Troops are supposed to obey orders. Orders run from the top down. I mean, even to me, it looks systemic, but ordered by a senior general or spy.
I can see why comparisons to Saddam's regime rankles fair minded Americans. The very best thing IMHO about the US is that you guys hold yourselves to a higher moral standard than the bastards who run countries like the Sudan, Libya, pre-invasion Iraq etc. Everyone knows that Saddam tortured people, and no one expects the US to do the same thing. It means the fall is so much bigger when torture by US troops does happen, even a lesser degree of torture.
