Quote:

Dave said:
But at the end of the day I think it would be more irresponsible not to have aired the report, and not allowed the American people to take the military to task over it. The army is responsible to the people, after all, and the people need to know what the army (or elements of it) are doing over there. The military cannot be allowed to run around doing this sort of thing unchecked, or in secret. Transparency in government is a cornerstone of a free society. This report was part of that process of transparency, though the exercise of a free press.




I know I'm taking your statement out of context here, but bare with me a moment. Why doesn't the media do stories about what the US is doing over there? Yeah, here is a sensational story of US officers torturing prisoners. Great. That gets ratings. But, it looks very bad for our media, and our society, when they take the time to report these inexcusable actions, but have not taken the time to report, with equal detail, the good things the US has done since the beginning of the occupation.

And that's another thing, T-Dave. Sure, the occupation isn't a good thing, but what was the US supposed to do, take out Sadam and leave the country to the animals who are commiting constant acts of terror? Would it have been responsible for the US to remove a government, no matter how evil it was, and then just leave, knowing that many innocent, peace loving Iraqis, who suffered greatly under Sadam, would have been ruled by another, most likely worse regime, probably in the form of another Taliban? If we are above that, and I hope we are, we could not just leave. The US must stay to clean up the mess. The hope is that when the US leaves, it will be turning over the nation to a peace loving democracy. Is that a bad thing?

I guess what I'm saying is that, while the media had an obligation to report the story, it failed us in the way it was done. I am also saying shame on those who would rather the US just up and leave. Right now, there is hope for Iraq. If the US leaves before Iraq is ready, and there is a set date (although I don't know that Iraq will be ready), many good people will be subjugated to yet another evil dictatorship of some form. And then the question becomes what was the point of the US going in in the first place?

I don't know that I can answer that question.

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