Scandal provokes fresh disgust among America's allies in Iraq

[seemslikeadream]

WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer
Monday, May 10, 2004


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(05-10) 10:12 PDT VIENNA, Austria (AP) --

America's allies in Iraq, voicing disgust at abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. troops, demanded Monday that the Pentagon track down, put on trial and punish those responsible.

The scandal threatened to further unravel the unity and resolve of a coalition already severely tested by escalating bloodshed and last month's pullout of troops by Spain.

"The Americans were pigs," said Melinda Agoston, 21, a sales clerk in Romania, which has about 700 soldiers in Iraq. "Our Romanians should come home, since it's an endless war."

Some of the fiercest criticism came from Portugal, which has 128 police officers in Iraq. Prime Minister Jose Durao Barroso gave no indication his government would change its policy, but denounced abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison as "vile, degrading, repugnant and revolting."


more
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/05/10/international1312EDT0584.DTL

[saigon68]

1. vile, degrading, repugnant and revolting." its all that and MORE !!!

WAR CRIMES WITH THE DOGS

[cspiguy]

2. like I'm sure the spanish, romanian, and portugese jails back home are

wonderful places. Especially for basques.

[Spazito]

3. Do you have a link for this?

Pretty sad when all that can be said is: yeah, but they do it too.

[Just Me]

9. Yup, I see redundancy killing human quality and hope operating.

This type of "comparison" test always seems to be proferred for purposes of justifying wrongdoings rather than for purposes of inspiring the best humanity offers.

Why?

[DulceDecorum]

5. Do they have nekkid wimmen

cavorting?

[peacetalksforall]

7. That's really illogical. There is a huge difference.

They're not hypocrites. They don't go around boasting, bragging, SHOUTING that they are superior to everyone else on the earth.

We shove democracy down other peoples throats. We use payola to get them to comply, especially if there is a political war going on with some neighboring country and especially when we're pushing regime change and especially by corporate-military-intelligence-CIA assassination. Need an example?

They don't claim to be pure and superior.

It's very plain and simple. Really.

I can't abide that reason - But Momma, he did it too! with whining

That pushes a button with me.

We're the ones who tell everyone about our fabulous judicial system and our wonderful Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Then an inhuman in a very important position in our country tells the world that we are not going to abide by the Geneva Convention and now, over the weekend, says we will.

Disgusting!

[Piperay]

8. That's irrelevant because

the US 'claimed' that they were saving Iraqis from the kind of abuse that Saddam inflicted on them. US was supposed to be better than this.

[DulceDecorum]

4. Don't suffer in silence

when you see a country's leaders or politicians act in a despicable manner. Cowards abound. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a symbolic slap on the snout like sending them a white feather is worth a lot of pictures. Send them a message they won't easily misunderstand.
http://www.sendwhitefeather.com/

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

is trying to reach out to its allies.

[seemslikeadream]

6. History of The White Feather

American Heritage® Dictionary: White Feather - noun. A sign of cowardice.

The white feather as a symbol of cowardice most directly traces back to the late seventeenth/early 18th century English pastime of gamecock fighting. It was widely believed that a fighting gamecock with a white tail feather was a poor fighter who lacked fighting spirit and would flee from a fight, thus "showing the feather" and in the process suffering the humiliation of being pecked and scratched from behind by his opponent.

By the mid-19th century, among the English upper class to send a white feather was to convey contempt and cut dead socially the recipient. Usually sent attached to the calling card of the sender, to send a white feather was the ultimate insult against a man's courage and receipt of the white feather was a social humiliation beyond bearing. Many a duel resulted from the delivery of a white feather. Conversely, to show fear or behave in a cowardly manner during a duel was a certain route to receiving a white feather.

Probably the most famous reference to the white feather is A.E.W. Mason's classic book, The Four Feathers. Published in 1902 and set in the British war in the Sudan in 1866, the book tells the story of Harry Faversham, an idealistic young British officer from a military family who resigns from the army and receives four white feathers, three from his fellow officers (and former best friends) and one from his fiancée. The book tells the story of how he risks his life to prove he is not a coward and get the four feathers taken back by their givers.

As recently as World War I, English women were encouraged to hand out white feathers to men who appeared to be slackers safe at home in England while the army was engaged in the deadly trench fighting in France.
http://www.sendwhitefeather.com/history.htm