Our Abu Ghraib "Heroes". The Associated Press reported today:

Army Spc. Charles Graner Jr., convicted of mistreating Iraqis at Abu Ghraib prison, took the stand for the first time Saturday and said he had been ordered to abuse detainees. * * *

Graner, the suspected ringleader of the abuse, described himself as a by-the-book prison guard corrupted by superiors who ordered him to physically mistreat and sexually humiliate detainees. * * *

His mother, Irma Graner, testifying in the sentencing phase, described him as a kind and gentle man who faithfully served his country.

"He is not the monster he's made out to be," she said quietly. "In my eyes he'll always be a hero."

That is precisely the problem.
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"Our boys" (and now, also, military girls) can do no wrong, because we are good and just and wise, and God is on our side. So here we are, days after it was announced that not only have we been unable to find any Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq but also that Saddam had in fact complied with the United Nations' demand that he end all programs to develop them — but there is no mass revulsion by the American people, and no sign that we are prepared to accept the heavy moral judgment that that revelation imposes.
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The entire justification for invading and massively devastating a country 6,000 miles from the nearest part of the U.S., killing uncounted tens of thousands of Iraqis and subjecting some of them to vicious, degrading, sado-masochistic abuse (from which at least one prisoner DIED) turns out to be a fraud, yet we're not furious. 'Oh, it was an honest mistake. Mistakes happen.' So what if 100,000 Iraqis have died and more are killed every day in the chaos we caused. That doesn't mean our soldiers aren't heroes. Yes, it does.
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Bush and the American people are still pretending that this vast crime against humanity was justified and worth doing. That no matter the ongoing violence, terrorism, and economic hardship we have brought upon people who never attacked us, "Iraq is better off" now than before we invaded, because we have ousted Saddam Hussein. Never mind that none of the devastation we did is Saddam's fault. He didn't bomb Iraq's power plants, electric-generating stations, water-treatment plants, schools, hospitals, private homes, and on, and on. We did. Our "heroes" did.
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Much of the damage our "heroes" did has still not been repaired, and some can never be repaired. Some harms, like dead sons and mothers, can never be undone. Some things, like family fotos and heirlooms destroyed, can never be replaced. For that matter, our reputation as a decent, civilized people who never attack anyone who hasn't attacked us, can never be restored. That's gone. Forever.
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Now, it would seem, we are to ignore the fact that the nitemare we have brought to the people of Iraq was our fault, not Saddam's. We are not even to think that the chaos in Iraq (a formerly prosperous and well-ordered society), the thousands of deaths from terrorists that the Iraqi people have suffered and continue to suffer could not have happened if we had just left Saddam in power. "Oops. My bad." doesn't cover it.
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Our "fighting men and women" are still "heroes", and tens of millions of twisted-ribbon magnets on cars tell us we must "Support Our Troops". No. They're not heroes. They deserve no support in their continuing crimes against Iraq. They have no business being there, and never did. They aren't protecting anyone, as we can plainly see from the dozens — or hundreds — of Iraqis being killed every week, including high government officials and their bodyguards. Why are we there?
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The people of Germany were extremely, jump-up-and-down proud of their brave fighting men — their heroes — who crushed Poland in less than 40 days. That is, they were proud, at the time. They're not so proud now.
- posted by L. Craig Schoonmaker @ 5:32 PM