Editorial: true courage of a soldier

The soldier who turned in photographs of his colleagues torturing Iraqi
prisoners demonstrated true courage. He took no small risk in speaking
his conscience, as there are many who would not want these photos
released. Patriotism is speaking out and holding your country accountable
to the highest possible standards, not concealing and making excuses for
its flaws.

General Kimmit and President Bush have done our country no favors in
dismissing these acts as isolated and carried out by a few people. Since
the beginning of this war and occupation, human rights organizations have
documented a disturbing pattern of U.S. military human rights abuses
against Iraqi citizens—including physical and psychological torture and
sexual abuse. These acts occur in the prison camps, during nighttime
house raids, at checkpoints, and in the streets. Top Coalition officials
our organization has met with deny that international human rights
standards apply to them. With minimal human rights training for soldiers
and dysfunctional accountability mechanisms, the system guarantees these
abuses will continue.

These acts are also not isolated from the recent uprising that is killing
so many of our troops. Sexual abuse of prisoners was a large part of the
public discourse in the days prior to the uprising. Iraqi families are
terrified that the victims of these acts are their loved ones. This fuels
support for the resistance, which will continue to send home more soldiers
dead or wounded.

I encourage North Iowans to read reports by Amnesty International, Human
Rights Watch, and Christian Peacemaker Teams. Rather than liberating
Iraq, our administration has humiliated and oppressed its people. These
policies do not support our troops or create security for our nation. We
need to start evaluating our war on terrorism by the measure of human
rights. Our ignorance is costing us ever more American lives.

--
Le Anne Clausen