| Lynndie England Was Found Guilty of Iraqi Prisoner Abuse
AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez | Monday, Lynndie England was found guilty of Iraqi prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison. She was sentenced to 3 years in prison. Please! Give me a break! Is there something wrong with this picture? You take a National Guard type who is as emotionally sophisticated as a tree, put her in a position to screw up, along with others without training and supervision; and, when she messes up, you zap her. Talk about making the military look bad-The black eye is on the military at the highest levels.
One of the reasons that the military is usually so effective is the chain of command. In this case, the first question that should be asked is where was the chain of command? Private England had a squad leader, a platoon sergeant, a first sergeant, a platoon leader: Where were these people? I can tell you. They were asleep at the wheel.
In one sense, she is hardly responsible. She is not smart enough to be responsible! And, to convict her and send her to prison is a gross injustice and it ought to make military people ashamed. The entire chain of command is at fault and yet they are unscathed. I am appalled. KT
Related Article: Soldiers Trying To Do The Right Thing
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__________WILL IRAQ EVER END!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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AFP/File/Liu Jin
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I continue to be perplexed about Iraq and we can put any view we want on it, i. e., it is the media's fault in not giving us the real facts, etc., but on every hand it appears to be mismanaged. And, I see no way out short of simply leaving. As one of your writers says, Iraqnam. And, no amount of spin is going to make it turn out differently. Hoping that things are going to work out OK is not a strategy.
When the war started, I thought, (like many of you, I'm sure) "Wow, for hundreds of years, nobody's been able to bring peace to the Mideast, what makes us think we can!" Well... JHL
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| __________VIETNAM IS NOT IRAQ
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AFP/File/Hoang Dinh Nam
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Simply stated in a very naive way, the Vietnamese are not Iraqis; and, I think, the basic difference without a long treatise is Islam. Vietnam had many threads running through it: nationalism being the most prevalent.
Here's a little interesting example of the difference that speaks volumes in a small and simplistic way. A few days ago, I'm out running literally on the streets of San Francisco. Great town to run as a motto always is: I've never seen a hill I didn't love. Anyway, I run to get a haircut, but there were too many waiting; I run up to Geary about ten blocks away where I see a sign that says haircuts for $12. I go in and this Vietnamese woman cuts my hair. We start talking.
She tells me about her family, etc. and how she was 8 years old in Saigon when I was there. I philosophize a little about Vietnam being a sorry war. She listens. We chat some more. She finishes. Fair haircut-When you keep your hair cut short, it's less of a hassle.
Anyway, I start to leave and she follows me out. She says something like, "I want to thank you for what you did for my country."
"You're welcome," thinking to myself, I don't have a clue what she means.
I start to leave again and she says, "I don't think you understand. If we had never had the war, I would never have been able to come to America with my family. I've been back to visit Vietnam several times; but, the last time I was there, I told my husband that Vietnam is no longer our home." We are now Americans. I love America and praise Buddha every day for my good fortune. No, the Vietnamese are not Iraqis.
God bless America. JHL
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| September 27 2005 Quotes of the Day
 It was once said that the moral test of government is how the government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the shadows of life-the sick, the needy, and the handicapped.
Hubert Humphrey,speech(1977)
The worst government is the most moral. One composed of cynics is often very tolerant and humane. But when fanatics are on top, there is no limit to oppression.
HL Mencken-Minority Report: HK Mencken's notebooks.
A little government and a little luck are necessary in life, but only a fool trusts either of them.
PJ O'ROURKE quoted in Quote Magazine
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