Subj : Re: BSG
To   : alt.tv.farscape
From : John Iwaniszek
Date : Tue Sep 27 2005 12:26:43

From Newsgroup: alt.tv.farscape

TNW7Z7Z7Z12345 wrote:

> Ken McElhaney wrote: 
>> John I wrote:
>  
>>> In other news, when I was watching 210, I was struck by the subtext
>>> surrounding the different ways the Fascist side treated their
>>> prisoner, versus the way that Galactica treated hers.  It seemed
>>> remarkably coincidental with the new revalations about the Abu
>>> Ghraib atrocities: http://tinyurl.com/8ko7r 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> From the HRW report (http://hrw.org/reports/2005/us0905/):
>>> 
>>> "....Detainees at FOB Mercury were held in so-called "PUC
>>> tents"....The torture of detainees reportedly was so widespread and
>>> accepted that it became a means of stress relief for soldiers.
>>> Soldiers said they felt welcome to come to the PUC tent on their
>>> off-hours to "Fuck a PUC" or "Smoke a PUC." "Fucking a PUC" referred
>>> to beating a detainee, while "Smoking a PUC" referred to forced
>>> physical exertion sometimes to the point of unconsciousness." 
>> 
>> Indeed, the crimes committed by the guards at Abu Graib are serious
>> and should be delt with severely.  As for the total scope of what
>> they did compared to what Saddam did to his people;
>> http://www.fas.org/news/iraq/2000/09/iraq-000918.htm 
>> 
>> ..is like comparing a drop of water to the Atlantic Ocean.
>> Ken
> 
> 
> It's one thing to stack up Saddam's crimes against the war's civilian
> casualties.  [Although time will tell how the Iraqis ultimately
> perceive the cost-benefit ratio, given how incompetently we've handled
> things.] 
> 
> But whatever Saddam did has no relation whatsoever to our treatment of
> prisoners of war.
> 
> All we've done with regard to POWs is severely damaged ourselves --
> our ability to sanction other countries for mistreating prisoners and
> our ability to object if any of our own soldiers are taken prisoner in
> some future war.
> 
> Be sure to read the URL John posted.  http://tinyurl.com/8ko7r. It is
> now obvious that this goes way beyond Abu Graib - that it was
> widespread and that the military is still trying to cover it up.
> 
> 

It was obvious before the report.  It was obvious when the movement of 
Gen Miller from Gitmo to Iraq coincided with the increase in abuses and 
It was obvious when the self-erving Gonzales memo declaring torture as a 
legal activity was released.

.