The scandal over the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib appears to be subsiding in Washington. In a ritual as old as the republic, scapegoats have been offered up by the administration and accepted by the Congress. For the military, however, the message and true meaning of the scandal could not be more clear: no more pictures.
The federal government, and particularly the military, has long understood the impact of photographs. Pictures represent a dangerous element in a world that remains largely visual. They are hard to spin or deny. Most importantly, such images are instantly credible for a viewer. (Recall the naked Iraqi prisoner on a leash.)
Knowing the dangers of such images, the federal government for decades has rejected calls for videotaping interrogations — a practice followed by some states. Yet the government often uses videotape to record confessions, but not the interrogations that lead to them. As a result, any accusations of abuse during an interrogation is the word of the suspect against that of a law enforcement officer.
Day after day, lawmakers expressed outrage as the facts of Abu Ghraib came to light. Yet if members of Congress were serious about reform, the problem would not be the pictures from the Iraqi prison, but the absence of pictures in abuse cases within their own districts.
(more)
<
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-06-21-turley_x.htm>
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
