Now, Now Bill you silly boy.

Surely you must recall that all of those abuses you mentioned were committed by left wing governments whose goal was the creation of perfect states with no inequaility that would be a workers paridise.

Are you forgetting the famous dictum of Lenin (The Sermon on the Mount for the leftist) that "you can't make an omlette without breaking a few eggs?"

It is really a shame what happend to those Ukrainians in the '30s, those professionals forced to become peasant laborers in Pol Pot's Cambodia, those Tutsis macheted in Rwanda, and those starving people eating tree bark in North Korea, but all of these things MUST be done in order to build a better society for them (or at least for their great, great, great grandchildren)

Just remember that since they are by their own definition a force for the betterment of mankind leftist governments may have to do one or two things that may be a tad distasteful. But keep in mind the goal is to eliminated the most reprehensible nation in the history of humanity, the United States of AmeriKa.

Way to go Amnesty International, keep reporting on those prison atrocities committed by a handful of American MP's. That is the real crime!

Actually, Amnesty International does cover Sudan, and anything else they can find. You might want to check out their web site sometime.

I'm as annoyed as anybody by the over-the-top language used to denounce US actions, but there is more than a shred of truth to the allegations, and there's one other simple fact.

We should know better.

The world looks to the US as an example to follow, so the Abu Graib madness is a big letdown for a lot of people.

You're also mistaken to believe that this is all about Abu Graib. In fact, the worry is that the "war on terror" has been used as a cover by many governments to do shameful acts with either the backing of or at least without the interference of the US government.

Read about the 7 Pakistanis killed in Madagascar, for instance. Or read about our good friends in Uzbekistan, whom we gave $500M last year to help their war on terror. If you'd like, I can send you a link to a man who was boiled alive in one of their prisons.

Or let's talk about our "friends" in the Northern Alliance. The atrocities commited there are terrible.

The list goes on and on.

Why aren't we intervening in those other parts of the world as we are for the people of Iraq? Is their threshold for action too low?

I don't know all the reasons, but it does hurt our credibility when we talk about liberating Iraq while ignoring (and in some cases, supporting) similar regimes elsewhere. But the answer isn't to ignore Iraq, too, but instead to focus attention other places, too.

Michael, we do know better. That's why the people who abused those prisoners are being punished. The same cannot be said in the other cases noted.

The people who did that are being punished now that it's exposed. The Red Cross told the US long ago of what was going on there and was ignored until the pictures surfaced.

Bill, do I understand you right that you are calling for our country to invade the Sudan? How can we stand by when this happens?

"The Red Cross told the US long ago of what was going on there and was ignored until the pictures surfaced."

The hell it was ignored. The events were reported up the chain of command in November, and the Army commenced an investigation in January.

The media circus only began when the family of one of the thugs who did the deeds, leaked the trophy photos taken by their darling relative to the press.

There's plenty of difference between a media circus driven by hatred of the Administration, and a rational investigation of the thuggery by the Army driven by the UCMJ. Posturing accusers in front of cameras don't carry any more moral authority than Robert Mugabe.

And what's this drivel about "we" should know better? Speak for yourself. The rest of us already do know better, and will be happy to see those thugs sent up for a long stretch.

What Insufficiently Sensitive said. As Rumsfeld noted, reports of possible abuse had been issued as a matter of routine, and the media promptly ignored them. The millitary investigation had been underway for months before the pictures were leaked. And some of them apparently liked the pictures so much they went out and found some fake ones to print, too. There's no coverup here, only the usual media sensationalism and moral posturing.

I guess you don't subscribe to the Wall Street Journal. It's nice that the investigation was underway for "months". The Red Cross had reported this over a year ago. It was ignored until it no longer could be.

Look, there's plenty of evidence that the abuse of the prisoners was- how to put this nicely- condoned by those above in an effort to make people talk. When it was exposed, suddenly there was an investigation already happening, etc.

Nothing would have happened had it not been exposed.

The US knows better than to be doing this sort of stuff. We need to get beyond the pregnant dumb girl and start throwing the real culprits in jail.

Why aren't we intervening in those other parts of the world as we are for the people of Iraq? Is their threshold for action too low?

Hell, that's a good idea. But first we need to cut Welfare. Entirly. Kill it, gut it, and get rid of it. Next up is the National Endowment for the Arts. Gone.

In fact, let's just get rid of most of the social programs that the USA currently has. And why do all this, you ask?

Because in order to follow the left's current idiotic spew (We need to do this in other countries!) we'd need at least ten more Divisions of Army troops. More Air Force fighter wings as well. The Marines would need more Jarheads, and the Navy would need more ships for coastal support. All in all, we would need to at least triple our current active duty troops strength.

Would that be fine with you, SemiPundit? In order to get our troops strength up to those levels, many of the precious social programs would have to meet their timely demise. Otherwise, we just won't have the money. Do you want that? Or shall we just allow you to quietly drop that whole argument for what it is: A large pile of bullshit that you whip out when you don't have anything else to fling.

I guess you don't subscribe to the Wall Street Journal. It's nice that the investigation was underway for "months". The Red Cross had reported this over a year ago. It was ignored until it no longer could be.

Which is why three general officers have been relieved of command, one troop is in Ft. Leavenworth as we speak, and the court martials are still ongoing, right? I mean, the Army didn't do shit, right? They just sat on their hands and didn't do anthing like punishing the unit commanders and putting people in jail, right?

Maybe if the Left weren't using Abu Ghraib as a way to paint the entire military as a bunch of sadistic criminals, I would listen to people when they complain about it. But when the media is printing fake photos in an effort to slander this man's Army, when the only thing the left seems to be able to shriek from it's tortured vocal chords are "ABU GHRAIB! ABU GHRAIB!", pardon me for being a bit flippant about your supposed "concern".

We ARE intervening in the Sudan.

http://www.sudan.net/news/posted/8583.html

While we have a long way to go to stop the killing, raping and rampant slave trade in Sudan, the situation is NOT under Bush's radar.

You know, instead of wailing about reparations, maybe some African-American "leaders" could step up to plate and work with Bush to stop the CURRENT enslavement of black Africans.

Maybe the current US role in the Sudan will be reported on by the media. Oh wait, that doesn't play into the mad-cowboy/devil/warmonger image of President Bush. Now, if there was actually a way to blame the decades-long civil war ON Bush, maybe it would get some airplay....