It is hard to imagine images more damaging than those that came out Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison [and I have no intention of publishing any], the fact that we did nothing after the torture became confirmed spoke even greater volumes.
Now Der Spiegel is in possession of 4000 more photographs from Afghanistan
They fear that the pictures could be even more damaging as they show the aftermath of the deliberate murders of Afghan civilians by a rogue US Stryker tank unit that operated in the southern province of Kandahar last year.
Some of the activities of the self-styled "kill team" are already public, with 12 men currently on trial in Seattle for their role in the killing of three civilians.
Last night many organisations employing foreign staff, including the United Nations, ordered their staff into a "lockdown", banning all movements around Kabul and requiring people to remain in their compounds.
One security manager for the US company DynCorp sent an email to clients warning that publication of the photos was likely "to incite the local population" as the "severity of the incidents to be revealed are graphic and extreme".
What with the abusive treatment of Bradley E. Manning for leaking a video showing such action we now have potentially a much more damaging scenario.
We still have
Guantanamo Prison open with all its sordid history hidden from view.
Bagram Prison with allegations of torture.
Hopefully we have ceased the Extraordinary Rendition program, yet we failed to hold those responsible to account.
I don't know about you but I am deeply saddened every time my country is dragged through the mud. I am sickened every time "collateral damage" is used to somehow make civilian deaths appear more acceptable.
The "war on terror" appears to have no exit strategy nor long term objectives, we just keep right on doing the same things. In the meantime we appear to be rolling back the very democratic processes we so fondly disseminate.
We hire mercenaries to do our dirty work, we have "rogue" units committing atrocities and put in place corrupt governments, how this winning "hearts and minds" and how is this increasing our national security.
Yet here we are again at the beginning of another "action" with two festering wounds still seeping, and a history of broken promises.
We desperately need to change our strategy [if indeed there is one] as we cannot afford the lives we shed, the money we spend, and the ill feeling we generate any longer. I'm sure we can maintain our access to resources by a different tactic and I am positive we can insure our own security by intelligent rather than bellicose means.
I apologize for being anti-war/ anti-violence however history shows that we have often ended up fighting wars of our own making. There must be a better way if not we are doomed in the long run to failure.
Updated by LaFeminista at Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 04:36 PM CET
The US Army has apologised for graphic photographs of US soldiers grinning over the corpses of Afghan civilians they had allegedly killed.
The photos published by Germany's Der Spiegel magazine were said to be among many seized by US Army investigators.
An army statement said the photographs were "repugnant" but were already being used as evidence in a court martial.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/...