You’ve heard the stories of U.S. troops and civilians abusing Iraqi prisoners. If not, you can hear it directly from one of the prisoners who allegedly appears in the photos now circulated around the world (see the video links on the CNN page). Compare that with how the American hostage who recently escaped his captors in Iraq was treated by them .
Former American hostage Thomas Hamill, who was shot when he was abducted in Iraq, was treated for the wound and regularly received food during his three weeks in captivity, a U.S. military doctor said Tuesday.
Hamill, who escaped his captors Sunday in a daring run to freedom, has lost a few pounds but feels “in generally good health,” said Maj. Kerry Jepsen, a surgeon treating Hamill at a U.S. military hospital in Germany where the ex-captive arrived Monday.
I’m going to try to add a voice of caution to your rhetoric. Before I begin that, I have to add some statements, so that my general beliefs are not misconstrued: I am opposed to the war in Iraq. I am angered by the treatment of Iraqi prisoners in US military jails. Now, with that being said…
You can compare and contrast individual cases, but it is bad social science to take individual cases and turn them into broad systemic generalizations. There are too many variables involved, too many factors to consider.
As someone who is opposed to the war, I’m also opposed to simplictic generalizations that make the Iraqis a bunch of noble Robin Hoods, or make the American troops a terrible bunch of warmongering rabble. There is absolutely no defense for what the American troops have done with their prisoners, but you can’t do an honest, legitimate compare and contrast with one escaped prisoner. What about the Italian hostage who was executed? How does that conflict with your compare/contrast?
I’m looking at this not from a peace/war standpoint, but a social scientist standpoint. I can tell you from that perspective that facts don’t always stand for themselves.