60 Minutes recently broadcast photographs of American soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners. Should Mr. Rumsfeld resign for these abuses?
America is one of the few countries who are supposed to abide by the Geneva Convention when it comes to prisoners of war. The recent photographs and videos seem to indicate that the United States may say that America abides by the convention, but in reality that they do not. There is an old addage that pictures speak louder than words. It would seem that the United States has been saying they treat prisoners well, but the pictures tell another story. It was only after the 60 Minutes broadcast that the administration took action in this case. The Congressional hearings that followed tell another story. The administration knew about abuses as far back as November of last year. What does that tell the American people as well as the rest of the world? How can the United States go to China and ask about human rights violations when there is clear evidence that we violated those same rights? Many of the Muslim world accuse the United States of trying to eliminate their religion and their people. These abuses are further evidence to support their claim.
What is the administration doing to counter these beliefs? In my opinion, it does not look like too much. They are going to prosecute low level soldiers, who may have been ordered to treat these HUMAN beings in this manner. The soldiers should be prosecuted, but what about their superiors and the military intelligence officers at the facilities? During Nuremburg, the United States went from the bottom to the top. Are our commanders above the law? I think many average people in the United States are decent hard working people who would not tolerate this form of abuse for any prisoner, let alone an average soldier from a foreign army or a civilian detainee.
I think that Americans should demand Mr. Rumsfeld's resignation and show the world that we will not tolerate human rights abuses in any form. And to go one step further, anyone in the Bush administration that knew about the abuse should be brought to justice. This is the only way to show the world, and esecially the Muslims that we do play by the rules. Mr. Rumsfeld must go!
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