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Uh-Oh Time For Bush
Well, the inevitable has happened.
The abuses in the Iraqi prisons had not only been authorized, but even ordered by the Pentagon and/or the CIA and even by private contractors.
What I personally don't understand is how the government or some body within it ever believed they could cover it up.
Yesterday on Dutch television was a woman who had lived with an Iraqi family for months. And for months the rumors had been flying around about this behaviour in the prison Saddam used to do exactly the same things (and much worse, let's not forget that).
She told the Iraqi from the beginning were filled with horror and disbelief when they heard that prison was going to be used again.
She also told the reaction of "her family" when they first saw the pictures which are now 24/7 on Arab TV. Suffice it to say it wasn't pretty when she told about it in tears herself.
Rumsfeld plainly admitted there were going to be more (as it now seems much more) pictures surfacing. And with every picture showed on Arab tv, the for the Iraqis already rather hollow concept of freedom is emptied even further.
Although it aches me to say it, the Iraqi situation is running rapidly out of control (as is the Afghan situation, although nobody seems to notice or care).
I remember one commentator in the beginning of the Iraq war commenting on the bold strategy Bush was taking by bringing freedom, democracy and with it stability to the Middle East. Although I do not for one second believe that that was his (at least his only) motive, he is now losing grip of the situation and is unable to achieve just that, resulting in an even more volatile powderkeg in that region.
Sooner or later, the terrorists will start attacking just were it will hurt the Americans most: the oil fields and production centers. And the Americans already are having serious problems getting the troops needed for their operations, and will be quite unable to send more. Sure, Bush will probably get his $25bn extra funding, and sure, more troops will arrive, but the price will be the US budget deficit rising even more (resulting in a falling dollar again and weakening the economy) and very importantly of course public opinion.
