Silent Truth, Loud Propaganda

On January 14, 2005 Specialist Charles Graner, a guard at Abu Ghraib Prison, was pronounced guilty of numerous charges relating to the infamous prisoner abuse case that was named after the prison. The next day he was sentenced to ten years in federal prison.

In the aftermath of its investigation the Department of Defense removed seventeen soldiers and officers from duty. In addition seven soldiers were charged with dereliction of duty, maltreatment, aggravated assault, and battery. Between May 2004 and September 2005, seven soldiers were convicted in courts-martial (this is the proper plural spelling), sentenced to federal prison time and dishonorably discharged from service. The commanding officer at the prison, Brig. General Janis Karpinski, was demoted to the rank of colonel on May 5, 2005. We'll come back to this subject, but for now lets examine a related topic...

Tom Fox joined Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) in Iraq to help Iraqi civilians and to campaign on the behalf of insurgents held in the custody of the US military and Iraqi government. In March of 2005 he wrote a statement of conviction that addressed the risk of being taken hostage by insurgents while in Iraq. He wrote, “We forgive those who consider us their enemies…We hope that in loving both friends and enemies and by intervening non-violently to aid those who are systematically oppressed, we can contribute in some small way to transforming this volatile situation.”

So he refused to “forgive” the US for its alleged “oppression”, yet forgave the actions of his kidnappers/murderers. Did it ever occur to him that the insurgents are the true oppressors?

This poor man was brainwashed by the misguided activists at CPT. Clearly, Mr. Fox’s chosen enemy was the US and yet he went unmolested by American troops. However, the people that he expressed solidarity with (the insurgents) callously killed him. He was sold a fairy tale and paid his life for it.

Cindy Sheehan wrote an open letter to the Fox family stating, “The killing of Tom Fox does nothing to foster peace in the Middle East, but can be used for a renewed call for the immediate withdrawal of all coalition troops from Iraq so the people of Iraq can rebuild their lives and their country. So the killing of innocents and our American troops can stop.” This comes from a woman that camped out in front of President Bush’s private residence and said, “If we get killed out here, know that the Secret Service killed us”.

Sheehan also claimed this golden nugget, “The biggest terrorist in the world is George W. Bush”. Isnt it ironic that the “biggest terrorist in the world” didn’t kill Sheehan when she camped out in front of his home (like she claimed he would) and he didn’t kill Tom Fox when he went to the Iraqi war zone to help Iraqi insurgents.

How long will these “activists” continue to insult our intelligence?

They continually slander our troops in Iraq.

Sure, there was abuse at Abu Ghraib, but justice was served. Despite this, Leftists still clamor for the convictions of higher ranking officers and officials without any offer of proof. The only proof that exists is that the abusive treatment of prisoners is not condoned, as provided by last year’s courts-martial.

It’s obvious from the many abuse pictures which have been widely circulated that the jailors were taking out their anger against terrorism by humiliating the prisoners. See their smiling faces and thumbs up signs. The abuse shown in those photographs reveals that the motivation was to humiliate the prisoners rather than extract information from them.

Why do Leftists make excuses for terrorist massacres like 9/11 and the Intifada, saying that it was provoked by their enemy’s alleged injustices (US and Israel) and yet do not say the same for these soldiers (that they were provoked by the injustices of terrorism)? Please don’t quote me out of context because I am not excusing the behavior of these Abu Ghraib guards. They are complete and utter idiots. I am simply pointing out the hypocrisy of leftwing propaganda.

These smears are calculated to make the US occupation more difficult. In the end this only incites more bloodshed. What kind of message is sent when the first democratically elected government in the history of Iraq is scorned by peace activists who served as human shields to protect a murderous dictator?

The true character of our troops can found in the many humanitarian projects undertaken in Iraq. Major water works, sewerage facilities, electrical power stations, schools, hospitals, transportation centers, and many other projects are continually in progress. If you want to see the real honest face of American troops in Iraq then browse the pictures below.



Photo from Operation Iraqi Children showing US soldiers handing out school supplies to Iraqi children



Sgt. Andrew Craig in Baghdad, July 2005



Picture by Pulitzer Prize Winner, John Moore, in Iraq 2004



Photo of US soldier carrying an Iraqi girl mortally wounded in an attack by Iraqi insurgents.



David McCorkle, US Soldier and founder of American Aid for Children of Nineveh.