If you haven't already read it, you should check out the Seymour Hersh piece on the Abu Ghraib torture. Most of what I've read so far talks about the role (i.e. it's really all their fault) of military intelligence in this whole sordid affair. And while I have no problem believing that this may be a credible explanation, I also find it entirely plausible that a number of individuals were handed some authority without supervision and went batshit. Anyone remember the Stanford Prison Experiment?
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I received an interesting email from my Dad today, with an attachment picturing an American flag, an eagle, and the caption "you are the wind beneath my wings." It also included the following text:
This is something to think about! Since America is typically represented by an eagle. Saddam should have read up on his Muslim passages... The following verse is from the Quran, (the Islamic Bible) Quran (9:11) -- For it is written that a son of Arabia would awaken a fearsome Eagle. The wrath of the Eagle would be felt throughout the lands of Allah and lo, while some of the people trembled in despair still more rejoiced; for the wrath of the Eagle cleansed the lands of Allah; and there was peace. Note the verse number!!!!!)Um...yeah. Well, my Dad was a wee bit skeptical and asked for confirmation. I had a student last semester ask me about this too, as her evangelical mother had told her about this supposed verse. I assured Pa, as I had assured that student, that this was an easily dispelled hoax. A quick glance at the Qur'an shows us that sura 9 verse 11 reads (in Yusuf Ali's translation):
"But (even so), if they repent, establish regular prayers, and practise regular charity,- they are your brethren in Faith: (thus) do We explain the Signs in detail, for those who understand."
Nothing bout no eagles. Of course the purveyor of this nonsense relies, rightly I suspect, on the likelihood that most people aren't going to bother to go to Google or to their local bookstore and discover that it's bullshit.
And while we're on the Islamic front, there's a piece in the times today about the problems that have ensued since a mosque asked a Michigan city council if they could broadcast the call to prayer over a loudspeaker, as is now common throughout the Muslim world. Note the isolationist attitude expressed by one of the Muslim immigrants, which strikes me as self-defeating.
