Posted on: Tuesday, May 4, 2004

EDITORIAL
Prison brutalities huge challenge for U.S.

Those grotesque reports and photographs out of Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad last week showing American abuse of Iraqi prisoners is an unfathomable setback for the United States in its efforts to rebuild that nation.

It will hardly matter if this was the work of a few undisciplined, untrained rogue soldiers or even — as some reports have it — that it was instigated by civilian security forces.

Opponents of the U.S. occupation will use this incident to vilify and demonize American forces and to press their case for a U.S. withdrawal.

American military commanders in Iraq and President Bush have condemned the abuse in the strongest of terms. That is entirely appropriate, but it is unlikely to stem the waves of outrage.

Already, seven officers associated with the management of Abu Ghraib prison have been reprimanded, with two officers relieved of their duties.

It is likely that others will face similar, or perhaps even harsher, discipline.

One of the defenses of the abuse, if defense is the right word, is that some of the soldiers might not have been properly trained in the rules and regulations of the Geneva Convention, which forbids such abuse of prisoners.

And it's true troops went into Iraq expecting to be combatants, not police officers and prison wardens.

But one need not be an expert in the Geneva Convention to know that sexual humiliation and torment are out of bounds. Short of actual physical abuse, it is hard to think of more shameful behavior.

Yes, these prisoners were likely to be among those who have been attacking, and killing, American troops. That message will be lost in the general howl of outrage throughout the Middle East.

In fact, this incident — isolated though it may have been — will undoubtedly be used to impeach U.S. assertions the prisoners being held incommunicado at Guantánamo in Cuba are being treated properly and humanely.

Now that Bush has condemned this specific incident, he should take the next step and insist that the rule of law and of proper behavior as understood by the Geneva Convention apply to all prisoners and detainees, whether they are being held in the seedy confines of Abu Ghraib prison or in federal detention within the borders of the United States itself and Guantánamo.