Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Charles Graner

In Vietnam, we had Lt. William Calley.
In Iraq, we have an analogue in Specialist Charles Graner.
The names will live in infamy for those of us who believe that part of "fighting the good fight" is holding ourselves to standards higher than those of our enemies.
In testimony today, a Syrian prisoner told of how Graner forced him to eat pork and drink alcohol, in violation of his religious beliefs, and how Graner and other guards forced another prisoner to eat out of a toilet.
Those were only the worst offenses charged. Graner also jumped on the prisoner's wounded leg, and hit it with a stick, the prisoner said. He also said Graner was present when a different soldier urinated on him.
Are the accusations true? Hard to say. I wasn't there.
Do they ring true? Unfortunately, yes, because of the photographic documentation Graner and his fellow guards created.
Graner may have just built his own prison with these photographs.