And All They Will Call You Will Be Detainee

I'll have some additional things to say about Ronald Dumsfeld's testimony later (credit to Michael at Musing's Musings for the Dumsfeld moniker). I heard part of it in the car during my lunch break and subsequent visit to a remote site for printer "repair" (for the second time in a week, "repair" meant plugging the cable back in. Hmmn). From the few minutes I heard, it sounded like an extended act of contrition--minus the contrition part, though.

For some reason, I'm reminded of the old Woody Guthrie song Deportees.

The cops are all in but the system is rotting
Prisoners are piled up in pyramid stacks
In blindfolds some fly across the wide ocean
Guantanamo's where they'll be hanging their hats

Goodbye to Kabul, Goodbye Nasiriyah,
Alekem Fallujah, Kirkuk, and Tikriti
You won't have a name in Abu Ghraib
And all they will call you will be detainee.

The Times article linked to above notes exasperation on the part of John McCain, who apparently coundn't get a straight answer to a simple question, namely, who was in charge of the interrogations. It also noted that several protesters shouted "Fire Rumsfeld!" several times before being whisked away by the freedom police. Then there were the usual pious rumblings about investigations, committees, and so on, while Rumsfeld himself alluded to more pictures and videos--in other words, we've only seen the tip of the iceberg.

Again, though, I'd like to make the point that the abuse and torture at Abu Ghraib, appalling as it is, is part and parcel to the occupation. Would unjust, random detention be acceptable if it WASN'T accompanied by the sadistic actions depicted in the photographs? Is that what we've come to as a nation?

Like Martin Sheen's character said in Apocalypse Now, the bullshit is piled so high you need wings to stay above it. Which isn't a bad image of the Bush administration these days--they're flapping their arms as fast as they can, but getting no lift. The only question is how deep they'll sink into the muck--up to their ears, eyeballs, or worse.