The following post on lbo-talk seems relevant to the current discussion on pen-l.
John Gulick wrote:
Is any self-respecting US leftist truly _shocked and dismayed_ by the casual violence visited upon Iraqi prisoners ? Inquiring minds want to know. Just asking. Isn't it entirely predictable that a racist and imperialist occupation writ large will lead to a million acts of smug brutality writ small ?
It has always been the case, so it is predictable. What did surprise me was the reaction of "shock and dismay" at the revelations. I would have expected the "if you want to make an omlet, you've got to break some eggs" routine. But no. So, one thing that it brings to mind is the Puritans/bearbaiting joke; that being that the Puritans weren't opposed to bearbaiting because the bears suffered but because the audience was enjoying itself too much. I wonder, if the pictures had shown hatchet-faced guards overseeing the humiliation/torture, whether the reaction would have been less "dismayed."
From where I'm sitting, the torture/humiliation of Iraqi civilians/ is all of a piece with the U.S. racist/imperial policy toward Iraq from the first Gulf war. No surprises.
Should the state that is responsible for the murder, torture, starvation of Iraqis and for the wholesale destruction of Iraq be charged with its "reconstruction"? Are you kidding? Should it pay reparations? Of course.
Joanna
