Linkmeister

Consequences

Had the well-photographed abuses at Abu Ghraib not occurred, Saddam's claim that he's been tortured while in American captivity would probably be discounted as more lunatic ravings from the man. Since those abuses did occur, in parts of the Muslim world there's going to be some skepticism about American denials of that activity. No repeated espousals of democratic reform by Karen Hughes, Dick Cheney or George Bush will completely erase those pictures. It's a shame, but that's the way it is.

It's just one more example of how stupid our masters are. Creating a climate where torture and prisoner abuse were apparently thought to be minor infractions by the personnel on the ground has come back to bite us, and Rummy, Franks et. al. should have known it would.