This whole Abu Ghraib story is so rife with cynical political opportunism it disgusts me more than the events themselves. And I believe this is true of most Americans as well.
What's more, the stories behind the story is not getting much play in Big Media. Bloggers are doing their part, thankfully.
E-Clair has a post about how those pictures got to CBS in the first place. And as she shows, the public spectacle came about as a result of one parent of a slimeball perpetrator trying to save thier own kid's neck from a military justice system that was already dealing with the situation.
Greyhawk comments on this as well here.
But as I said here I don't think this story, in the long run, will play out as intended by the Democrats or the America-hating Arab press (speaking of which don't miss this post again by E-Clair. Apparently the Muslim "anti-porn" position doesn't include political opportunism).
Americans will not allow the War on Terror to become the Vietnam scenerio the Democrats are trying to construct. Americans will not stomach a retreat from the field of battle as they did then and they will not allow US soldiers to be villified as they once were during that period of history (with the help of John F Kerry).
And ultimately, the Arab "street" will notice that in America, and all societies that expound the rule of law over the law of the ruler, jailers who mistreat their charges will be prosectuted; a spectacle notably absent in the Arab world.
The Democrats, hanging their collective hats so demonstrably on this "scandal" can not have been thinking in the long term; the immediate feeding frenzy being far too attractive.
But like Wile E. Coyote tying to kill roadrunner, their plans will backfire because they have misjudged the sentiment of body politic. When they finally look down, they'll notice they've run off the cliff.
beep-beep
