Reprehensible war news

I'm a bit late out of the gate with this one but the furor surrounding the American torturers in Iraq seems not only justified but required. I was speaking with a group of classmates this past weekend & found out that the things the American soldiers did to the Iraqis are probably NOT the result of too little training but the result of the type of training our soldiers get at the School of the Americas. After seeing the pictures, it seems less and less likely that these horrendous things were perpetrated solely by soldiers with no training in torture or intimidation techniques. Untrained soldiers might have participated, but someone knew to use this type of abuse and humilitation.

What sickens me further is that a woman was involved. I did an interview yesterday with a young woman from Lewis & Clark college and she asked if I thought women were, by nature, peacemakers. I'm glad I didn't give an unequivocal yes. Maybe I shouldn't be so repulsed by the fact that a woman was involved - maybe I should view her as simply another soldier but I can't. I don't understand how anyone could involve themselves in this kind of sadistic behavior - male or female. Just something about seeing a woman standing there with a grin on her face and all those poor men lined up makes me feel physically sick.

I also don't understand why they took pictures.