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Those who responded to our May 17 cover story were more than willing to assign Donald Rumsfeld responsibility for the abuses at Abu Ghraib. "He declared to the world that the Geneva Conventions wouldn't apply to detainees," wrote one. "This provided conditions ripe for abuse and mistreatment. Without independent international observation, what did he think would happen?" Another added, "By refusing to fire Rumsfeld for his dereliction of duty, President Bush has in effect signed off on these disgusting actions." Though some readers denied Rumsfeld's ultimate culpability and staunchly defended the administration's efforts to resolve abuses in Iraq, many agreed that, as one wrote, "Rumsfeld should still resign: it's the only honorable action left to him." But another observed, "Blaming Secretary Rumsfeld for the prison-abuse problem is like blaming the commissioner of baseball for the performance of the last-place team."
Abu Ghraib's Shocking Images
Your cover article on Donald Rumsfeld ("Is He to Blame?" May 17) and the overall coverage of the Iraqi situation are both insightful and disturbing. It remains incredibly sad to me. With the state of the Iraqi conflict, should we really be so surprised that the myopic "liberation" of the country would continue to beget violence on both sides? What our administration failed to consider before entering this complex state is not that we "broke" a country and have to "buy" it, but that through our actions we have now opened a door of violence that will be incredibly difficult to shut.
Melissa Fletcher
Coquille, Ore.
Thirty-five years ago, when I was a recently discharged Vietnam vet, you published my letter concerning the shameful abuses of the Phoenix program in Vietnam. Today your magazine asks who is to blame for Abu Ghraib. The parallels come flooding back to me. While in Vietnam, I rarely heard my fellow soldiers, officers or enlisted, refer to the Vietnamese, North or South, in terms other than "slopes" or "gooks." The dehumanization of the enemy contributed to behavior that haunts many veterans to this day. How depressing to travel that sad road once again. The president refers to all who oppose us in Iraq as terrorists, thugs or dead-enders, thus justifying and encouraging severe retaliation against them. Muslim detainees--never mind that up to 90 percent of them were picked up by mistake--have become the slopes and gooks of the current conflict. Our abuse of defenseless civilians at Abu Ghraib Prison will haunt the next generation of veterans for years to come. It will also incalculably damage our standing with the Iraqi people. We are facing a widespread insurrection born of bitterness at an oppressive, arrogant occupying force. So long as we allow ourselves to become terrorists in the eyes of those we purport to help, we will recruit unlimited numbers for those who wish to destroy us.
Paul W. McBride
Ithaca, N.Y.
Who is to...
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