As an American, what matters to me most is that our civil servants are doing their job in a responsive and responsible manner. We are a land of laws, with a constitution that requires certain checks and balances within the government and puts the "We, the people" at the helm of this nation.

The American people will not tolerate any behavior that would sully our image and tarnish our reputation. If there exists systemic and human failures, they'd have to be dealt with swiftly and transparently. In so doing, we show the world that the US does not condone such abject acts, and those involved will be held accountable.

We have gone well beyond just winning hearts and minds in Iraq to trying to salvage our moral core. What the neocon ideologues forgot, when they were muddling through the international political landscape, is that they were not operating in a vacuum; they were, however, thinking in a vacuum.

To those who are trying to spin the current events of torture and abuse of the Iraqi prisoners I'd say stop using moral equivalency equivocations; instead, let us focus on upholding our laws and protect our moral and ethical standing in the world.

Global security requires cooperation, not coercion.

Hadj,

What you wrote is spot on, and now it's time to put this weeks old Abu Gharaib bullshit in the past and shower down a little perspective.

The American LIEberal media--forever in denial and finally dying a slow stubborn death--has blown this story all out of proportion to its overall importance in the grand scheme of things.

(Think there's no media bias? Look at how quickly the Nick Berg story was buried as if it never happened).

Evidence that the old Iraq is no more is proven every day. I doubt the families of the A.G. victims would've been very vocal if it was saddam who'd put their relatives in camps. Not only would they have never seen them alive again, THEY would've been NEXT.

Yes, it's time to put all the bad things the Americans have done behind us, but, at the same time, to never forget 9/11.

And let's forget about My Lai, the Japanese American concentration camps, slavery of Africans, and the School of the Americas. But don't ever forget Pearl Harbor.

Let's forget about the Imperialist era. Let's forget the Missions and their destruction of the Indians. Let's forget about the Trail of Tears. But remember the Alamo.

How about let's remember the bad times, and appreciate the good ones, and try to not be selfish screw-ups so often, huh?

The liberal is wired in such a way that, if faced with a supermodel, he'd focus on her one tiny flaw: that way, he could maintain superiority while still associating himself with her.

Blame America First crowd

Now is the time to redeem ourselves, accepting the fact that we are part and parcel of the world and not foreign to it. Once we realize that we have made mistakes and aknowledged them quickly, we should undertake an open and transparent course of action to, first, remedy the situation, and second, show the world that we, the American people, can reign in a runaway policy.