Reply #108: I don't agree at all.

[Spentastic]

"the sooner we acknowledge this, the more likely it is that Bush will be defeated"

Says who? Oh! You. I feel it is as likely if not more likely that if Bush is held responsible for the actions of troops under his command that he will be defeated. He is a war president after all, it is his war. Apologising for him won't help.

"Let me qualify my last sentence: the Iraqi abuse is only Bush's fault in the sense that he got our troops over there in the first place."

Er, no. He's responsible for far more than that. Bush's blatant disregard for international law to some degree set the conditions for exactly this kind of abuse to occur. Extra judicial killings in Afghanistan and the acceptance of conditions at Guantanamo bay to name just a couple of examples. Whilst I agree that the military's behaviour has been questionable before, in this situation is is Bush's fault that they are there. Furthermore by lowering the acceptable behaviour bar he indicated that others could do the same.

This is not about politics it's much simpler. It is about right and wrong. Bush was wrong. He's never admitted it, so why should those people who were buggering prisoners?