Bush Intelligence Policy: Do Unto Others As They Do Unto You

No Toto, we’re not in Nazi Germany anymore. Or Korea or Vietnam during the wars. But we might as well be:

Mr. Dilawar asked for a drink of water, and one of the two interrogators, specialist Joshua R. Claus, 21, picked up a large plastic bottle. But first he punched a hole in the bottom, the interpreter said, so as the prisoner fumbled weakly with the cap, the water poured out over his orange prison scrubs. The soldier then grabbed the bottle back and began squirting the water forcefully into Mr. Dilawar’s face.

"Come on, drink!" the interpreter said Specialist Claus had shouted, as the prisoner gagged on the spray. "Drink!"

No, those aren’t brutes from some third world country. They’re Americans! The brutality was reported in a story by the New York Times, who managed to get copies of U.S. Army papers investigating prisoner abuse in Afghanistan.

It’s hard to believe Americans are still capable of engaging in such primitive, brutal behavior. It’s hard to believe that such behavior is still tolerated. But then, given what happened in Abu Grab, and given this Administration’s attitude toward "enemy combatants", I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

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